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iPhone 4S & AT&T Microcell

C

Canyon528

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 16, 2011
4
0
I finally was able to get my phone activated and it will not connect to my microcell. I have cut the phone off & on several times, tried resetting the microcell & nothing works. I was wandering if anyone else was having this problem & if so, were you able to resolve it & how?



eta: I kept cutting it off & on, then it just picked up the microcell, so it's working now.
 
Last edited:
Same issue with AT&T Microcell and iPhone 4s

I have the same issue. After I activated BOTH of the iPhone 4s phones I bought, NEITHER will connect to the AT&T Microcell. I've rebooted phones and even unregistered and re-registered my Microcell. No dice. HELP!!!
 
Solution to Microcell vs. iPhone 4S

Good News and Bad News

The Good News is that there is a solution.

The Bad News is that you have to call ATT to have them reset the account. They said that they only have to reset the main number and that additional numbers on the account just need to be de-authorized and re-authorized to use the Microcell.

Hold time was about 10 minutes.

Good luck.
 
Mine recognized the microcell right away. Try restoring phone using iTunes. I found out the iCloud restore was incomplete due to heavy server usage.
 
I noticed my 4s was not connecting to the Microcell consistently. Usually when I rebooted the 4s it would re-connect. I did not see this happening with the iPhone 4. I called AT&T and they told me that if you have 2 or more bars in your home, it will default to the 3G connection and not the Microcell. It's possible that since the 4s reception is improved, I am not relying as much on the Microcell. Not sure if this is true...
 
My iPhone 4S connects to my Microcell but I don't think it is getting data from it. If I turn off wifi and try to load a website it won't work when connected to the microcell. It just says it isn't connected to the Internet. Anyone else seeing this?
 
benhollberg said:
My iPhone 4S connects to my Microcell but I don't think it is getting data from it. If I turn off wifi and try to load a website it won't work when connected to the microcell. It just says it isn't connected to the Internet. Anyone else seeing this?
Click to expand...

Microcell only works with voice. Your data should still be using wifi.
 
mbhforum said:
Microcell only works with voice. Your data should still be using wifi.
Click to expand...
Microcells support data and SMS in addition to voice.

Of course, I use my WiFi for data (seems pointless to use the Microcell for that unless you're on an unlimited data plan and like slower speeds) but it should be capable of handling SMS and data.

When using 3G data services through your 3G MicroCell instead of Wi-Fi, standard data rates apply
Click to expand...

http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/devices/3gmicrocell.jsp#features
 
dotme said:
Microcells support data and SMS in addition to voice.

Of course, I use my WiFi for data (seems pointless to use the Microcell for that unless you're on an unlimited data plan and like slower speeds) but it should be capable of handling SMS and data.
Click to expand...

That's what I thought. The problem I am having is the phone drops wifi if it isn't in use I believe. Then since it can't get 3G from the Microcell it can't receive notifications like email.
 
benhollberg said:
That's what I thought. The problem I am having is the phone drops wifi if it isn't in use I believe. Then since it can't get 3G from the Microcell it can't receive notifications like email.
Click to expand...
Yep, I think you're right about dropping WiFi when it's sleeping. If you have a non-iOS friend send you a true SMS, do you get it? SMS, unlike iMessage, must be delivered by the carrier, and would have to come in on the Microcell. That would at least see if the thing passes SMS data. If that works, but 3G internet doesn't, I'd contact AT&T support and ask them to help you troubleshoot. (The lights on the Microcell are all green, I assume?)
 
Alright I will do some tests when I get some time. I understand what you are saying though.
 
benhollberg said:
Alright I will do some tests when I get some time. I understand what you are saying though.
Click to expand...
Did you ever get a solution?

My iPhone 4 on iOS 5.0 and has your exact same problem.

My iPhone indicates that it's connected to the MicroCell, but there is no data connection: I cannot load any sites, check email, etc. If I cycle airplane mode, 3G/data works again.

My problem is that I use Google Voice push notifications for SMS. So when my iPhone sleeps (and therefore disconnects from WiFi), I stop receiving text messages.

Since cycling Airplane mode fixes the issue, it would seemingly point to an Apple problem.

PS I also de-registered and re-registered the MicroCell but the problem remains.
 
I did notice that now I am able to get data over the Microcell. It just started working and don't know how. It may have been broken for a few times. It has been a while since I updated this but maybe when the electricity was dead for almost a whole day here it got a good fresh restart or something. I don't know but it works now.
 
I talked to AT&T back in October, they said it was something with IOS5. But that an update would be pushed to the MicroCell device. Perhaps they did that.
My MicroCell is at work, so I won't be able to test it until tomorrow.
 
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