AT&T 3G MicroCell Site Goes Live, Monthly Fees to Be Up to $19.99?

[Starlifter]

Got one!

I bought one of these today and it works great! I used to have 'no service' or at best 1 bar inside my house and now have 5 solid. I have however encountered one small problem. The location awareness within the telephone is now completely inaccurate by many miles on every single app that uses it---even the maps application, but only at home when I don't especially need the accuracy.

Available in Raleigh, NC - September 28 & Atlanta, GA / Columbia, SC - October 4

Edit (9/29/2009): The problem has been fixed.

 

[BryanLyle]

I'm totallly going to buy a bunch of these, set them up here in roanoke (no 3g service!) and charge people to use them.

The "Roanoke is AT&T Country" billboards make me chuckle because they don't even have 3G. I am hoping that they expand this release quickly so that everyone can get their hands on these!

 

[dmelgar]

Other carriers have their dead spots and the other major 3 carriers also offer Femtocells (or UMA WiFi calling on T-Mobile). No carrier has perfect coverage in every nook and cranny of the country, and no carrier has ever stated they do. So please tell me which carrier gives me 5 bars of 3G coverage no matter where in the country I am, even a building built like a faraday cage, for 50 bucks a month because I'm dying to know.

All carriers are not created equal. Not even close. Look at a national map comparing Verizon's 3G coverage vs. AT&T. AT&T has almost no coverage anywhere in the US. Only in major metro areas, and even then its spotty.

Its a matter of scale. When I had Sprint, I can't remember anywhere in the nation where I didnt get excellent 3G coverage. I simply never lost coverage. I assumed all cell phone companies had matured to that point.

With AT&T I am in a major metro area with supposed 3G coverage. Yet I barely get any coverage at my home and most everywhere I go. Outside the metro area its edge only.

Folks make a big deal about rolling out 7.2mb HSDPA when they don't have any 3G coverage anywhere.

When I signed up for Spring 10 years ago, their coverage was spotty but quickly improved. I signed up for AT&T over a year ago and despite lots of talk I have not found a single place with any improvement. No expanded coverage, no additional 3G coverage, no improvement in poor coverage areas. I am amazed that anyone uses them.

Disclaimer: I dislike Sprint with a passion. Their CS constantly messed up my bill, as in it would take them 6 months and literally days on the phone to resolve in extremely stressful exchanges. AT&T CS has been very good.

 

[d21mike]

With AT&T I am in a major metro area with supposed 3G coverage. Yet I barely get any coverage at my home and most everywhere I go. Outside the metro area its edge only....and no improvement...

Sorry to hear about your bad coverage. However, this is not the case for a lot of people. I am in Torrance California (20 miles south of LAX). When I switched from Verizon to get the iPhone (when it was released) I was very concerned about coverage in my area. So, before I switched I borrowed my brothers AT&T phone and tried it at my house and also at my office and the trip from my house to my wife's office. These were the most used areas. It was pretty much the same as Verizon but the first iPhone only had EDGE. After the 3G came out I upgraded and I have 3G in all those places. When I travel I also get good to excellent 3G coverage (only travel to big cities). Also, in the last few years coverage in my area has gotten better. So, not all areas are the same. I would spend $150 to get a MicroCell in a heartbeat if I did not have 4 or 5 bars of 3G coverage in my house.

 

[Giggity]

For those who actually BOUGHT a MicroCell - is it true that AT&T landline and DSL customers get unlimited MicroCell voice for no monthly charge? It's in the pamphlet photo on this post but I don't see that anywhere on the AT&T site.

I've read it all over, except at AT&T.

 

[PeterQVenkman]

So let me get this straight, you pay an extra $10-$20 a month to get a service you've already paid for to work using another service you've already paid for?

I mean, seriously?

I'm afraid they are serious.

Is that how their 3g is "fast" like they advertise? Because you have to hook your 3G Microcell up to your FIOS connection?



Nice job, AT&T. They've invested billions in upgrading their equipment so you can pay for how it's supposed to work in the first place!

 

[hsk]

I'm afraid they are serious.

Is that how their 3g is "fast" like they advertise? Because you have to hook your 3G Microcell up to your FIOS connection?



Nice job, AT&T. They've invested billions in upgrading their equipment so you can pay for how it's supposed to work in the first place!

Wow, way to go man, never heard that one before!

If you don't agree with the Microcell approach, that's OK, but the hate on this is getting old. Nobody is making anyone buy this - and whether you do or not is not going to change anything at ATT. Please get another carrier.

 

[yukio]

Glad I live in Houston with my 850 Mhz spectrum and great call quality and no dropped calls. YMMV.

that's the karma balance for july & august weather in houston. <g>

 

[dmelgar]

Wow, way to go man, never heard that one before!

If you don't agree with the Microcell approach, that's OK, but the hate on this is getting old. Nobody is making anyone buy this - and whether you do or not is not going to change anything at ATT. Please get another carrier.

