Tutor
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3 Messages
HELP - 3G light is flashing, microcell was previously working fine
Hello,
I figured it was worth posting here so I have yet to have success with anything else.
Background
I live in an area almost exactly inbetween three AT&T cell phone towers, so subsequently my phone is constantly switching singnals from one tower to the other giving me very inconsistent service. After diagnosing the problem with AT&T about six months ago they sent me a micro cell free of charge, and it worked absolutely fantastic until....
The Problem
About a week ago my microcell's 3g light started flashing, this had happened once or twice before so I performed a simple reset but it did not fix the problem like before.
- I tried resetting my modem, router, and microcell
- hard resetting my microcell for 30 seconds
- de-activing and re-activating my microcell twice
- checking my power cord to make sure it was the right voltage
- getting a replacement microcell sent to my house
- setting up my microcell in the alternate arrangement (modem-->microcell-->router)
- updating the firmware on my router
and none of these fixed the problems.
My current internet is about 30mbps DL and 10mbps upload so that isn't the problem
The ports on my router are all opened, and nothing has changed to effect that
After going extensively through the forums I am kind of at a loss of what to try next. Any suggestions from people on the forums?
I am currently located in the East Bay of California (Alameda, CA)
Thanks very much.
-Frogis
OttoPylot
ACE - Expert
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23.9K Messages
10 years ago
Obviously somebody dropped the ball. AT&T support is sometimes just a notch above Comcast, which isn't saying much. Nothing happens over the weekend as far as moving complaints to another level. If you can pm the ticket number I'll pass that along to the Admins. Hopefully they can trace it back to the original person who took your call and either counsel that person or find someone who can do what they are supposed to do. It has happened before.
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lostingames
Tutor
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10 Messages
10 years ago
I'm glad to read that some of you have been restored. Gives hope to the rest of us.
I've been contacted by AT&T by phone... the one that receives no signal, because the microcell isn't working.
I guess they forgot that I have no signal and the only way to contact me is email. I'm off for four days now, so at least I don't have to worry about missing important calls.
Beauty of all of this: I got a text link to complete an AT&T satisfaction survey. I don't think they want me filling it out right now.
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OttoPylot
ACE - Expert
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23.9K Messages
10 years ago
When you pm CustomerCare with your issue, it's a good idea to tell them the best way to contact you. Obviously if your phone isn't working well at home an email would be the best bet. I usually mention that when I tell people to contact CustomerCare so if I didn't in your case, my apologies.
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lostingames
Tutor
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10 Messages
10 years ago
You have nothing to apologize for, Otto. I gave them all my contact info, microcell serial number, home address, anything I could think of, except my blood type. I explained that I could not use my phone and to contact me by email. Which the first person did.
Now they have texted and called. So it's probably a matter of my email wasn't passed to all involved.
I truly appreciate all of your help and input, Otto.
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OttoPylot
ACE - Expert
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23.9K Messages
10 years ago
In an ideal world and functional support, the ticket number should be able to be queried by anyone in support to see what the problem was, notes by support, and customer contact info. Service is slowly coming back up but it will take time as it rolls out to various regions. I just talked to the Admins and they too are being told nothing as to what the problem was or the fix. All carriers, including AT&T, are very tight lipped about how their backbone is configured and works. And any issues that arise are basically on a "need to know" only basis and most of support, and of course the customer base, doesn't "need to know" what happened and how it was fixed. This is all hidden behind security reasons. The old Cingular/AT&T network is huge with all kinds of things going on in the background in preparation of what's coming in the future, so things are going to break and depending on how critical they are, the priority to fix is on a sliding scale.
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lostingames
Tutor
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10 Messages
10 years ago
Another phone call... I did go elsewhere, so I could speak to the Urgent Care specialist.
I'm really embarrassed to ask this, if my microcell (hardware) has failed, wouldn't my 3G light be flashing red? I don't feel this is a hardware issue and I'm not buying another microcell. I know the ethernet cable is good, it works fine on other devices.
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OttoPylot
ACE - Expert
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23.9K Messages
10 years ago
Yes and no. How's that for a straightforward answer? Typically speaking, a flashing red 3G could indicate a hardware failure, or it could indicate an update that didn't reset properly and the unit "thinks" it's broken. If it is a reset that didn't complete, usually a hard reset will take care of it.
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lostingames
Tutor
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10 Messages
10 years ago
My latest reply from AT&T has been that my Microcell is at fault. I've got green lights for everything. The 3G is still flashing.
I've hard reset three times now, de-activated and tried to re-active my account. My account will not activate. It's been hung on that for days now. When I check my account online, it still shows that nothing has started. Which is not true.
I assume there is still a problem that my Microcell is not communicating with the server. Like so many of us.
The customer service message said they could not activate my account either so they feel it's my Microcell.
Grrrr...
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OttoPylot
ACE - Expert
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23.9K Messages
10 years ago
The activation issue has been an ongoing problem for the last couple of months. Connections fail (blinking green 3G) and when a customer attempts to deactivate/reactivate, the system chokes. IT has been able to correct some but it is a slow process as it covers multiple service areas and seems to be localized within a service area. That's why the pm to CustomerCare (which I know most of you have already done) is so important. It creates a "paper trail" and definitely registers the complaint so that support can start monitoring the number of similar complaints coming in and from where. Unfortunately, AT&T is going thru some upgrading of their own in prepartion for what's coming and some services are getting adversly affected. However, MicroCell users are a small percentage of the mobility group, unlike other areas such a U-verse, so resources are allocated to other groups first. Sucks for sure but that's the reality. I'll stay on top of this but it is a holiday weekend........
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Pappy3000
Contributor
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3 Messages
10 years ago
Okay, I'll add my name to the list of Microcell users who is having many, many problems having the thing staying connected. I had to power reset at least once a day for several days and it never seems to want to stay working. Nothing, I repeat nothing has changed in my home computer or internet system at all. It took me a power cycle, then a reset button, then several more power cycles to get it to work today. Someone somewhere is either causing the problem or the thing is near broken and I wish I knew what to do. I will PM AT&T right now.
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