What is happening with 3G?
Avedis53's profile

Professor

 • 

2.2K Messages

Monday, February 18th, 2013 4:49 PM

Mcell requires power cycle every day to regain connection to iPhones

While I didn't encounter this problem initially when I started up my Mcell a few months ago, it has now become a daily ritual that I hope someone here can help me with.

 

My setup:

 

Motorola SB 6120 modem -> Netgear WNR3500L router -> Mcell

 

The Mcell is connected to the router with a pair of Netgear Powerline 200 Nano Adapters because my modem and router are located in the basement with no exposure to window for the Mcell to see a GPS satellite.  The connection is good.

 

My Charter ISP connection is 30 mbps down and 4 mbps and is rock solid.

 

What's happening and what I've done so far:

 

Usually once a day I will no longer see the AT&T Mcell indication at the top of my iPhone 5.  When I check my wife's iPhone 4S she has also lost the AT&T Mcell indication.

 

Turning the phones off and then on does not bring back the Mcell connection.  Switching Airplane Mode off and then on does not bring back the Mcell connection.

 

The Mcell has all solid green lights when I go to check it after seeing the lost connection.  If I power cycle the Mcell, the phones will then show an Mcell connection again until the next time they lose the connection which is usually once/day but not at any particular time.

 

I have the latest firmware on all devices.

 

When I check my router's admin page after a lost connection, the router indicates that the Mcell's IP address has not changed and it remains the same after power cycling the Mcell.

 

On the WAN page for my router, I have set the MTU size to 1492 and set the NAT Filtering to "Open" instead of "Secured".  No improvement after doing so.

 

Suspicious of the Powerline Adapters, I tried disconnecting and reconnecting the Ethernet cable from the Mcell to the Powerline Adapter to mimic a temporary loss of connection to the router to see if that affected the Mcell connection.  The Mcell connection was not lost.

 

I have not set any open ports or a static IP address for the Mcell yet.  Is what I'm experiencing indicative of this solution?  Does anyone have any other thoughts as to what try next?

 

I don't want to waste my time with an AT&T Level 1 tech support person because their suggestions are almost always worthless.  I have better luck contacting user forums and that is why I'm posting here.

 

Thank God I was able to convince AT&T to give me a Mcell for free because if I paid $200 for it, I'd be very upset right now.

 

Thanks In Advance!

 

Avedis53

 

 

___________________________________________________________

MicroCell Technical Guide by Otto Pylot


I am not an AT&T employee.

Professor

 • 

2.2K Messages

11 years ago

I'd be willing to bet a large sum of money that your replacement Mcell has borked from what you've described. 

 

While there is a remote chance that your AC adapter is faulty, there is very little to them.  A transformer and a rectifier with most likely a fusible link to protect the output.  If an AC adapter goes bad, it's the fusible link that blows and that's the end of the adapter.  No power cycling  as you've described.

 

Save yourself the troubleshooting headaches and demand that AT&T give you another replacement Mcell. 

ACE - Expert

 • 

23.9K Messages

11 years ago

I would have to agree with Avedis. If you've done all of the troubleshooting (cable, cable connections, reboot, de-activation/re-activation, hard reset, proper positioning, priority mode, router config, modem/gateway config, etc), with the exception of maybe port forwarding, then yes, ask for a replacement. The ac adapter can cause issues as well if there is fluctuating power. Maybe not enough to trip the power light but enough to momentarily drop a connection and confuse the MicroCell so that it can't reconnect. Email CustomerCare in my sig if you haven't done so already.

Professor

 • 

2.2K Messages

11 years ago

If power quality (ie. sag, swell, flicker, undervoltage, overvoltage) were the problem, I would hazard to guess that Stephen570 would be seeing issues with other electronic components in his house as well as his lights.

ACE - Expert

 • 

23.9K Messages

11 years ago

Unless it was the ac adapter itself starting to fail or the specific outlet that it's plugged into. Definitely fishing here but....

Explorer

 • 

27 Messages

11 years ago

UPS/battery backup on the modem, router, and microcell. And, let me tell you, I've swapped cables, wiggled wires, etc. trying to isolate the problem.

ACE - Expert

 • 

23.9K Messages

11 years ago

I don't doubt you've tried everything and I'm doing what I can to help so I feel your frustration. My ac adapter is also plugged into a UPS battery backup but I was thinking about the adapter itself.

Explorer

 • 

27 Messages

11 years ago

I'm nothing but thankful for your (and others') help here, Otto. Please don't take any comments I make personally. When I said, " let me tell you, I've swapped cables, wiggled wires, etc. trying to isolate the problem," I should have added an "lol."

 

I'm actually laughing at the situation -- imagine me turning up at a friend's house looking frazzled, carrying a microcell, ethernet cable, and AC adapter, and asking, "do you mind if I borrow your internet connection for a bit?"

 

lol

ACE - Expert

 • 

23.9K Messages

11 years ago

I'm not taking it personally. I really do feel your frustration. Been there, done that. It's just that I feel like I'm missing something obvious.

Voyager

 • 

3 Messages

11 years ago

As of this post several weeks after the last we have only had a dropped call once, due to an internet problem.  What we did is turn the M Cell so that the right side, as you face the lights, is toward the window and put the M Cell first in line after the modem.  The ethernet goes to our router after the M Cell.  I don't know if these changes made the difference or if the call to ATT customer care did.  ATT was responsive although I never did do an in depth trouble shooting session with them.  We couldn't seem to find a time that worked to do it, and the dropped calls stopped after I took the steps above.  If the issue re-occurs I will be back to ATT.  Note that we did not make any other changes to settings or to the phones, and that our nearest cell tower is far away, only one bar reception.

ACE - Expert

 • 

23.9K Messages

11 years ago

I just responded to your similar post in another thread but yeah, re-orienting the MicroCell as you did does work. It's a little trick that  learned some time ago and is how I've always had mine setup. Glad that it worked for you.

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.