What is happening with 3G?
dtardy's profile

Tutor

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8 Messages

Wednesday, October 29th, 2014 7:08 PM

Microcell not working

My iphone 6 will not make or recieve calls with the microcell. If I disconnect from the microcell, I have 1 bar and can make/recieve calls with poor connectivity. My phone says I am connected to the AT&T Microcell network and shows all bars but I can't make/revieve calls. I have deactivated, reactiviated the microcell to no avail. I have deleted/readded the phone numbers and nicknames and it's still not working. I have toggled the airplane mode and turned my phone on and off and that did not help. This is extremely frustrating as I have spent hours trying to make this work. Any ideas?

Accepted Solution

Official Solution

ACE - Expert

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23.9K Messages

9 years ago

Unplugging it is just a power reset. That basically forces the MicroCell to reinitialize itself. That sometimes works. A more complete reinitialization is to do the hard reset, which resets the MicroCell back to default settings and forces it to go thru the Initial Activation process again

(see Guide link in my sig).

 

If your jitter is still the same, fluctuating all over the place, then that is something that you will have to take up with your ISP because there is nothing that AT&T can do about it. The new MicroCell may be able to handle jitter a bit better but ultimately that is a line quality issue which can only be addressed by your ISP.

Accepted Solution

Official Solution

Professor

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2.2K Messages

9 years ago

I find that I do have to power cycle my Mcell occasionally when I see that its 3G light is flashing.  A quick power cycle and it is running again.  I have no idea how the Mcell lost its connection but it could be that using a wireless range extender to connect my Mcell to my router as I do is contributing to this.  Unfortunately, in order to cover my entire house I have to locate my Mcell in a place that is remote from my router and I don't want to string 100 feet of Ethernet cable to connect by wire.  If I let the Mcell go long enough, it will usually reconnect on its own but I've just grown accustomed to power cycling it when I see the flashing 3G light.

ACE - Expert

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23.9K Messages

9 years ago

Are there any phones that work on your MicroCell? Are any of the light blinking on the MicroCell? If so, which one(s) and what is it red or green? Is this an AT&T purchased MicroCell or is this a second hand one?

 

MicroCell™ TroubleShooting Questions:

 

  1. Have you read the Tech Guide first? 3G MicroCell Technical Guide by Otto Pylot
  2. Do you have an active postpaid AT&T mobile account?
  3. Is your MicroCell white or black?
  4. Who is your ISP and is your service ADSL, cable, wireless or satellite?
  5. What are your suscribed download and upload speeds as stated by your ISP?
  6. Have you tested your internet speeds ( http://www.speedtest.net/)? Please run the test and post your latency, download and upload speeds.
  7. Have you tested your connection for VoIP quality ( http://www.voipqualitytest.com/)? Please run the test and post the results that are listed under the "Advanced" tab.
  8. Are you using the basic connection (modem -> router -> MicroCell) or the alternate connection (modem -> MicroCell -> router)? The alternate connection is not possible with the black (DPH-154) MicroCell.
  9. Are all of the cables firmly in place?
  10. Do you have a combined modem/router (gateway) or a separate modem and router? What are the makes and model numbers for your equipment?
  11. Have you met the minimum requirements for router settings as outlined in the Tech Guide?
  12. What other equipment (access points, switches, computers, WiFi components, gaming consoles, etc.) do you have connected to your network?
  13. What does the light pattern look like on the MicroCell (power, ethernet, GPS, and 3G)? Are they all a solid green or is any of them blinking green or red, and if so, which one?
  14. Have you done a hard reset of the MicroCell? See the Tech Guide for instructions.
  15. Have you deactivated and reactivated your Mcell using AT&T's MicroCell website?
  16. Does the ac adapter feel warmer than the top of the MicroCell where the vents are?

Tutor

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8 Messages

9 years ago

Unfortunately neither my nor my husband's iphone 6's will work. I called AT&T customer support and after 50 minutes, the technician I worked with said I need a new microcell. She was very patient and had me try all sorts of disconnecting and reconnecting. It seems mine has lost its ability to connect to my wireless. She is having a new one shipped to me in two days at no cost. 

