Bravo! Well said.
These bitching idiots really think that they are owed something in life. Nothing is perfect. if it doesn't work for you get something else.
Bloody pathetic!
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AT&T Set to Roll Out Nationwide 3G MicroCell Availability Beginning Next Month
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Bravo! Well said.
These bitching idiots really think that they are owed something in life. Nothing is perfect. if it doesn't work for you get something else.
Bloody pathetic!
It took 15 minutes to setup, and for the first time in two years, I'm now able to use my iPhone in my home.(closest 3G tower to my house is 9 miles away)
I'm dropping Vonage, and paying for the unlimited plan. Saves $9/month and after rebate cost me $50 for the device. Not a bad deal.
Nice one mate.
maybe some of the bitchers around here will get it now!
This is a great idea and it should be getting it's due kudos not the pathetic rants from these "I want everything my way" people.
my question is does your dsl or cable become affected when you're using this mircrocell with a call. I'm playing games online with my ps3 such as MW2 and wonder if I receive a call on my iphone will my DSL become affected or if im downloading a big file etc.
Of course it's "affected". How much depends on how much bandwidth you pay for. If you have 1mbps or better upload speed, you should be fine as I believe. Unless you like to talk like a maniac while playing video games.
Well, you'd best boost your imagination.
It does not work with non-3G phones. It does work with non-data phones, but they have to be 3G capable.
I did this experiment when I had the Microcell briefly back in December (there's a whole tale of woe you can read about at my blog if you want). I placed a call to the USNO master clock and got in the car. The call got a little bit choppy as a drove away, but then it clearly transitioned to the regular cell network about a quarter block away from home. While the call was in progress, the logo on the phone still said "AT&T MicroCell," and then when the call was complete (I was about a mile away from home by then), it changed to just AT&T.
I imagine where GPS is unavailable it just uses your IP address of your internet connection to determine your location.
I imagine where GPS is unavailable it just uses your IP address of your internet connection to determine your location.
Supposedly not from what I have read - it will not activate w/o a GPS lock. People have waited for hours for the GPS to lock in the earlier tests.
I am thinking about getting this. I get spotty service in my apt at best. sometimes it will be great then Ill just drop the call in the middle and have to wait on hold to talk to someone again or when Im talking to my son that lives in a diffrent state. I dont want him to think I dont care and hung up on him having to keep calling back gets irritating for me and him (he's 12). I do think it is robbery that you have to pay extra for minutes that use your ISP connection. 20 seems excessive since AT&T is reaping a huge bennie here by reducing strain on their network at most it should have been 5 buck maybe 10 and thats pushing it. I think 150 plus 5 extra a month for unlimited minutes using the Microcell is acceptable and I dont mean 5 per phone I mean 5 bucks extra an account, be it a single phone or a family plan. I might sign up for the 20 buck plan get the discount on the microcell then cancel it later. depending on my increased use.
But your ISP's bandwidth does not run all the way to the destination phone line. At some point that bandwidth has to run back into AT&T's network where it has to interconnect with the traditional PSTN system, which still bills on a per-minute basis. I'll grant that over-the-air bandwidth is far more expensive than wireline bandwidth, but none of it is $0.
What gets my goat is that switching to a Family Ulimited plan for my wife and I would take us from $60+$9 to $70+$49 - $50 more. Ok, fine. But then, why is unlimited calling within a 50 yard radius of this box 40% of the cost of unlimited calling nationwide? That ratio seems out-of-whack to me.
I'm still likely to do it simply because it's still $10 cheaper than Vonage.
Not only that, but the GPS location must agree with the registered address of the device. That is, if you move it, you must update its location at the AT&T account management website. If it boots up and its GPS location doesn't agree with its registered location, it emulates a doorstop.
Well, you'd best boost your imagination.
It does not work with non-3G phones. It does work with non-data phones, but they have to be 3G capable.
Which is, somewhere in the back of my brain, what I meant. It doesn't have to be data enabled, or actually use 3G features, as long as it has a 3G chipset.
I just checked out AT&T's website, and it appears that they sell 41 different phone models that are 3G capable. Certainly something to pay attention to, but if you don't have cell service at home, and this is important to you, picking up a free 3G phone shouldn't be too much more trouble
In my case, I already have a Family plan and I do about 95% of my calls from my home/home office. I could go down a plan - saving $20 - and sign up for the unlimited plan which would be a wash from a cost stand point but give me unlimited minutes were I need it the most. I would lose A-List, but again, since 95% of my calls originate from home, this would not be a big deal.
I agree that nothing is free but $20 seems excessive per phone. Plus moving to the unlimited plan negates any corp discount you might be using. I get 20% off, if I do the 20 extra for at home minutes I dont get the discount.
Yeah, I don't think they sell any new phones anymore that aren't. It's really just about warning folks who have an EDGE phone they like (Hey, my wife really, really used to like her old RAZR) that it won't work at all with the microcell.
