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christian_bonn's profile

Teacher

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17 Messages

Wednesday, September 24th, 2014 11:28 PM

MicroCell Disaster

Wow, what a disaster.

 

After having successfully used a DPH-151 for over four years, suddenly unable to get any MCell working in my house.

 

Issue started when wife upgraded her phone to iphone 6.  New Phone wasn't picking up signal with existing DPH-151.  So, tech support says cycle your DPH-151.   Ok, no big deal.

 

Cycle DPH-151 and doesn't work.  So tech support says 'deregister' then 're-activate' then 'reregister' the device.  This will force DPH-151 to pull in new phone.  Do so.

 

But, the DPH-151 will not re-activate or re-register after being de-registered!

 

So, more tech support, yes the cat 5 cable is correct, yes, the location of the device is next to the same window that worked the last four years, yes, perform a 'factory reset' by cycling device holding in 'reset' button with paper clip.  Try different window.  Try different electrical socket (never using a surge protector).  Try different cord.  Try deregistering and re-registering again.

 

More tech support, they ask:

 

Has your ISP changed (Comcast)?  No.

 

Has your router changed or been reconfigured (NETGEAR ProSafe™ Gigabit Quad WAN SSL VPN Firewall SRX5308)?  No, it hasn't changed or been reconfigured, has latest firmware and factory default settings.

 

So, tech support says 'Your DPH-151 must finally have died, sorry,'  Really?  Coincidence like that?  Physical failure?

 

Ok fine.  My time is more valuable than money.  Send me a new DPH-154, here's my credit card number.

 

New DPH-154 arrives.  Plug into network, electrical socket, place next to window.

 

Thing won't even "Register"  Doesn't matter whether I 'register' device myself by putting S/N into ATT registration system or whether tech support registers the device after I read them the S/N.

 

Basically device hangs trying to even contact ATT's servers to 'register,' real time activation status tool shows it never succeeds past 'step 1' the "power up pending' step.

 

So, now the question is what status do I see on the DPH-154 itself?

 

Well, The power light comes on.

 

The "planet' connectivity light comes on implying that the device is connected to my network.  But it flickers rapidly, ever so slightly.  What might this mean?

 

I check the IP address table for my network, and I see the DPH-154's MAC address there and my router has assigned it a normal IP address.   So the problem doesn't seem to be the Cat 5 cable.  An independent test of connecting a laptop to my network via that same cable confirms that a laptop using that cable, at least, can successfully connect to the internet.

 

The "satellite" indicator is solid green.

 

The "Network" five-bars indicator blinks off and on repeadedly/endlessly.

 

After approximatley 90 minutes, the MCell status monitoring tool says 'Registration Error' with a note to call tech support.  Note that the actual indicator lights do not change, the only change is in the online status of the registration attempt.

 

So, now what do I do?

 

I fish the DPH-151 out of the trash and attempt to activate and register that device.  Still doesn't work but now I belive that the problem is location or network specific and not DPH-151 failure like suggested by tech support.

 

So, I'm at a loss.  Trolling the community msg boards suggests issue like bad power cords and unopened router ports.

 

But my DPH-151 worked like a charm with the same ISP and Router for four years, so it's hard to believe that's the problem.  Would be willing to try any suggested fixes, though.

 

But what won't help is talking online with another polite but unhelpful tech support person.  Clearly their script can't help me or isn't detailed enough to get at why my new DPH-154 won't even activate or register.

 

For troubleshooting analysis, my network setup is common:

 

A simple Zoom Cable Modem (Model 5341J) connected to Comcast cable broadband

 

which is then cabled to a

 

A NETGEAR ProSafe™ Gigabit Quad WAN SSL VPN Firewall SRX5308 router, which is in default configuration and with the latest firmware.  It is dynamically assigning IP addresses to all devices in my network, but I would be willing to bind an IP address to the MCell if someone suggests this could be helpful.   It was never necessary with my DPH-151.

 

From the router flow normal Cat 5 cables to Netgear switches, which then have cables that connect to devices, like the MCell.

 

Questions:

 

Does the 'blinking' of the 'planet light' imply some incorrect connection between the DPH-154 and ATT's MCell registration servers?  Clearly, the DPH-154 is getting an IP address from my router because I can see the MCell's MAC in the device table next to a dynamically assigned IP address.   But that doesn't mean that the DPH-154 is somehow still failing to get out of my network to ATT.  I do know that when my old DPH-151 was plugged into the same outlet and network cable, the 'planet light' did not blink but remained solid green.  In fact, it still does when I try it.

 

Is it possible that, in the last four years, ATT's GPS mapping for my town in NJ has changed so that the MCell will not properly register from the same window, same location that worked four years ago?  And that somehow this is preventing registration, but in a way that is not apparent to ATT tech support or to me?

 

Also, I have attempted using both my old AC adapter (from the DPH-151) and the new adapter (fresh out of the DPH-154 box) on both the old and new MCell's with no change in performance.

 

Help please.

 

 

Tutor

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4 Messages

8 years ago

I too have spent almost a day trying to get my Mcell to connect after several years of un-interupetd working.

Tech support from both NetGear and ATT are of no help.  (Finger pointing and $ requests do fly)

 

I too Could use help.  Our jobs depend on reliable connectivity.

GB

By teh way, I am in North Carolina

ACE - Expert

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23.9K Messages

8 years ago

@gbalzer - please keep your questions to one thread. It makes it easier for us to help you and for others to follow and search.

 

If you've had several years of uninterrupted service I'd check the ac adapter with a voltmeter. It should read 16VDC +/- 0.5 with no load. If not, replace it with one of the exact same rating (the ratings are on the adapter and also given in my Tech Guide, see link in my sig). The MicroCell is finicky with its power requirements so the replacement should be exact. We've seen all kinds of squirrely issues when the adpaters start to fail.

Tutor

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4 Messages

8 years ago

Ref the AC power adapter mentioned
The Adapter supplied with this unit states
input 100-240V--50/60HZ .05A
output 12V1A

ACE - Expert

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23.9K Messages

8 years ago

That's what the adapter labeling indicates but what does it read with a voltmeter?

Tutor

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4 Messages

8 years ago

Ok, I think I'm doing this right. My name is Bill ***** and I am the contact person. The cross street to my street of ***** in San Rafael Ca. 94903. You may contact me at ***** or this e-mail address.

Enclosed are photos that you requested

Thanks for prompt attention

Bill [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


@gbalzer wrote:

Ok, I think I'm doing this right. My name is Bill ***** and I am the contact person. The cross street to my street of ***** in San Rafael Ca. 94903. You may contact me at ***** or this e-mail address.

Enclosed are photos that you requested

Thanks for prompt attention

Bill [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.]





Please do not post private information in this public forum. Were you talking to a CS agent and why did they want pictures?

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