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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?

ACE - Expert

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23.9K Messages

7 years ago


@OttoPylot wrote:

@Outlaw3944 wrote:

All of my lights are green. I cannot call anybody and have them hear me. Also my cordless home phone device has a flashing green light. Please help me


Can you be a little more specific on what you have and how it is setup. Your cordless phone has no bearing on the MicroCell so your issue is a bit confusing.


@Outlaw3944 - I had to refer back to my own Tech Guide after I thought a bit more about your cordless phone. I'm assuming you have the AT&T Wireless Home Phone (WHP)? If so, the flashing green light (signal strength indicator) on the phone means it is connected to the MicroCell. If the indicator is a solid green, yellow, or red, that indicates signal strength to the nearest tower.

Contributor

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1 Message

7 years ago

For the last 4 days the Microcell is down first thing every morning. Resetting it does not fix the problem as my Microcell is in an internal closed (since 2011). I have to use the connected antenna and place it outside. I have not had to do this for a long time. Usually reset works. What is going on? Have there been updates that have screwed thing up?  For years it has worked fine but this week not so much. Once I place the antenna outside it comes up and stays up all day. Weird that first thing in the morning it is down. Help!

Bob

ACE - Expert

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23.9K Messages

7 years ago

@bobtempleton - by connected antenna I'm assuming you are using an external antenna connected to the external antenna port? There have been no updates in the last week or so that I am aware of.

 

What does the light pattern on the MicroCell indicate when it is "down"?

 

If your MicroCell is that old I would check the ac adapter with a voltmeter. It should read 16VDC +/- 0.5 with no load. We've seen all kinds of odd things when the adapter begins to fail.  Post back what the voltmeter reading is. I have a blog on the Community Forums page with some basic information.

Professor

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2.2K Messages

7 years ago

Your symptoms would indicate that the Mcell is trying to verify your GPS coordinates at night and since your Mcell is in a closet with no external antenna, the Mcell can't determine its location and drops the connection.  The fact that you can connect your external antenna and the problem goes away seems to validate the problem.

 

The Mcell is suppose to be located in a place that has adequate RF signal access to at least 3-4 GPS satellites in order to determine its location and that location must match the physical location that was entered when the Mcell was registered.  As to why your Mcell is now requiring a more frequent GPS verification than in the past could be due to a recent change in firmware programming.  AT&T doesn't make public firmware changes so it's difficult for us to know what, if anything, has been changed or when it happened.  You may find that you'll have to keep your external antenna connected in order to avoid the nightly disconnects now.

 

Do you have WiFi Calling capable phones?  IMHO, WiFi-C is a better solution for coverage in homes that suffer from poor cell tower coverage than the Mcell provides.  I've used both and I'll never go back to my old Mcell again.

ACE - Expert

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23.9K Messages

7 years ago

@bobtempleton - @Avedis53 is probably correct about the GPS check. AT&T will periodically perform a maintenance check late at night and sometimes part of that check is verifying your location. If it can't verify your location via the local tower it will check using the GPS coordinates sent by the MicroCell. If there is no GPS lock, then location can not be established and you will not be able to connect to the AT&T Mobility servers. I'm surprised that this hasn't happened more often. Check the adapter just to rule it out and then connect the external antenna. If the adapter checks out, and you can re-establish connection to AT&T, then it is more than likely a GPS problem and your options are to either keep the external antenna connected, or move the MicroCell so that it is within 18" of a window with an unobstructed view of the sky. Keep in mind that the newest model of the MicroCell (black, DPH-154) does not have an external antenna port anymore so if you decide to upgrade your MicroCell you will need to figure out a better way to set it up.

Contributor

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1 Message

6 years ago

I have a tower in my home for my cell phone. It is only showing 1 bar and sometimes has nothing. I live in an area that has poor service, when I first started using the tower it worked great but bars have been slowly going down until I only have one bar and sometimes no service. 

ACE - Expert

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23.9K Messages

6 years ago

@Pigstew - we need more information like, model of MicroCell (white or black), your ISP, your location (rural, in the city, apartment/condo, etc. Don't post your address) any storms resulting in a power outage, setup, etc.

 

Do keep in mind that the MicroCel has been discontinued as of the end of 2017. They are no longer sold by AT&T and support will get even worse than it has been in the past. WiFi-C (WiFi Calling) is what we recommend now if you phone is WiFi-C capable. AT&T will eventually pull the plug altogether on the MicroCell so I'd start looking into other options like WiF-C, purchasing a cellular booster, or switching to a carrier that has better in-home coverage.

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