What is happening with 3G?
flipjr's profile

Voyager

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2 Messages

Monday, September 10th, 2012 7:58 PM

Will 3G Microcell work with new Iphone 5?

Is it too early to know if the Iphone 5 will work with the 3G Microcells?

Tutor

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4 Messages

11 years ago

Which is why I find it odd. Yes, of course I have LTE enabled on both phones and our iPhones both say M-Cell. I've reset network settings to try to get LTE enabled when I'm away from my Microcell and it's still finicky. Like I said, it will usually just stay on 4G, but last night I was on Edge for most of the time, even after rebooting my iDevice.

 

Again, before I got the Microcell, my phone would connect just fine to the LTE towers, so this behavior has only started once I got the Microcell.

 

 

 

 

ACE - Expert

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23.9K Messages

11 years ago

I still think it's the way LTE is being implemeted in your area. There have been some issues with the way the iPhone 5 works with LTE and you may have to have AT&T do an account reset for your phone to get it to work as designed with 4G/LTE. All the MicroCell does is pass your cell phone signal, via IP, to a tower. However, we are talking AT&T so you may want to contact ATTCustomerCare and explain your problem. They are there M-F, 8-5, CST. That basically bypasses phone support and assigns one person to your issue. My guess is that there is still some provisioning that needs to be done to your account for 4G/LTE. For example, I bought my iPhone 5 in Reno, Nevada and it worked perfectly even though AT&T converage is not as good as Verizon. I then took my iPhone 5 home, to San Jose, where AT&T coverage is much better, for the most part, than Verizon's. 4G/LTE is never a problem and when I walked into my house, the iPhone 5 immmediately connected to the MicorCell with no issues at all. Leaving the house, it connects to 4G and once within range of a tower with LTE (that is not being overused for LTE), it connects solidly with download speeds approaching 25MBps depending on the tower (see my post on the MicroCell and iPhone 5 Speed Test). So yes, the iPhone 5 works just fine with the MicroCell but some folks in certain areas may have to have AT&T do a little extra provisioning to their accounts and iPhone 5's (and possible 4's as well).

Contributor

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1 Message

10 years ago

I finally got my 3G Microcell to work with my spanking new iPhone 5s running iOS 7.0.4 by electronically disconnecting my M-Cell at the AT&T account management page, reactivating it, then physically disconnecting the Microcell from both internet and power for 30 seconds, then plugging it back in. Other posts used the word deactivate, my link was worded "Disconnect Your 3G MicroCell Device." It wasn't long before I got the text from AT&T saying I've successfully activated my M-cell. Under "Settings," "Cellular," 'Cellular' Data is on and 'Enable LTE' is off, then I did a hard reset of my phone and "AT&T M-Cell" was displayed on the phone top first thing once it booted up and connected. To test if mine was an LTE problem, I turned on 'Enable LTE' and the phone disconnected from "AT&T M-Cell" and connected to just "AT&T." Beautifully, I switched off 'Enable LTE' and "AT&T M-Cell" was again connected. I have 5 dots when off M-Cell it was as low as 1; full connectivity. Joy.


What I tried that did NOT work was:

  • Prayer / crying / yelling / swearing
  • Unplugging my cable internet provider's modem/router from power and battery and waiting 10 seconds before plugging back in
  • Any suggestions found at AT&T's own Microcell Troubleshooting FAQ. What did help was reading the Community Forum to see what folks had tried. I had to create a separate forum ID for this. Once I realized that, I was able to post this fine prose. 
  • Unplugging the M-Cell from internet and power for 10 seconds then plug it back in
  • Turning iPhone 5s completely off, waiting 10 seconds, then turning it back on (hard reset) in close range of the M-Cell
  • Calling AT&T Tech Support and trying their suggestions:
  • On the AT&T My Account website, letting them add a phone number in an attempt to get some magic delete button to appear that never did
  • On my iPhone 5s
  • Switching Airplane Mode on and off
  • Switching Cellular Data on and off
  • Switching the Enable LTE switch on and off, until I followed the steps in the top paragraph. 


Additional details:

  • My M-Cell worked fine with my iPhone 4s before this; I always kept iOS up to date on my 4s. 
  • I did NOT have to move my M-Cell device to a new window or add an antenna. 
  • My speed test yielded 5.25-upload, 9.85-download Mbps. Test yours: http://www.att.com/speedtest/
  • My home cable broadband internet is a locally owned and operated one (not a major commercial brand), running at 800-850 MHz. 
  • When I called my land line from my iPhone thru AT&T M-Cell my voice was garbled or skipped if I held the phone even slightly away from my lips, I'm talking the 1-3 inches range, which for me is a normal drift if I'm not paying attention. The farther away the iPhone was, the worse the skipping. Talking into the iPhone speakerphone had the same garbled effect and was the worst sounding of my test here. My home phone is a cordless AT&T model. HOLDING IPHONE CLOSE TO MY LIPS (0.5 inch range) THERE WAS NO GARBLED SPEECH coming through the land line. I'll have to remind myself to hold the iPhone close to my lips from now on. Clear as a bell; a very small time delay from speech to when it was heard on the other line, but it was clear. Yayy. 