It's not $20 per phone, I don't believe. It's $20 per account. That is, if you pay the extra $20, all phones on your account get unlimited minutes using the microcell.
You can authorize phones not on your account to use the microcell, but they still burn their minutes.
Personally I think it is annoying that you have to buy a MicroCell from AT&T.
I wish AT&T would of chosen to support UMA technology instead of the MicroCell.
All UMA requires to work is a wireless router. The phone can make and recieve calls as long as it is range of wireless router and it works. Leaves the range of the wifi it just hands the call off to the cell network and it can go from cell to UMA with out a problem.
With the Microcell it can go from Microcell to cell network but it can not go from the cell network to Microcell.
I wish AT&T would of chosen to support UMA technology instead of the MicroCell.
All UMA requires to work is a wireless router. The phone can make and recieve calls as long as it is range of wireless router and it works. Leaves the range of the wifi it just hands the call off to the cell network and it can go from cell to UMA with out a problem.
With the Microcell it can go from Microcell to cell network but it can not go from the cell network to Microcell.
I could be snarky and say that nobody "has to," but that's getting old and tired.
On the contrary, because the microcell is using licensed spectrum, it doesn't have nearly the limitations that WiFi (being a part 15 user) does. In particular, the microcells run at lower frequencies than 2.4 GHz, which means they'll penetrate further through interior walls, and are not subject to part 15 power and ERP limitations. And, of course, it will be operating on what is very likely a clear channel (since the box has to 'phone home' to get permission to operate, it means that AT&T can coordinate them with the local cell towers and other microcells that might be nearby).
That's not to say that the 3g microcell will work further than a WiFi router will necessarily, but it can certainly use more power and a better band than a WiFi router would, making a better experience far more likely.
Oh, and lastly, one big benefit of using 3G instead of WiFi is that your phone gets a publicly routable IP address instead of one behind a NAT (this is even true if you're using 3g through a microcell). This makes some apps (personally I have experienced this with Echolink) more likely to work.
I have problems with your arguments. I have AT&T so no UMA.
On the microcell only users you allow and set them up will be able to us it which means hooking it up at your computer plus it only works were some one sets up those Microcells.
The range argument is pointless since people are getting microcells to cover there homes and even then people are going to set up wireless networks in the house to cover the entire home. My home of 3500 sq ft is cover by a single wireless router both upstairs and down stairs with no problem. Router is in a closet out of site beside entire home is cover. I go out side and if I was on UMA it would switch over to Cell towers .
On top of that if it was on UMA when I go to college class the building kills cell signals so there are dead spots all over the buildings but it has great wireless coverage and if I was on UMA could keep my phone working great. I know people on T-Mobile who flip their phones over to UMA while in the building. The college is not going to buy several Microcells just for AT&T users plus they would need to get one for sprint and Verizon. If it was UMA already covered since it is working with the wireless laptops any how.
UMA is better for the end users and if AT&T and other players would support it phones would start coming out with UMA phones.
Hell I would be happy if AT&T would support UMA and just add in the Microcell. People would not be up in arms if UMA was offered because most of us already own the equipment to us it (wireless router)
This is great. I live near Berkeley, California and AT&T has a terrible time getting cell towers approved. It takes years.
Often I cannot make calls from my house, or calls drop 2 or 3 times. Signal is usually around -95 to -105db
$149 is worth it to get working phone service.
Often I cannot make calls from my house, or calls drop 2 or 3 times. Signal is usually around -95 to -105db
$149 is worth it to get working phone service.
I know the anouncement said mid april for a national rollout (at least I think that's what it said), so there's 1 more day of april left, and the website says it's still not available in my area. Granted I haven't actually gone to an AT&T store to check, it's not that big of a deal to me. Wouldn't AT&T put out another press release if things got delayed.
Oh well, I just found out that my town has 3g now after randomly turning on the 3g setting on my iphone, I have no idea when we got it, so I guess if they don't tell us simple things like that they probably wont tell us about delays. Unless I just missed it somewhere x)
Oh well, I just found out that my town has 3g now after randomly turning on the 3g setting on my iphone, I have no idea when we got it, so I guess if they don't tell us simple things like that they probably wont tell us about delays. Unless I just missed it somewhere x)
No, because if they issued one they'd have to give some sort of explanation for the delay, and the most obvious reasons:
- AT&T is dragging their heels upgrading their network, not really wanting to spend the money.
- They don't want to offer tethering at all, but wish to keep dangling it in front of their subscribers like a carrot until they're officially lose iPhone exclusivity.
Not great. I just got our microcell today. I had it by the router which is no where near a window. It did get a GPS lock when it first started up. But about an hour later it started searching for a GPS signal again and the local 3G stopped working. I bit the bullet and put it in the window on a long ethernet cable that is snaked to the other side of the living room. Shame because it would have been nice if the GPS was sensitive.