What is happening with 3G?
gn87man's profile

Teacher

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14 Messages

Sunday, January 7th, 2018 8:28 AM

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Microcell not working - GPS and 3G lights blinking/flashing green simultaneously constantly

When I plug in my microcell, the Power button is green and stays on....however, the GPS light and 3G light blink/flash green simultaneously constantly.   I have tried performing a hard reset on the microcell, but it did not work.   The Ethernet light does not come on at all.   I have U-verse as my internet provider.  I have my Microcell plugged directly into my 5268AC router (AT&T supplied the router).   I followed all the activation steps for the microcell and the AT&T microcell activation page is showing the very first step (Activation) to still be pending.   Please help.

 

Thank you

ACE - Sage

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116.6K Messages

6 years ago

@OttoPylot

Its not like the title isn’t clear.... microcell doesn’t look anything like ‘short code’ or ’i lost my phone’.  

But then again, the forum has been REEEEEALLY weird 

ACE - Expert

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23.9K Messages

6 years ago

@lizdance40 - yep. Weird is the right word for it.

Mentor

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106 Messages

6 years ago

OttoPylot you have just revealed something shocking.  I have several clients who have fairly recently purchased MicroCells (at their local AT&T store, I might add) and they have been a Godsend as regards them being able to use their AT&T mobile phones in there houses (where they had virtually no mobile service whatsoever previously).  Why on Earth are they discontinuing such an apparently valuable device and service?  And will they be giving plenty of advance notice to the many users of the MicroCell before they pull the plug on them?  And finally, what exactly is WiFi-C and do all (modern) mobile phones have that capability?  And what if there's spotty or inadequate WiFi in someone's home?  Would that not negate the WiFi-C phone's capability to connect, absent the MicroCell device?  If you could point me to any websites or articles regarding this (MicroCell's pending demise and the "utility" of WiFi-C) I would appreciate it.  I still can't believe they're deep-sixing the MicroCell, arguable one of the best innovations that AT&T ever came up with...

ACE - Expert

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23.9K Messages

6 years ago

@Travis_Lloyd - AT&T quietly announced last year that the MicroCell would be discontinued at the end of the year (2017), which it was. They stopped selling them thru the AT&T website shortly before that. The only way, at that point in time, to get the newer DPH-154 (black model) was to purchase them from a corporate store as long as their inventory lasted. After that, eBay or Craig's List are your only options. AT&T says they will continue support thru this year but that is going to be spotty at best. What they will try to do is steer you towards WiFi-C (WiFi Calling) which is what we recommend as well because call quality and reliability is much better, and it is free as well provided you have a postpaid AT&T cellular account (the same requirement as the MicroCell). My guess is that AT&T will eventually stop the MicroCell altogether, sometime around the end of this year. It doesn't make sense for them support the backend if they don't support or offer the product anymore. Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint still offer their femtocells, and some have been upgraded to 4G as well, but AT&T chose to discontinue theirs for reasons known only to them. My guess is that it would be cheaper in the long run to offer WiFI-C, and improve on it, than to keep supporting the MicroCell which was having more and more issues with the ISPs, newer hardware, and getting the approval for 4G or 4G LTE.

 

WiFi-C (WiFi Calling) is a feature that was first offered with the iPhone (models SE and above) on the AT&T network. It took about a year or so for it to be offered on some Android devices due to technical challenges but now all four major carriers offer WiFi-C for some of their branded phones (at least I think all four do). You sill need to have a postpaid account to access the WiFi-C option on the AT&T network but there is no additional cost to use it. WiFI-C works very well and is only subject to the same issues that affects WiFi in general. However, if you don't have a robust WiFi connection, or have lots of users sharing the same connection, you can have issues.

 

As far as advanced notice for the final demise of the MicroCell, I don't know how clear AT&T will make that. If I find out a time frame, and are allowed to publicly announce that, I will. However, that is why I and others are pushing so hard to get customer's to start planning now for the end because it won't be an " on today and off tomorrow" type of thing. They will probably start killing it off region-wide so it may take some time to go thru the system, which means folks will start losing connectivity and flood AT&T support with questions. At that point in time, your only options are to upgrade your phone to WiFi-C if it is not capable (which means purchasing a new phone), look into cellular boosters (which I am working on a Guide for that), or switch to a carrier that offers better coverage.

Mentor

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106 Messages

6 years ago

@OttoPylot Thanks so much for that update.  I hope to Heck AT&T has the decency to inform its MicroCell customers before they "pull the plug"; those things weren't cheap and I wonder how many people would've bought them in 2017 if they knew what was on the horizon?  Plus, they need to inform people of how to transition over to WiFi-C as a replacement; I seriously doubt this is common knowledge among the "MicroCell crowd" if nobody's ever mentioned it to them.  From what you said, I take it that if they have purchased a new AT&T-branded phone (iPhone or Android) in the last year or so they should be okay for WiFi-C then?  All of the folks I spoke of are U-verse customers and have pretty decent Wi-Fi in their homes, so you predict they should have no major problems with WiFi-C?

ACE - Sage

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116.6K Messages

6 years ago

@Travis_Lloyd

Wifi calling functions on Samsung and LG phones and iPhones as far back as the 2014/2015 models.   Heres a list of older phones. 

https://forums.att.com/t5/Android/Updated-List-of-WIFI-Calling-Capable-Phones/m-p/4977615#M80308

iPhone, Samsung and LG phones sold now all have Wifi calling.  Other brands have been excluded.  

Accessing Wifi calling is as simple as turning on advanced calling features and Wifi calling in phone app settings.  Set your E911 address while connected to home Wifi.  

If you post your make and model of your ATT android we can link more specific directions.

iPhone here.  https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203032

 

ACE - Expert

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23.9K Messages

6 years ago

@Travis_Lloyd - I’ve been pushing for updates and as soon as I can post something I will, but I may not have a lot of advanced notice. AT&T will announce it but my guess is that it will be without a lot of fanfare. They will start sending notices to those who have not used their MicroCell for awhile that their service will end soon for lack of use.

Mentor

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106 Messages

6 years ago

@OttoPylot  Thanks for that tidbit of insight.  However, it seems a little weasely on their part to send a notification to those who are not utilizing their MicroCell and use that for an (alleged) pretense to shut-off their service (which as we all now know is not really the case) rather than giving their good customers (who've shelled-out fairly big bucks) and are still actively using their MicroCells the same courtesy.  That is counter-intuitive to say the least.  And hopefully they will explicitly inform them that they'll need to shift over to WiFi-C and provide explicit instructions on how to enable and use it; I know for a fact that there are a lot of longtime mobile phone users who are still flying by the seats of their pants as regards configuring their devices.  Please keep us all informed as you become aware of the Big Wig's plans...

ACE - Expert

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23.9K Messages

6 years ago

@Travis_Lloyd - if I get any advanced notice about the service being terminated I will certainly post it, if allowed. I'm hoping that AT&T will in fact notify current users via text that the service is ending on such a such date. 

 

As far as setting up WiFi-C, there are lots of instructions on the web on how to do that. Configuring ones phone is really the responsibility  of the end-user, not the service provider. I'm sure for those who call Support, Support will help them but as far as adding instructions on how to do that in a text, I'd be surprised if that happened.

 

WiFi-C, cellular boosters (I do have a Guide that should be available soon on what they are and how they work), or switching carriers for better coverage are going to be the only options so it would be a good idea to start planning ahead.

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