I know this will help a lot of iPhone 5s users with 3G M-Cell. Community users have my permission to cut and paste this onto other forum areas, just give me credit for my fine writing skills. Thanks!

ACE - Expert

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23.9K Messages

10 years ago

As with all new phones, there are bound to be some glitches at first. The MicroCell is 3G only, it can not connect at 4G/LTE speeds. Sometimes, if the 4G/LTE tower signal is a bit stronger in your location than the MicroCell, the phone will get confused and try to estabish a connection and fail.

 

Poor voice quality is most often cause by your internet connection (dropped packets, delay, etc). We have iPhones 4's and 5's, and an old Samsung. Call quality has always been excellent with no issues and the phones have no problem handing over from a macrocell (tower) to the MicroCell and vice versa. We use our iPhones just like our landline. IOW, we don't have to hold it a special way just have a clear call.

 

I wouldv'e tried a hard reset on the MicroCell to clear any previous settings and then reactivate, and see what your connectivity is like (see the link in my sig to the Guide).

Tutor

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5 Messages

10 years ago

AT&T sent me a Cisco 3G Micro Cell (MC) to solve a no ring problem.

 

The MC caused a new problem - where the other person on the call would stop hearing my voice. I called AT&T many times over 2 yrs about this new problem & their Reps denied the problem existed.

 

A Google search on: MC problems returns millions of entries.

 

With AT&T’s knowledge, I:

 

1. Replaced my iPhone

2. Ran the new iPhone in factory mode

3. Replaced my SIMM card

4. Replaced my router

 

None fixed the problem. I spent 60+ hrs trouble shooting for AT&T.

 

Last week I read a Forbes article there is a known problem between MC & iPhone. Do a Google search on: Forbes iPhone Micro Cell

 

I called AT&T to learn a new black MC is available, which they sent me and seems to work without dropping calls.

 

I called Cisco today and found an engineer who said there WAS indeed a known MC firmware & iPhone problem but the black model fixes it.

 

Between Forbes & Cisco, AT&T was withholding the truth these past 2 yrs & knowingly distributing faulty MCs to the public.

 

If you are having MC and iPhone or Android problems, call AT&T and request a new Black Micro Cell immediately.

ACE - Expert

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23.9K Messages

10 years ago

I don't think that's true. I have an iPhone 5, and other flavors, and have never had an issue with my iPhone, and I'm still using the original MicroCell. I know of others who have the "white" MicroCell and have never had issues with their iPhones. Voice quality issues are quite often, but not always, a line quality issue (ISP). The newer hardware in the DPH-154 may be a little more tolerant of poor quality line connections. I'm still looking into that.

 

Demanding that ATT give you a new MicroCell is not the way to approach it. You will have to document the problem with them, either thru phone support or ideally sending a pm to CustomerCare. We have also been able to solve call quality issues here.

Contributor

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2 Messages

10 years ago

Yes it will work. I had to disable LTE to connect to my microcell.

ACE - Expert

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23.9K Messages

10 years ago

This is an old thread but the iPhone 5 has no issues, for most people, in working reliably with the MicroCell. The LTE issue is more due to the proximity of a local tower and the strength of the LTE signal causing the phone to search and try to connect via LTE instead of the MicroCell.

Contributor

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1 Message

8 years ago

Otto:

 

I just got a iphone 5 from my brother-in-law.  He lives in metro Dallas area and had great service with the 5.  I have been using a 3Gs, then a 4s in conjunction with a MC; we live several miles from town and had to have the MC in order to have decent service.  I cannot get the 5 to connect to the MC at all under the phone number of my old 4s.  Yet my wife's 4 and my son's 5s have no issues with the MC.  I have soft- and hard-reset the 5, have disabled LTE, and have reset (disabled power to) the MC.  All with no success.  With the LTE enabled, I have two to three bars.  With it disabled, I have one to two bars on "AT&T."  Wifi is enabled and working fine.  I have NOT attempted to delete the old phone number from the MC, and then re-enter it as a new number.  There is one possible issue that grates in the back of my mind:  my brother-in-law did drop the phone that he gave me in the water.  It has since been completely dried and all features are working (except for some slight spots in the screen).  I have avoided addressing that since all other phone features are working.

 

Appreciate any help or comments.

Professor

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2.2K Messages

8 years ago

Your iPhone 5 works otherwise so it isn't the phone.  If you moved your old phone number from the 4s to the 5 without removing and re-adding the phone number on the Mcell registration list, the IMEI numbers don't match in the Mcell database and it won't let you connect.  Wiping out the old number and re-adding it should clear the database and the proper IMEI number will be entered with the phone number.

 

Try that and report back please.

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