What is happening with 3G?
Frogis's profile

Tutor

 • 

3 Messages

Wednesday, May 14th, 2014 5:06 AM

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

 

 

ACE - Expert

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23.9K Messages

9 years ago

Flashing green 3G means you have lost connectivity to the AT&T Mobility Servers. Have you, or your ISP, updated any firmware, hardware, etc , and who is your ISP?

Professor

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2.2K Messages

9 years ago

Answer ALL the questions the best you can and then we will have a better chance of helping you.

 

MicroCell™ TroubleShooting Questions:

 

1. Have you read the Tech Guide first? 1. 3G MicroCell Technical Guide by Otto Pylot


2. Do you have an active postpaid AT&T mobile account?


3. Is your MicroCell white or black?


4. Who is your ISP and is your service ADSL, cable, wireless or satellite?


5. What are your suscribed download and upload speeds as stated by your ISP?


6. Have you tested your internet speeds (http://www.speedtest.net/)? Please run the test and post your latency, download and upload speeds.


7. Have you tested your connection for VoIP quality (http://www.voipqualitytest.com/)? Please run the test and post the results that are listed under the "Advanced" tab.


8. Are you using the basic connection (modem -> router -> MicroCell) or the alternate connection (modem -> MicroCell -> router/computer)? The alternate connection is not possible with the black (DPH-154) MicroCell as it has no Ethernet output but it can be connected directly to the modem to temporarily test the Microcell without the network connected.


9. Are all of the cables firmly in place?


10. Do you have a combined modem/router (gateway) or a separate modem and router? What are the makes and model numbers for your equipment?


11. Have you met the minimum requirements for router settings as outlined in the Tech Guide?


12. What other equipment (access points, switches, computers, WiFi components, gaming consoles, etc.) do you have connected to your network?


13. What does the light pattern look like on the MicroCell (power, ethernet, GPS, and 3G)? Are they all a solid green or is any of them blinking green or red, and if so, which one?


14. Have you done a hard reset of the MicroCell? See the Tech Guide for instructions.


15. Have you deactivated and reactivated your Mcell using AT&T's MicroCell website?


16. Does the ac adapter feel warmer than the top of the MicroCell where the vents are?

 

Contributor

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1 Message

8 years ago

Same thing happened to me.

I was able to solve it by placing the MicroCell further away from the Wi-Fi modem.

It turns out that Wi-Fi interferes with the MicroCell and it need to be at least 2' from a Wi-Fi source.  I found this information in the following technical guide -

 

https://forums.att.com/cng/attachments/cng/3gmicrocell/14725/17/MicroCell%20Technical%20Guide%20v1%208%20(2).pdf

ACE - Expert

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23.9K Messages

8 years ago

That information is also in the official setup instructions from AT&T for the MicroCell. Even though WiFi and 3G are entirely different frequency bands, if the unit is too close to the WiFi source there may be interference. However, sometimes moving the MicroCell's physical location orients the antenna such that a more stable connection is achieved depending on building materials, etc.

Contributor

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1 Message

8 years ago

Hello,

My name is Carol

***

***

***

 

I was wondering if this issue was ever resolved?  I recently switched to ATT from verizon, but found I typically had very low signal, so I installed a 3g Microcell.  When it works, it is awesome, but it never works for more than 24 hours.

 

I have deactivated, reactivated, unplugged, reset, replaced, all to no avail.  Talked to many technical support folks too. 

 

I'm beginning to think it will never work and should give up trying.

 

Any help would be appreciated,

 

[Edited for privacy-please do not post personal or unique information such as but not limited to full names, employee ID numbers, email addresses, phone numbers, account numbers, etc.]

 

 

ACE - Expert

 • 

23.9K Messages

8 years ago

Please don't post personal information. That's never a good idea.

 

Pease answer the following questions:

 

MicroCell™ TroubleShooting Questions:

  1. Have you read the Tech Guide first? 3G MicroCell Technical Guide by Otto Pylot
  2. Do you have an active postpaid AT&T mobile account?
  3. Is your MicroCell white or black?
  4. Who is your ISP and is your service ADSL, cable, wireless or satellite?
  5. What are your subscribed download and upload speeds as stated by your ISP?
  6. Have you tested your internet speeds? (http://speedtest.net)
  7. Please run the test and post your latency, download and upload speeds.
  8. Have you tested your connection for VoIP? (http://voiptest.8x8.com)
  9. Please run the test and post the results that are listed under the "Advanced" tab.
  10. Are you using the basic connection (modem -> router -> MicroCell) or the alternate connection (modem -> MicroCell -> router)? The alternate connection is not possible with the black (DPH-154) MicroCell.
  11. Are all of the cables firmly in place?
  12. Do you have a combined modem/router (gateway) or a separate modem and router? What are the makes and model numbers for your equipment?
  13. Have you met the minimum requirements for router settings as outlined in the Tech Guide?
  14. What other equipment (access points, switches, computers, WiFi components, gaming consoles, etc.) do you have connected to your network?
  15. What does the light pattern look like on the MicroCell (power, ethernet, GPS, and 3G)? Are they all a solid green or is any of them blinking green or red, and if so, which one?
  16. Have you done a hard reset of the MicroCell? See the Tech Guide for instructions.
  17. Have you deactivated and reactivated your MicroCell using AT&T's MicroCell website?
  18. Test the output voltage of your MicroCell's AC adapter with a voltmeter.  It should read 16 VDC +/- 0.5 VDC. Post your results.

Contributor

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2 Messages

8 years ago

Thank you so much for such detailed questions. I've actually resolved the issue knowing almost none of it! Basically the newer Time Warner modem simply wouldn't work with the microcell. I went back to their older generation (but still capable of 200 MBps) Arris modem which I'd been using with the microcell successfully before, and voila! I have microcell again. Hope that helps avoid some headaches for others.

ACE - Expert

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23.9K Messages

8 years ago

We've seen lots of issues with the Arris modems, especially the ones that come configured for TWC. We try to resolve the issues without having the user swap out and/or purchase new hardware. Most of the time we can but if the problem can't be resolved with the questions above, then trying another router/modem/gateway is the next step. Thanks for the post.

Contributor

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1 Message

8 years ago

After a power outage,...Hard reset worked. Tried the usual unplug power, repower, deactivate, reactivate,....no joy. Called ATT Support,....nada!!! Rep never mentioned reset tab nor hard reset. Persistent location not matching record was the text messages. All fixed after hard reset. Not sure if ATT database nightly update was accomplished. 5 or 4 bars works!!!

ACE - Expert

 • 

23.9K Messages

8 years ago

Glad to hear that the hard reset worked. It's not uncommon after an unexpected power outage for something to get scrambled and the only way to clear the registers/memory is to do a hard reset as detailed in my Tech Guide. The hard reset forces the MicroCell back to factory defaults and if nothing was damaged during the power outage, you should be good to go.

 

Unfortunately AT&T support is not allowed to use my Guide as a support document because it is not an official AT&T document. There are some who do use it on the sly but by and large most of phone support just follows the script and can't, or won't, think out of the box. That's the reason why I put together the Tech Guide.

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