What is happening with 3G?
Dneiman25's profile

Tutor

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4 Messages

Tuesday, July 26th, 2016 5:18 AM

Microcell doesn't work anymore

I've had a microcell for about 7 years. No problems. I've moved three times and have always been able to activate at my new address. I've been in my most recent house for 3 years. About 9 months ago I started having real problems with my microcell. Right around the time I went from iPhone 5s to iPhone 6s. Around that time I also unplugged the microcell for a couple weeks while doing a little home improvement. Since then the experience has been frustrating. I get the microcell working and it will stay working for a day then all of a sudden when receiving a call the caller can't hear me. I can hear them but they can't hear me and hang up. Then my iPhone freezes for about a minute before I can even use my phone for anything. I've tried turning off microcell. Turning off router. Turning off modem and restarting all. Then turning off phone and restarting to have the microcell work again. But within a day the same thing happened. I've had att send me a new one. And even with this new one the problem persists.
I have time warner cable and am using the time warner modem. I have a wifi router with microcell plugged into router.
Any tech questions I can reply with details to the best of my abilities. Any suggestions on fixing would be appreciated. I need the microcell to work!!
Thanks

Contributor

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1 Message

8 years ago

Have you asked for the newer 4G LTE MicroCell which works with the newer phones such as the 5s. We also have the 3G version which does not work, HOWEVER, AT&T wants $150+ for the new one. Seems ludicrous to pay AT&T any money to boost their poor signal so I can use the service I already pay for. They understood this rational when I got the 3G MicroCell and did not charge me for it. Now they offer a partial "Rebate" which can only be used towards additional AT&T products / services. A 4G MicroCell ($0 cost) is a must when service goes to 1 bar or less in your neighborhood, both work from home using work issued cell phones. Alternatively, a landline could service the need VERY WELL for $35 a month and no upfront cost. Simple - logical - business.

ACE - Sage

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117K Messages

8 years ago

If you have the iPhone 6 or newer (you do) you should try turning wifi calling on, and deregistering the phone from the microcell.  

 

Did you try wifi calling when you got the 6s?

 

 

Tutor

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4 Messages

8 years ago

Microcell is currently unplugged. I will try wifi calling today. When I tried it before I think microcell was still plugged in. I will still need the microcell because my wife is still on iPhone 5s (dropped new 6s inn the toilet and had to go back to old phone). If wifi caking works for me then can I just register her phone to microcell and unregistered mine?

ACE - Sage

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117K Messages

8 years ago

Yes.  Has her phone been working on it okay?

 

With wifi calling feature the newer iPhone may not be compatible with the microcell. 

 

 

Tutor

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4 Messages

8 years ago

Will do one step at a time. Try wifi calling today with microcell unplugged (I have a conference call in an hour). If it works then will unregistered my phone from microcell and try turning on again. Go through all activation steps and see if her phone works.

Tutor

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4 Messages

8 years ago

So first test is complete. Activated wifi calling on my iPhone and it worked fine. Second step I deactivated the microcell from my phone number. And activated it under my wife's 5s. Restarted the microcell. It went through activation just fine. Restarted the 5s and it picked up the microcell. Here's where we still have a problem. My 6s works just fine. Not attached to microcell. I dialed my wife's phone. Call went through but when I hung up both phones her 5s froze for about a minute. Still showed it was on the call. Then once the phone finally unfroze I tried to call again. What happens next is the phone will drop the microcell and call from a normal signal. And the microcell indicator bars start flashing green. (The top of the 4 indicators on the black microcell) I've repeated the test twice. This is exactly what would happen when my 6s was the phone the microcell was registered to.

Professor

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2.2K Messages

8 years ago

@DeuceB

 

There is no 4G/LTE version of the Mcell.  Both the DPH 151-153 (white models) and the DPH 154 (black model) are 3G-only devices.  All will connect to 4G/LTE phones but only using 3G protocols.  Not sure where you got the idea that the DPH 154 connects with phones using 4G/LTE protocols, but that is incorrect.

 

@Dneiman25

 

A few questions/suggestions:

 

1.  One-way communication is typically an ISP line-quality problem.  You should run the speed test and VOIP quality tests as outlined in Otto's Tech Guide and report the results here.  The VOIP tests should be run at several times during the day to check the variability of your connection as that can change depending on the load on your particular cable node and a variety of other factors.  TWC seems to have more than their fair share of line quality issues.

 

2.  Have you changed any of your home network equipment (modem, router) during this time? 

 

3.  The Mcell will always have priority over WiFi-Calling on a given phone unless that phone's number is removed from the Approved User's List for the Mcell.

 

4.  The indicator light symptom you described in your last post makes me think you should check out your Mcell's AC adapter for the proper output voltage using a voltmeter.  The procedure is outlined in the Tech Guide.  The output voltage of the adapter should be 16 VDC +/- 0.5 VDC.  If it is not within that tolerance, your Mcell may act wonky.  Replacing the adapter with one of the EXACT same output as the original adapter would be a good troubleshooting step to take.

ACE - Expert

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24.2K Messages

8 years ago

@DeuceB- the new MicroCell, the black DPH-154, will work with any AT&T 3G/4G/LTE hand set, but still only has a 3G radio, it is not 4G. The same is true for the older, white DPH-151/153 models.

 

@Dneiman25 - if your MicroCell is that old it could be as simple as a failing ac adapter. We've seen all kinds of odd things happen when the adapters start to fail. A simple check is to check the adapater with a voltmete. It should read 16VDC +/- 0.5 with no load. If not, replace the adapter with one of the exact same power rating and see what happens. If you were sent a new MicroCell (DPH-154) hopefully AT&T also sent a new adapter with it as well. They are slightly different and it's always best to use the one that designed for the model of MicroCell.

 

Call quality issues are most often related to the ISP (bad switch, maintenance, firmware update, line quality problems, etc). That's not to say that it couldn't be the MicroCell but experience has shown us that quite often it's something else.

 

If the 3G light starts to flash green (the top most LED indicator on the black MicroCell) then you have lost connectivity to the AT&T Mobility servers which obviously will affect your calls. That to me indicates a routing issue.

 

@lizdance40 - if he attempts WiFi-C (WiFi Calling)  he will need to do more than de-registering the iPhone 6 if he still needs to use the MicroCell. With an active MicroCell, the iPhone 6  will need to be put into Airplane Mode to disable the cellular radio. If not, the iPhone will attempt to lock onto the 3G signal from the MicorCell but won't be able to because the phone number has been removed from the MicroCell. This is by Apple design. The phone will preferentially attempt to connect to a cellular signal over WiFi. WiFi-C is similar to the MicroCell in that it is designed to fill in gaps of cellular coverage. It is not intended to be a full-scale replacement for cellular calls. Either disconnect the MicroCell altogether (power off) or enable Airplane Mode on the iPhone 6 and enable WiFi Calling. As a side note, WiFi-C on AT&T's network uses two of the same four ports that are required for the MicroCell. So if there is something affecting those ports, there may be issues with WiFi-C.

 

I have an iPhone 5SE, the latest iteration of iPhone, and there are no compatibility issues with the MicroCell. WiFi-C works just fine with my phone in Airplane Mode. WiFi-C works fine with the DPH-154 and the older DPH-153. All I had to do was install a new SIM card in my 5SE because my old SIM card for my iPhone 5 wouldn't allow me to do WiFi-C (provisioning for HD Voice).

Contributor

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1 Message

8 years ago

Do you have time warner cable and an Arris modem?  That's my combination. Everything was fine for a few months and then on the same date you submitted your topic, 25 July, that's when we lost connection (top most LED blinking)

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