You can't get another carrier. People are talking here on Macrumors because they have an iPhone stuck on AT&T. The rebutals defending AT&T and the Microcell are getting old as well. It is a fact that AT&T is asking to use their customers other network resources and charging them for additional hardware to fix deficiencies in AT&T's coverage. That is a simple fact describing their microcell.
Many people rightly think that AT&T should fix their coverage or not charge people when using customer's resources to solve AT&T's problem.

 

[Benster]

For those who actually BOUGHT a MicroCell - is it true that AT&T landline and DSL customers get unlimited MicroCell voice for no monthly charge? It's in the pamphlet photo on this post but I don't see that anywhere on the AT&T site.

I've read it all over, except at AT&T.

Not true. The only discount at the moment is the $100 rebate if you sign up for the $19.99 unlimited plan.

The rebate gives you a $100 AT&T Visa gift card. When I bought my Microcell I asked the sales rep about all these rumors. They said that once the program launches nationally, some of these other discounts may be considered. During the limited roll-out, there is no service discount.


-Benster

 

[tivoboy]

totally

totally true,

if you have home phone and at&t dsl, you get unlimited calling on your purchased microcell, just no rebate.

 

[hsk]

You can't get another carrier. People are talking here on Macrumors because they have an iPhone stuck on AT&T. The rebutals defending AT&T and the Microcell are getting old as well. It is a fact that AT&T is asking to use their customers other network resources and charging them for additional hardware to fix deficiencies in AT&T's coverage. That is a simple fact describing their microcell.
Many people rightly think that AT&T should fix their coverage or not charge people when using customer's resources to solve AT&T's problem.

You CAN get another carrier if talking and data connection are more important than the iPhone. No network is perfect - can ATT do better, sure, but this is a good solution if you are in a black hole. Case in point - me. I have a tower 2 miles to the north of me and 1.5 miles to the south and about 6-7 towers in a 10 mile radius of me. However, where I use the phone in my home office, my signal can fluctuate. It can sometimes be bad enough to make me miss a call. If I go 1/2 mile in just about any direction, I have great service. That, IMO, is a fact of life for me in my house. I had Sprint for years and sometimes had the same problems. ATT is not going to put another tower in my area - just ain't going to happen. Therefore, as an ATT landline, DSL and wireless customer, I think this is a great piece of technology. All 4 of the carriers offer this technology because none of them are going to have the perfect network everywhere for everyone.

So, be pissed all you want about ATT and the Microcell, but you do have a choice.

 

[dmelgar]

So, be pissed all you want about ATT and the Microcell, but you do have a choice.

Ok, I will be pissed all I want about AT&T.
In my area, they have poor coverage everywhere I care to be. They don't have 3G coverage at all outside major metropolitan areas, so the vast majority of the state is edge only. My neighbors and I complained over a year ago... AT&T said they'd look at improving it, just like they've said in the press. Over a year later, I haven't observed any improvement anywhere. No increased coverage area, no improved coverage where they claim coverage.
I simply do not see any effort on AT&T's part to improve horrible coverage in my area.

When I had Sprint, they greatly improved within 2 years. I complained about coverage and they fixed it. By the time I left them they had 3G coverage everywhere in the country I had ever been. I erroneously assumed all cell phone companies had such good coverage.

Rather than make any attempt to improve their coverage, they are now asking customers to buy their own cell tower and use their own network to run it, and AT&T will charge their customers extra for the privilege of improving AT&T's network.

If you're stuck in a spot where AT&T could not improve for some reason, that one thing, but when they're simply too lazy or cheap to improve coverage that they brag about... thats hypocritical.

 

[MorphingDragon]

I still think a signal repeater is money better spent.

 

[Benster]

totally true,

if you have home phone and at&t dsl, you get unlimited calling on your purchased microcell, just no rebate.

Please prove it. Show me a link or something. I'd love to save $20 per month. Apparently you are more "in the know" than AT&T is at the moment. Please share.

-Benster

 

[rbarthle17]

If you're stuck in a spot where AT&T could not improve for some reason, that one thing, but when they're simply too lazy or cheap to improve coverage that they brag about... thats hypocritical.

No, that's a business decision. You live in a less populated area, and AT&T decided obviously there were not enough customers there to warrant an upgrade or new towers. I live in the same kind of place. And although it sucks, I understand it for what it is. AT&T has network issues nationwide, and a limited amount of funds to handle it. They are going to focus on the areas that serve the most people first and foremost always. The rest of us will get whatever is leftover in the pot. Or choose to DIY and get a Microcell. Or switch providers.

 

[dmackerman]

I know that this is sort of an old post, but I'm going to chime in here with my experience on getting a MicroCell for cheap.

The service in my apartment is horrible. I get dropped calls basically every time, and I get 1 bar of service if I'm lucky.

I called ATT and complained about this issue. I went from customer care -> resolution -> tech support, which then said they cannot issue microcells for free. I had to call the store.

I called a local store and they offer a $100 rebate, IF you sign up for the $20/month service. I said ok fine, I called ATT back.

I got on the phone with cancellations. I threatened to cancel my service, and the lady credited my account $50. So at that point I had a $100 rebate, and a $50 credit.

I'm going to use the $20/mo service for one month (I don't need it) and then cancel. This is not against their ToS, I asked 3 people.

So all in all, I got the thing for $20.