Microcell no longer connects to iPhone

@DOLLYDOXY - if you have an iPhone 6S and 6+ then WiFi-C (WiFi Calling) is available to you and you might want to consider that as an alternative to the MicroCell. WiFi-C uses your existing WiFi connection to make/receive calls and you don't even need the MicroCell. Call quality and reliability is much better in most cases than the MicroCell. Your area needs to be provisioned for VoLTE, which it probably already is, but you can check with AT&T on that. There is no equipment to purchase and there is no additional cost for WiFi-C.

You're the third person I've seen report a sudden loss of MicroCell connectivity with an iPhone 6 or greater. I've checked with the Admins and they have not seen, nor do they have any reports (a significant number) of outages specific to iPhones. We have iPhone SE's, running iOS 11.0.3 and have not had any issues at all with the black, DPH-154 MicroCell.

Call quality issues (dropped calls, garbled voice, etc) are typically caused by poor line conditions, which only your ISP can fix. If all of the lights are a solid green on the MicroCell that indicates that you have a connection to the AT&T Mobility servers. A solid connection doesn't mean that your line conditions are good tho. The only way to check that is to run a voip test (voiptest.8x8.com) which will check your line for conditions that can affect your voice quality etc.

Disable LTE on your phones and see if that makes a difference. It could be that AT&T is doing something with the tower closest to you causing your phones to be unable to drop LTE and connect to the MicroCell's 3G signal when within range.

Thanks OttoPylot.  I have re-connected to the Wi-fi network and am hoping that will solve the problem.  I still only have 2 bars showing on the signal strength indicator.  

My original suspicion was the problem began when I had my ID stolen the beginning of October.  Someone hacked my AT&T account, found that I had two equipment upgrades available, and purchased 2 iPhone 8's billed to my installment account.  This hijacked two of my cell numbers, mine and my mother-in-laws.  My husbands cell wasn't yet available for upgrade, so his was not touched.  The AT&T Rep couldn't tell if the purchase happened on line or at a Target Store (the id given on the order was Consensus Target).  The rep then suspended the service on the two iPhone 8's and added them to a blacklist.  This would presumably prevent anyone from reactivating these 2 phones through any carrier.  I then had to go to the AT&T store with my photo ID to prove who I was in order to obtain new SIM cards for my original phones.  I thought maybe the SIM card change may have been the root of the M-cell problem, however my husband's sim was never changed and he could not get the M-cell to connect to his phone either.

As if this wasn't enough fun, the thieves tried to take a personal loan using my husband's SS#, then opened a Kohl's account and purchased $1000 in merchandise and of course the bill was sent to us.  Last straw, my cell# was being used in a spoof scam (received a call from a lady in my same town, asking why I had called her 4 times the same day).  I was in the hospital the day the calls happened.  Needless to say,  every waking minute of my time for 3 weeks has been on the phone trying to fix this mess - calling AT&T, Kohls, the loan company, SSA, IRS, FTC, the local Police Department, and of course all 3 credit bureaus, attempting to put a freeze on my credit.  During this time, these calls kept cutting in and out, and dropping, so I have been completely frustrated!

I am keeping fingers x'd that this Wi-fi fix will be the magic bullet.  At&t has escalated, but I have serious doubts if they will even call me back.  They never kept a commitment to call me back about the spoof scam.  So, OttoPylot, thanks for all your help.  I'll let you know how things work out.  Take good care!

@DOLLYDOXY - sorry to hear about your issues. Sure hope it all gets resolved. 

Keep in mind that WiFi and WiFi-C are different. However, WiFi-C requires a post paid AT&T cellular account just like the MicroCell. You need to setup your iPhones for WiFi-C which is fairly easy on your iPhone. There is nothing you need to do with AT&T other than a possible new SIM (I had to get a new SIM upgrading from an iPhone 5 to an SE because my old SIM didn't support WiFi-C) if you can't connect via WiFi-C. Just make sure that if you setup WiFi-C, disable your MicroCell (turn off power) because the iPhone will preferentially seek the 3G cellular signal instead of your WiFi signal and there will be issues (unless you place your phone is Airplane Mode which disables the phone's cellular radio).

Disable LTE on your phones and see if you can re-connect, and stay connected to the MicroCell. If not, setup WiFi-C and see how that works. Keep WiFi enabled on your phone and disable WiFi Assist.

@DOLLYDOXY - Settings -> Phone -> Wi-Fi Calling. Just follow the instructions and make sure the power is off to the MicroCell.

@DOLLYDOXY - you're welcome. Let us know what you think of WiFi-C.

As a side note, I saw that you mentioned your signal strength indicator was still showing 2 bars.  Keep in mind that when using WiFi Calling, your phone's cell signal strength indicator is meaningless.  You should be looking at your phone's WiFi signal strength indicator instead to see what kind of connection your phone has.  At the top left hand corner of your phone's display, if you are using WiFi Calling, you will see the alpha tag "AT&T WiFi" and next to that on the right is the WiFi signal strength indicator.  More bars = stronger WiFi signal.

I've recently encountered a significant increase in dropped calls, both cellular to cellular and landline to cellular, even when I am standing still outside of my home.  I have turned off LTE and will see if that improves things.  

I have WiFi calling turned on but don't see the indicator "AT&T WiFi", just the WiFi signal strength meter, the letters "AT&T" and the cellular signal meter.  Both are at the highest level.  

Any thoughts on this?  I have a 1 year old iPhone SE (which is an iPhone 6).

Thanks.

FYI, the iPhone SE is not an iPhone 6.

If your cell phone's cellular signal strength is at the highest level, then your phone will not connect to WiFi Calling.  Cell phones give top priority to cellular signals, not WiFi Calling.  Based on what you posted, your phone is operating properly.

If you move your phone to a location in your home where there is a low cellular signal strength (usually 1-2 bars), then WiFi Calling will take over and you will see "AT&T Wi-Fi" alpha tag between the cellular signal strength indication and the WiFi signal strength indication.

You can test this after enabling WiFi Calling by putting your phone in Airplane Mode and then enabling WiFi.  Instead of the cellular signal strength bars, you should see an airplane indicator in the left hand corner.  If you have your phone settings activated to use WiFi Calling, then you should see the "AT&T WiFi" alpha tag.