What is happening with 3G?
OttoPylot's profile
ACE - Expert

ACE - Expert

 • 

23.9K Messages

Friday, December 29th, 2017 9:05 PM

MICROCELL HAS BEEN DISCONTINUED

As I mentioned back in October, and it bares repeating now, the MicroCell has reached its End Of Life as of Dec. 31st. AT&T has already stopped selling units online and the only place to find a new one from AT&T is at a corporate/retail store as long as inventory lasts. You may be able to find one on eBay but there are caveats to purchasing from there which are covered in my Tech Guide (see link in my sig line).  AT&T claims that they will continue support thru a period of time next year but that is probably not true. Support will just try to get you to switch to WiFI-C (WiFi Calling) which does offer better call quality and reliability but you will still need a post paid AT&T cellular account, a phone that is capable of WiFi-C, and a service area that has been provisioned for HD Voice (which most areas should already be).

 

WiFi-C requires two of the same four ports that the MicroCell requires. Sometime next year AT&T will probably stop supporting/maintaining the two ports that the MicroCell uses and allocate those resources elsewhere, so even if your MicroCell continues to work in 2018, at some point in time it will cease to be able to reach the AT&T Mobility Servers, without notification,  and there will be nothing that can be done.

 

Seriously plan on switching to a phone that is WiFi-C capable, purchase a cellular booster (CelFi or weBoost) or switch to a carrier that offers better coverage in your home.

___________________________________________________________

AT&T Cell Booster Technical Guide by OttoPylot

Cellular Booster Guide by OttoPylot

Award for Community Excellence Achiever*
*I am not an AT&T employee, and the views and opinions expressed on this forum are purely my own. Any product claim, statistic, quote, or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider, or party.

ACE - Expert

 • 

23.9K Messages

6 years ago

@rjniles - knowing support, my guess is that they won't give any advance notice to active users. It will just stop working at some point in time, Support will say the MicroCell has been discontinued and to switch to WiFi-C. I'll do what I can to try and find out when it's officially DOA but that may be tough being as AT&T is re-structuring again and laying off something like 1400 employees. I've requested that a text message be sent out but the suits in AT&T still consider me a non-person.

Contributor

 • 

1 Message

6 years ago

Mine seems to have stopped working today. I got an email and txt stating that the address and GPS location on the unit does not match (unit has been in the same location for almost 2 years).  When I started googling possible issues, I stumbled upon this thread. Quite unfortunate, as the unit worked great for the entire time I've owned it. I can use WiFiC on my phone, as it's a company issue phone.. but my wife's phone we use a prepaid plan, as it's much cheaper. So looks like now I'll have to look into another type of cellbooster.. and they all look much more expensive than the MicoCell was.

ACE - Sage

 • 

116.6K Messages

6 years ago

@cradan92  Your problem is not related.  Losing GPS connection is not unusual.  Try Ottos guide to reconnect the microcell.  I have also seen an external GPS antenna sold on eBay. 

 

ACE - Expert

 • 

23.9K Messages

6 years ago

@cradan92 - if you have the older, white MicroCell, you may be able to use an external antenna and that may help. However, if you have the newest black model (DPH-154), Cisco did away with the external antenna so that's not an option.

 

If your internet connection is not land-based (DSL, cable, or fiber) but satellite/wireless, that's the reason. Or, if you have a rural address that too can be the reason for periodic loss of GPS. Now that AT&T has discontinued the MicroCell, and if there are issues with the locational database, it will not be a priority item for AT&T to fix.

 

You can try a hard reset following the directions given in my Tech Guide (link is in my sig line) but if that doesn't work, you'll just have to wait and see if it corrects itself.

 

The MicroCell is not a cellular booster but an actual femtocell (mini-cell tower). Cellular boosters, like CelFi or weBoost, work on a different principle in that if you have at least one to two bars or consistent cellular signal, they will actually boost the signal so that you can make/receive cellular calls without difficulty. Yes, they are pricey, and there is a bit of installation to do, but they do work very well. Some can even be used with carrier frequencies other than just AT&T's.

Tutor

 • 

7 Messages

6 years ago

ATT is cimply the worst telecom carrier on the planet.  Should have notified customers about end-of-life or at least provide support without users having to search within the forum.  Dump ATT and write a letter to the DOJ as I have to block ATT;s purchase of Time Warner.  Another scam from ATT.

Professor

 • 

2.2K Messages

6 years ago

So you don't have a Microcell or an account with AT&T?  If you're here just to complain, then you're wasting your time.  We're users just like you who are trying to help others with Mcell problems when AT&T's customer support fails.....which is quite frequent from our experience.

 

Letters to the DOJ are a waste of time regardless of which side of the fence you are on.  This isn't the first vertical integration that the DOJ has reviewed and approved.  Remember the 2011 merger of Comcast and NBC Universal?  The DOJ approved that.  Remember, this is about Time Warner programming, not Time Warner Cable.  That infrastructure was sold to Charter about 2 years ago.

 

Reports say that the DOJ demanded that Time Warner divest itself of some properties, possibly including CNN, before it would approve the deal.  Add in Trump's disdain for CNN and it doesn't take much of a stretch to see that the DOJ's lawsuit is politically motivated....a way for the Trump administration to damage CNN.  Not that I give a rat's posterior about CNN but given Trump's track record so far, I wouldn't be the least surprised.

 

AT&T does still provide support for the Mcell, such as it is, but that will go away soon.  Technology marches on and antiquated devices like the Mcell will fade away as people replace their phones with WiFi Calling capable ones.  

ACE - Sage

 • 

116.6K Messages

6 years ago

@ATandTtheworst

Its not like they stopped working.... 🙄.  

 

ACE - Expert

 • 

23.9K Messages

6 years ago

@ATandTtheworst - If you know about the forums then you should have seen my post back in October about the discontinuance of the MicroCell and then my reminder around December. As @Avedis53 said, technology moves on and the MicroCell is just not keeping pace with 4G/LTE/ and eventually 5G. No carrier is perfect but if you don't like AT&T, there's always Verizon, T-Mobile, etc.

Contributor

 • 

1 Message

6 years ago

Try replacing your power adapter.

ACE - Expert

 • 

23.9K Messages

6 years ago

@Y2Trek - 6 month old post. It's seriously time to start investigating the options. Which are: WiFi-C if your phone is capable, purchase a cellular booster (see my Cellular Booster Guide, link in my sig line), switch carriers, or possibly try Google Voice.

Not finding what you're looking for?
New to AT&T Community?
New to the AT&T Community? Start by visiting the Community How-To.
New to the AT&T Community?
Visit the Community How-To.