The AT&T 3G MicroCell Owner's Thread

[techwarrior]

Ok so I didn't have the time to go through all 30 pages. So how much does this cost. I can get a M-cell tower but I dont want a monthly charge. I get 1 bar to sometimes 3 bars of coverage in my house. So what are the options? Any help with this would be greatly appreciated!
-Dave

$150 for the unit, $20 per Mo for unlimited calling from MCell. With the $20 service, you qualify for $100 rebate on MCell unit, you can drop the $20 feature when you get your rebate. So, net-net is about $70-$90.

Without the unlimited calling feature, regular anytime minutes are used. Data is always counted, whether from MCell or 3G/Edge.

 

[djrobsd]

I've pretty much resolved the fact that the Microcell is just a gimmick and AT&T is using its customers as guinea pigs to test a product that completely sucks.

Every time I call AT&T, they try to blame APPLE and say that the Airport router is not a good router to use with the Micro Cell. They also try to blame Cox and my cable modem, and whatever else they can come up with.

Why is it that I am using the most recognized products in the industry (Motorola Surfboard cable modem and Apple Airport Extreme wireless router) and AT&T can't make their products work with the most popular cable modem and popular wireless router?

Whatever the case may be, my final results after using this POS for 3 months now is:

-Data doesn't work - forget it... It takes FOREVER just to check your email or whatever. Doesn't make any sense, shouldn't it be passing the data (such as web and email) through your wi-fi network? As soon as I turn wi-fi on and it uses my wi-fi for data rather then the Microcell it works great.

-Bars... Improvement within 10 feet of the device. In my bedroom, I still only get 1 bar... The bedroom is only 1 thin sheet of drywall and 20 feet away from the microcell device.

-Dropped calls - Slight improvement, but still drops some calls

-Call quality... Mixed results... Especially in my bedroom, still garbles the voices a bit... Works fine in my living room, but the regular AT&T cell tower always worked fine in the living room.

Since I got the device for free after complaining loudly at an AT&T store, I will probably just keep it, doesn't seem to be hurting things too much, but definitely not improving things either.

Can't wait until Verizon gets the iPhone!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Fant]

Its sad because it sounds like most of the issues you have described are more to do with at&t server's ability to handle the traffic rather than the microcell itself. I was hoping this would be a good solution but until they get their infrastructure behind this set up, it looks like people will continue to have problems.

 

[tibere86]

I have been following this thread in hopes the Microcell issues would get ironed out before investing in one. Curious, why didn't AT&T go the UMA route? I used it for a year with my Tmobile Blackberry. It worked perfectly. Is it a dead technology?

 

[Squid7085]

I called to complain about my Microcell multiple times, I finally got to a tier two tech and his diagnosis, "It is your ISP" I said, "Sir, my ISP is AT&T, are you telling me that my AT&T Microcell is not compatible with my AT&T Uverse Internet service?" It was humorous watching him backpedal on that one. Got my Rebate, canceled the Unlimited Calling, and unplugged the damn thing, its not worth working on it anymore until AT&T takes it seriously. My crappy Macro service at least had clear call quality.

 

[rannddeee]

I called to complain about my Microcell multiple times, I finally got to a tier two tech and his diagnosis, "It is your ISP" I said, "Sir, my ISP is AT&T, are you telling me that my AT&T Microcell is not compatible with my AT&T Uverse Internet service?" It was humorous watching him backpedal on that one. Got my Rebate, canceled the Unlimited Calling, and unplugged the damn thing, its not worth working on it anymore until AT&T takes it seriously. My crappy Macro service at least had clear call quality.

LOL! I wish I can hear that conversation.

 

[bohbot16]

How long did it take between when you purchased the MicroCell and when your rebate arrived?

 

[RaceTripper]

How long did it take between when you purchased the MicroCell and when your rebate arrived?

About 10 weeks for mine. And it's a VISA card, not a check.

 

[Jordan921]

Received our 3G microcell for free. Haven't had any issues with it at all.

 

[frunkis54]

I called to complain about my Microcell multiple times, I finally got to a tier two tech and his diagnosis, "It is your ISP" I said, "Sir, my ISP is AT&T, are you telling me that my AT&T Microcell is not compatible with my AT&T Uverse Internet service?" It was humorous watching him backpedal on that one. Got my Rebate, canceled the Unlimited Calling, and unplugged the damn thing, its not worth working on it anymore until AT&T takes it seriously. My crappy Macro service at least had clear call quality.

thats great

 

[brbubba]

Received our 3G microcell for free. Haven't had any issues with it at all.

Please enlighten us how you got yours for free? Did you just complain?

 

[Pillar]

Please enlighten us how you got yours for free? Did you just complain?

x2

most of the time there is no service at my parents and there is 4 at&t customers living there.

*EDIT*darn, there is no internet service at parents, so wouldn't be of help anyways*EDIT*

 

[Surely]

I got mine free as well. I wrote about it somewhere in the thread I think......

 

[CADer]

Please enlighten us how you got yours for free? Did you just complain?

its free here to in Nevada. At least after the rebates, costs $150 up front. has a $100 rebate for purchasing and a $50 rebate if you get the unlimited calling on it for $20 that can be cancelled anytime.

