iPhone Not Connecting to Microcell

Anybody every figure this one out?  I brought home a brand new Microcell and it activated fine.  All lights are green.  I have two 3G iPhones (one at 3.0 and one at 3.1.3) and neither one shows any bars of service when connected to the M-Cell.  ZERO bars.  Like the previous poster, oddly, 3G data works fine.

I've tried hookup options A and C and restored both iPhones.  I've also tried the Microcell upstairs (which has 1-2 macrocell bars) and downstairs (which has 1 bar to no macrocell service).  Nothing seems to make a difference.  My Internet connection is Comcast 16Mbps up/3Mbps down.

As a last resort, I pressed the Reset button on the back and held it until the 3G light went out (5-10 sec).  I then released it and 10-15 sec later all the lights went out and the Microcell rebooted.  When it came back up, both iPhones connected to the Microcell and have 5 bars all over the house including the garages.  Everything has worked great for the past two days (knock wood).  I don't know how the reset is any different from a power cycle, but it sure fixed my problems.  YMMV.

Words of encouragement:

In the last few weeks, my iPhone will connect if I turn off WiFi on the phone and then toggle Airplane Mode. 

It's still pretty awful though because it drops the connection to the MicroCell a zillion times per day and I can only walk about 10 feet away from the MicroCell before my iPhone drops the M-Cell connection. 

Words of blame:

I'm pretty sure that this is all some kind of bug in Apple's iOS 4 and not a problem with the MicroCell.  Up until iOS 4.0.1 came out, my iPhone worked just fine with the MicroCell.  iOS 4.0.1 came out and then huge problems.  (And by "problems" I mean it wouldn't connect *at all*) 

iOS 4.0.1 was a fix related to signal strength.  The initial release of iOS 4 was erroneously displaying more bars of signal than it was really getting.  I think that there's a bug that was introduced in iOS 4.0.1 that's causing all of our M-Cell problems.  My iPad (iOS 3.2) connects to the MicroCell like a champ and works exactly like it's supposed to. 

Basically, it's the iPhone's decision about whether it's going to attach to the MicroCell or whether it's going to attach to the insanely weak cell tower signals.  Whatever it's doing, our iOS 4 iPhones make the wrong decision.

Words of (cranky) hope:

My $0.02, as soon as the Windows Phone 7 devices come out, I'm grinding this iPhone up in the blender and pouring it down the toilet.  Crossing my fingers that the WP7 devices work better with the MicroCell.

Before grinding your iPhone, my first suggestion would be to update to ios 4.1.  I believe included with this update was a new carrier profile (AT&T 7.0 to 8.0), but don't quote me on that.  I've had the M-Cell since June and our two iPhones (3GS model) connect as long as you toggle the phone in and out of airplane mode.  Sometimes the phone will pick it up, but it's a rare occurance.  My fiance's work BlackBerry is a different story.  It connected a few times after installing the M-Cell, but won't connect at all any longer. 

Everyone seems to be quick to throw the blame on Apple (and maybe they are partially at fault), but this isn't their device, it's AT&T's device.  They should be fixing this, not Apple. 

Hi fatkid98,

I've been running iOS 4.1 since it was released.  I think that there's a partial bug fix in 4.1 and that's what's allowing me to connect to the MicroCell. 

It sounds like you and I have to do the same workaround though to make it work -- turn off WiFi on the phone and then toggle Airplane Mode.  That makes it work temporariliy but hardly as advertised. 

I'm sure that AT&T isn't blameless and I'm sure that the MicroCell has some bugs -- they've done at least 3 or 4 firmware patches since the device was released to retail -- but the electronic decision about which cell tower to attach to is largely on the device.  I doubt that AT&T is writing the operating system code on the handsets on behalf of Apple. 

-Ben

I agree 100% Ben.  One thing I've been doing lately is toggling off 3G for a few seconds and then turning it back on.  This also allows me to connect to the M-Cell without airplane.  It's a few more steps, but it doesn't turn off wifi.  Having wifi on or off doesn't seem to make a difference when trying to connect.  I still prefer to use wifi when I can rather than 3G.

I went through this whole Airplane Mode switching thing until some people claimed that getting a new SIM card helps. I was very skeptical but desperate enough to go along with it. It's still not perfect, but it now mostly works and does not require me do the Airplane Mode dance anymore. I do not need to switch off wifi either.

Not a new sim card for me but I had them reactivate it. (Was having provisioning issues and it basically was like getting a new sim card)  I went from a Fuze to a iPhone 3G and on both it would always say AT&T extend.. never M-Cell.   While it worked before flawlessly, it was a low signal even a floor above it.  Now I get full signal in the house, and can even pick it up next door. 

I can get iPhone4s to connect to the MicroCell if I reboot the phone or toggle 3G.  But if I'm connected to the MicroCell and walk out of range and pick up a tower AT&T signal, when I come back the phone doesn't detect the MicroCell unless I reboot or toggle 3G.

I'm using a second MicroCell after the first died after a power failure (despite being on a surge protector).  It seemed like this problem didn't occur often then, but it was before I had the plastic bumper, so when I held the phone in the "wrong" way it may have sent my tower signal so low that the phone looked for the MicroCell (signal was typically 0-1 bars with no bumper, while holding the phone in the "wrong" way; I usually get 2-3 bars of tower AT&T signal). 

I've been using iOS 4.1 since a day or two after it came out.

The AT&T support folks suggested trying another MicroCell, which I did with the same results.  I've also tested with a second iPhone4, with the same results.  We have one non-iPhone; I can fiddle more with that but it doesn't seem to recognize the MicroCell at all.

I understand that AT&T and Apple have not gotten this working well enough to switch a call in progress to the MicroCell when coming into range.  But not switching to the MicroCell automatically when coming into range while not talking on the phone is a serious problem.  One could go through the hassle of toggling 3G before initiating a call, but one can't do that before answering a call.

From the size of this thread it seems there is a systematic problem here and AT&T should assign a high level technician to get this working, or issue some sort of other software or hardware fix, or warn anyone getting a MicroCell beforehand that for many people they don't work.