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The AT&T 3G MicroCell Owner's Thread

I've had my M-Cell since the beginning of July. I was a beta tester here in Atlanta. With a few burps along the way, I've been good to go ever since.

These are my findings:

1> Charging $15/month for unlimited calls. Not cool especially since you are paying your ISP to route the calls. You can't use Skype with AT$T.

2> Call quality has been great. I haven't had an issue with dropped calls once.

3> Speed. Download speeds on 3G are faster for me than using the M-Cell.

4> GPS acquisition. When the service fails or a network reset, it takes on average 15 minutes to acquire a GPS signal and another 20+ minutes to acquire the 3G signal.

5> Was paid $100 at the end of the trial and got to keep my M-Cell for free :)
 
Luigi239 said:
It's transmitting at 1900MHz, I don't know if that's all it's capable of though.

All of Charlotte is still on 1900MHz for 3G. I wonder if in 850MHz markets the Microcell will transmit on the 850MHz frequency.
Click to expand...

How can you test this??
 
I'd like to see some speedtest comparison results from people who also receive solid cellular 3g signals.
 
jav6454 said:
Another question:

Are your 3G speeds capped at 1.5Mb/s if that's your current DSL/Cable speed?
Click to expand...

It shouldn't be able to go faster then your connection unless there is a little magic in that box..
 
Jumpie said:
4> GPS acquisition. When the service fails or a network reset, it takes on average 15 minutes to acquire a GPS signal and another 20+ minutes to acquire the 3G signal.
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This is probably my biggest complaint so far. I unplugged it to move it to a different location a bit ago and it takes FOREVER to reacquire the GPS and 3G signals. Doesn't seem like it's doing anything that complicated, so I'm not sure why the delay is so huge. But it's not like I plan on going around unplugging this thing frequently, so it's not that big of a deal.
 
Unlimited Minutes Feature

Is there anybody here with AT&T DSL and / or landline service who has purchased a Microcell?

I ask because I referenced the pricing for the unlimited feature on Engadget (http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2009/...ell-does-unlimited-calling-but-it-aint-cheap/) that says the customers who subscribe to DSL and landline service get this feature for free. When I went to the store, I was told that this was not true, and in order to add it, I would need to pay the full $20 per month.

I didn't add the feature, but should I trust the people at the store? Do I need to give the people at 611 a call, or is Engadget just wrong?
 
Entertainment72 said:
I guess I don't get it.. pay At&t more money for something you should receive anyways.. :rolleyes:
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I don't get why people don't get it. ;)

Sure, it'd be great if AT&Ts coverage was better, no question about that. But it's not, so because of that I had a landline (via Vonage) and two cellphones (mine and my wife's iPhones via AT$T). We were/are paying about $35 after taxes for our Vonage service. For the same service as Vonage, AT&T is now only charging me $20. Why would I not want to do that? And I'm consolidating down to two phones as opposed to three!

And people are missing the point on the actual technology. How cool is it that we can start a call on our cellphone and have it directed through the Internet as a VOIP call, then walk out our door and have it seamlessly handed off to an actual cell tower? That is incredibly cool. POTS lines are going away, and I really believe it's this kind of tech that is going to facilitate that complete transition away from POTS lines. Its effectively VOIP for $20/month, but people aren't seeing it that way since their so blinded with their hate of AT&T. I'm not the biggest fan of AT&T either and have seriously considered switching several times. They're policies on data and text messages (i.e. SlingPlayer) are absurd IMO. But this is a GOOD THING they are doing here, so let's not look a gift horse in the mouth.
 
Luigi239 said:
My mom was pissed that we didn't get the unlimited calling free (since we have DSL + a landline) so we just got the Microcell without the unlimited calling.
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Why is that? I read elsewhere (or maybe in this thread), that someone else bought one and the ATT store knew nothing about the free unlimited with a ATT land line & DSL. Did they do the same to your Mom? I am sure this can be corrected later on.
 
pcguru83 said:
I don't get why people don't get it. ;)

Sure, it'd be great if AT&Ts coverage was better, no question about that. But it's not, so because of that I had a landline (via Vonage) and two cellphones (mine and my wife's iPhones via AT$T). We were/are paying about $35 after taxes for our Vonage service. For the same service as Vonage, AT&T is now only charging me $20. Why would I not want to do that? And I'm consolidating down to two phones as opposed to three!

