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Poor call Quality with ATT M-Cell

jjk454ss

jjk454ss

macrumors 601
Original poster
Jul 10, 2008
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I'm trying to get someone service in a mobile home, I'm thinking the steel/aluminum construction or whatever it is is causing trouble. Calls just cut in and out really bad, but you step outside and it's fine. They have ATT DSL, 6MB I think, and an M-Cell and it's no better. I'm he phone says is connected to the M-Cell in the statusbar. Anything else I can try?

The phone is a 5s, without the M-Cell it displays one bar, with the M-Cell it displays full bars. Internet speed seems ok, I ran a Speedtest and it showed the full 6 or 8MB, don't remember which now.
 
If I am not mistaken the MCell basically makes the call voip. 6 megabit is pretty terrible, and latency will cause issues too. In short, I don't think that connection is cutting it.
 
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lordofthereef said:
If I am not mistaken the MCell basically makes the call voip. ^ megabit is pretty terrible, and latency will cause issues too. In short, I don't think that connection is cutting it.
Click to expand...

That's what I was afraid of. Maybe I'll have to see what the next faster plan costs. She can stream Netflix though, you'd think she could make a phone call. I am waiting to hear back though, she may be only trying to talk while at the same time watching Netflix. Do I'll find out if that's why. Thanks
 
With voip, latency is an issue too, and DSL is just.... bad lol. Generally, anyway. Have you looked up minimum requirements for MCell? Undortunately I am doing the unwise thing of telling yuou what my gut says more than actual stats. Let me see if I can find something.
 
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jjk454ss said:
That's what I was afraid of. Maybe I'll have to see what the next faster plan costs. She can stream Netflix though, you'd think she could make a phone call. I am waiting to hear back though, she may be only trying to talk while at the same time watching Netflix. Do I'll find out if that's why. Thanks
Click to expand...
If wi-fi is on see if turning it off helps the call quality.
 
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I'll have her try turning wifi off, didn't think if that.

Does a 5s support wifi calling? I'll have to check, I thought it was the 6 and newer for some reason. Also, it's actually uverse not DSL, but is that really the same thing?
 
Wifi calling does work on a 5s. I think I'll go and turn that on, I won't be able to until Tuesday though. Thanks for all the help.
 
jjk454ss said:
The phone is a 5s, without the M-Cell it displays one bar, with the M-Cell it displays full bars. Internet speed seems ok, I ran a Speedtest and it showed the full 6 or 8MB, don't remember which now.
Click to expand...

That sounds just like I was running for a long time. That should work just fine at 2 mb and up.

Now if someone else was using up all or most of the bandwidth "somehow" that could get dicey.
 
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johnhurley said:
That sounds just like I was running for a long time. That should work just fine at 2 mb and up.

Now if someone else was using up all or most of the bandwidth "somehow" that could get dicey.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm really wondering if it's because the TV is always on and Netflix is using all the bandwidth.
 
I don't think that connection is cutting it.
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ht11.jpg
 
jjk454ss said:
Yeah, I'm really wondering if it's because the TV is always on and Netflix is using all the bandwidth.
Click to expand...

A friend of mine had to resort to a M-Cell fro AT&T and his Internet had to be updated to cope. He used a drop-cam and had to turn it off to make a call. After upgrading his Internet all was working great. Bandwidth does make a huge difference!
 
I think that what the majority are telling you about the Internet connection is basically correct.

Although the specification for AT&T 3G Microcell only asks for 1.5 Mbps, in my personal experience this is only going to work well if it's a T1 line.

You can understand that it's not necessarily going to be a priority for Verizon to make sure you have dedicated M-Cell bandwidth on a retail DSL 1.5 line. :)

If AT&T WiFi Calling is an option, I would really recommend that. HD Voice is phenomenal, and a much higher quality, much more enjoyable conversation than a 3G call on AT&T 3G Microcell.
 
jjk454ss said:
Is the requirement for WiFi calling less than a Microcell?
Click to expand...

I am not sure.

But what I *am* sure about is that I was able to connect an HD Voice call with a 1.5 DSL connection when the cellular coverage was minimal.

This was in a retail location where the bandwidth was only being used minimally for Internet orders coming into the store and credit card transactions going out of the store. No streaming going on at the time.
 
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George Knighton said:
I am not sure.

But what I *am* sure about is that I was able to connect an HD Voice call with a 1.5 DSL connection when the cellular coverage was minimal.

This was in a retail location where the bandwidth was only being used minimally for Internet orders coming into the store and credit card transactions going out of the store. No streaming going on at the time.
Click to expand...

Well I'll give that a shot and report back. Thanks for all the help.
 
jjk454ss said:
Wifi calling does work on a 5s. I think I'll go and turn that on, I won't be able to until Tuesday though. Thanks for all the help.
Click to expand...
Wi-Fi calling does not work on a 5S on AT&T.

COMPATIBILITY
Devices that support Wi-Fi Calling
We’re proud to offer Wi-Fi Calling on iPhone, the phone that’s absolutely beautiful and simple to use. Enjoy Wi-Fi Calling on these models**:

• iPhone 6s

• iPhone 6s Plus

• iPhone 6

• iPhone 6 Plus

**iOS 9 must be installed.
Click to expand...
https://www.att.com/shop/wireless/features/wifi-calling.html
 
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