3 weeks after purchasing ours they installed a new tower in our area and we have full 3G with the microcell off. but it saves us money as we found that +85% of our calling (me and wife) is done from home. So we dropped our mins. from 1400 to 700 and save $20 but then pay $20 for unlimited on Mcell and we watch the mins and have only used 100 on anytime and about 100 on microcell.

 

[SRLMJ23]

I just got a free Microcell today from AT&T. I called up customer support and complained because in my house which is a victorian home made with plaster and stuff my signal drops to 1 or no bars. I'm a Doctor so I have to have my phone available to me 24/7. I don't know if they gave me a free one because I am a doctor or because of the service issue, they also gave me a free month of service (which took care of my $140.00 cell phone bill) so I was pretty satisfied with customer support.

My MicroCell setup within 15 minutes and it's not by a window or anything. To all you who are having problems the new firmware should address it, for those of you who need a microcell but cant really afford it, call AT&T everyday and complain about the service and tell them you need a MicroCell, it's worked for a couple of my friends whom recieved their's free as well.

Good Luck All!!!

 

[tempusfugit]

Since I got the device for free after complaining loudly at an AT&T store, I will probably just keep it, doesn't seem to be hurting things too much, but definitely not improving things either.

/me puts complaining loudly at an AT&T store on to-do list

 

[SRLMJ23]

Yea Tempusfugit. The more complaining you do the better off you will be. I mean hell, they were giving these things away for free to certain people. I guess I was one of the lucky ones.

 

[Shanewilliams]

Yea Tempusfugit. The more complaining you do the better off you will be. I mean hell, they were giving these things away for free to certain people. I guess I was one of the lucky ones.

I guess so! I tried a month ago calling and trying to get one for free and got nowhere! I have literally almost no service with my iphone 4 at home and no kind of data at all. I even went as far as going to switch over to a company cellular south phone and all the rep did was tell me what my ETF would be!

 

[tempusfugit]

Yea Tempusfugit. The more complaining you do the better off you will be. I mean hell, they were giving these things away for free to certain people. I guess I was one of the lucky ones.

My ATT stats:

2 family plans, 9 lines. 8 are iPhones and 1 is a dummy (Bill is $600+ monthly). I think I have PRETTY good leverage if I were to complain about my home service not being top notch. (in all honesty, service in the house could be better, as we have lots of issues with 3GS's and the 3G. i4's get much better signal in my experience)

 

[SRLMJ23]

Yea, I never had a problem until I got my iPhone 4...once I got it I started getting the reception in the house which was unacceptable.

Man with all those lines you should definitely be getting one for free. You are paying them 600 a month and they should you are a loyal customer and give you then MicroCell. I think I got mine for free just because of my profession but if you can think of a story or even make a little white lie up to try and get it I'd go for it. The MicroCell is awesome I get full bars in my entire house, browsing is fast, texting is fast and it even extends outside so if I want to sit on the porch I can.

All you can do is try man. Good luck to ya!

 

[jcole31]

I guess so! I tried a month ago calling and trying to get one for free and got nowhere! I have literally almost no service with my iphone 4 at home and no kind of data at all. I even went as far as going to switch over to a company cellular south phone and all the rep did was tell me what my ETF would be!

I had no luck as well. I bought mine literally like a day or so before the reports of people getting them for free surfaced. I talked to a couple different customer service reps and even tried in store. I feel like a sucker for having paid full price.

I still haven't given up. My first microcell would stop working for hours at a time despite all the lights being on and steady. Tech support was useless and told me that someone would call me to schedule an appointment to come see what was going on. About 5 days later I got a text from ATT saying that their "investigation had concluded and my case was considered closed", despite the fact that my microcell was still out for hours each day. I returned it to my local store for a new one, but I'm still pissed that they blew me off like that. This all took place last week so I'm going to complain my way up the chain for some satisfaction.

 

[SRLMJ23]

J Cole: I would call up and keep speaking to people higher up until you get what you want (like you said you were going to.) They should reimburse you for the MicroCell, I mean it helps if you have a valid reason like I did but hey, you pay for their damn service you should be able to get the bars needed to complete calls and do stuff with your data. I'm telling you, there are nice Customer Service reps that are willing to work with you, you just have to find them.

PS J. Cole: They say if you can keep your MicroCell near a window it will work 100x better because it has better access to the GPS and what not. I know a lot of people don't have their modems by a windows so I can understand if you dont.

 

[djrobsd]

Everyone! DO NOT CALL. Go into the store. The people on the phone have no authority to give these things away for free, but the managers in the actual AT&T stores do...

 

[SRLMJ23]

Thats not true at all. Mine was done all over the phone. They have more power than store employees and managers.

Call and explain your situation, feel the rep out and see if you think the rep will help you or not.

 

[neemtree]

I was told by customer service that they couldn't give me a free microcell and I had to take the issue up with a store manager. I called my local AT&T store manager and ranted about the nonexistent coverage at my home (where I also work), making it clear I would be switching my three wireless lines to the first competitor to offer the iPhone in 2011. She said she didn't have authority to discount or give away any product, but if I bought a microcell, she could apply credit to my wireless account equal to the full price including tax. So that's what I did yesterday. Set up was smooth and now we have three lines functioning as never before. Voice quality is great over a wimpy aDSL connection and texts aren't getting delayed going or coming.