And people are missing the point on the actual technology. How cool is it that we can start a call on our cellphone and have it directed through the Internet as a VOIP call, then walk out our door and have it seamlessly handed off to an actual cell tower? That is incredibly cool. POTS lines are going away, and I really believe it's this kind of tech that is going to facilitate that complete transition away from POTS lines. Its effectively VOIP for $20/month, but people aren't seeing it that way since their so blinded with their hate of AT&T. I'm not the biggest fan of AT&T either and have seriously considered switching several times. They're policies on data and text messages (i.e. SlingPlayer) are absurd IMO. But this is a GOOD THING they are doing here, so let's not look a gift horse in the mouth.
Click to expand...

My sentiments exactly. I have 5 bars of 3G all through my house but I will probably buy the MicroCell and pay the $20 just to get rid of Comcast Digital Voice and save money.
 
greenpaz said:
People are now forking over extra cash to pay for a service they should already be getting. And you know what AT&T is thinking? "Suckers!"
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I should be getting unlimited calling at home now for free? Really? Because surely that wouldn't cost AT&T a dime. I guess I shouldn't be paying Vonage anything either. Bastages!

And for Exhibit A, I present to you the user "greenpaz". Case in point. ;)

More to the point of this thread though, the hand-off from MicroCell to real tower could apparently use some work. I pulled out of the driveway this morning talking on the phone and the call dropped about a block down the road. Just a bit disappointed it didn't work as expected the first time I tried it.
 
pcguru83 said:
I should be getting unlimited calling at home now for free? Really? Because surely that wouldn't cost AT&T a dime. I guess I shouldn't be paying Vonage anything either. Bastages!

And for Exhibit A, I present to you the user "greenpaz". Case in point. ;)

More to the point of this thread though, the hand-off from MicroCell to real tower could apparently use some work. I pulled out of the driveway this morning talking on the phone and the call dropped about a block down the road. Just a bit disappointed it didn't work as expected the first time I tried it.
Click to expand...

Lol, some people don't know what a M-Cell and it's service really means.

In any case, maybe a Software update is all that is required to make a better hand-off. After all, GSM (UMTS also) does a hard transfer (disconnect call and re-connect on the other end), so the timing in the software has to be re-adjusted a bit.
 
pcguru83 said:
I should be getting unlimited calling at home now for free? Really? Because surely that wouldn't cost AT&T a dime. I guess I shouldn't be paying Vonage anything either. Bastages!

And for Exhibit A, I present to you the user "greenpaz". Case in point. ;)

More to the point of this thread though, the hand-off from MicroCell to real tower could apparently use some work. I pulled out of the driveway this morning talking on the phone and the call dropped about a block down the road. Just a bit disappointed it didn't work as expected the first time I tried it.
Click to expand...

I guess I missed the part in Economics class where $150 means "free."
 
greenpaz said:
I guess I missed the part in Economics class where $150 means "free."
Click to expand...
That's exactly my point! It shouldn't be free, yet that's what you and others are arguing. See:

greenpaz said:
People are now forking over extra cash to pay for a service they should already be getting.
Click to expand...
I'm not paying for the better coverage (although it's a bonus), I'm ultimately paying for the unlimited calling at home.
 
So let me get this right...

I spent $900 on 3 iphones 3Gs, I have a family plan that runs about $200/month and NOW I am supposed to by a $150 piece of equipment to have better cell coverage in my house? And I have the option to by a DATA plan as well? Really? Honestly? Really?

This is the height of insanity. I love my iphone but if this is what it take to get decent coverage in my home in San Diego, well, its good-by iphone and ATT and ...Hello Crackberry and Verizon.

"I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it any more!"
 
elgrecomac said:
I spent $900 on 3 iphones 3Gs, I have a family plan that runs about $200/month and NOW I am supposed to by a $150 piece of equipment to have better cell coverage in my house? And I have the option to by a DATA plan as well? Really? Honestly? Really?

This is the height of insanity. I love my iphone but if this is what it take to get decent coverage in my home in San Diego, well, its good-by iphone and ATT and ...Hello Crackberry and Verizon.

"I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it any more!"
Click to expand...

Exactly - spend $175 x 3 to break your contract to go to another carrier who will charge you something for the 3 phones and then the activation fees (yes, darn it, that VZW charges those ridiculous fees to) - $36 x 3.....

Darn, that $150 seems pretty cheap to me. But, you still do not HAVE to buy the Microcell. If ATT's service did not work well enough for you, you should have figured that out in the first 30 days.
 
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