 

I am not tech savy, but I know how to search for help and follow directions to try to self help. I did read through the technical guide and tried the various remedies there, the same ones the technician had me try again. I had previously deactivated my microcell and reactivated it on the AT&T website, removed phone numbers and reentered them. I also had done a hard reset of my phone and toggled the airplane mode off and on. My microcell is a white one. They are sending me a black one - not sure what the differeence is. .My internet is through Frontier FIOS and I am not having any issues with my laptop connecting to it. I am guessing that it is a combined router/modem as there is only one box by the tv. I did run the speed test on the AT&T site. The results are: Download Speed: 24796 kbps (3099.5 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 4754 kbps (594.3 KB/sec transfer rate)
Latency: 14 ms
Jitter: 264 ms
Again, I'm unsure what the numbers mean. 

 

The microcell was no longer staying green on the gps or internet lights, they kept flashing green. The power and ethernet were solid green. 

Thank you for your response to my plea for help! Fingers crossed that the new one will do the trick! Phone calls with only 1 or 2 bars are challenging. 

Professor

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2.2K Messages

9 years ago

Wow....are you sure that jitter value is correct?  If your jitter is consistantly running around 264 ms, you have a serious problem with your connection to your ISP.

 

If your GPS light is flashing, then your Mcell is not getting a lock on the GPS satellites.  Is the Mcell located where it has an unobstructed view of the sky?  Did you have all solid green lights on your Mcell at any time previously?

 

Perhaps your Mcell is faulty and since another one is being sent to you, we'll wait to hear from you about the new one.

 

Regardless, you should contact Frontier concerning the jitter you are seeing on your connection if after running more tests throughout the day, you see numbers similiar to the one you reported here.  Jitter is explained in the Tech Guide.

Tutor

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8 Messages

9 years ago

I did a copy/cut/paste for the speed test, so the numbers should be accurate. I just completed another speed test (4 hours later) using the AT&T site again:

 

Download Speed: 29301 kbps (3662.6 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 4769 kbps (596.1 KB/sec transfer rate)
Latency: 9 ms
Jitter: 9 ms
October 29, 2014 at 6:55:25 PM PDT
 
I also did a test on http://www.speedtest.net/
PING 14ms
Download Speed 28.96Mbps
Upload Speed 4.58 Mbps
 
I tried to do the suggested VoIP quality test, but I do not have Java on my laptop so I was unable to do it.
 
I will do a few more speed tests on the AT&T site again tomorrow.
 
I did have solid green lights on the GPS and Internet lights but my phone would not connect and the tech said it wasn't showing connection on her screen. It had been working earlier in the day, my phone showed AT&T microcell, but I couldn't make or recieve any calls.

 

ACE - Expert

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23.9K Messages

9 years ago

If your jitter goes from 264 to 9 that is some serious fluctuation. Your speeds are fine. I agree with Avedis about the GPS light. If that's flashing even after performing a hard reset it could be as simple as a failed or failing MicroCell. Do let us know how it goes with the new MicroCell.

Tutor

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8 Messages

9 years ago

My new microcell arrived and it is working! So far, there are no problems with it. Fingers crossed that it stays that way!

 

My jitter speeds still seem to flucuate for some reason. I haven't had time to be on hold long enough to contact FIOS...

Professor

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2.2K Messages

9 years ago

Ahhh.....the joys of support hold!

 

Glad to hear your new Mcell is working.  Let us know if you need any help with it.

 

If you have the time and are motivated, run the jitter test several times/day and see how much it is varying.  The more information you can gather regarding your jitter variation, the better the chance that your ISP can figure out what is going on.

Tutor

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8 Messages

9 years ago

Thank you for the suggestion. I am compiling the data.

 

My microcell periodically loses its internet connection - the green light flashes green. All other lights stay solid green. Not sure why that happens. Any ideas? I disconnected the power plug on the back of the microcell for 10 seconds, plugged it back in, and it is okay now. Hoping that did the trick!

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