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The AT&T 3G MicroCell Owner's Thread

So I just moved into a new house a few months ago and needless to say my cell service blows! I usually get a bar of service no matter where I go. I finally decided to call AT&T and see what kind of deal they would give me on there Microcell. After getting 2 dropped calls while on the line with AT&T I was finally able to get through to talk to them. I told them about my crappy service and I would like to get a rebate or discount on the Microcell. After talking to her mangager and checking cell service in my area they gave me it for free! So I happily walked over to my local store and picked it up scott free! I'm setting it up now so hopefully it works like a charm!

So I just completed the install and it took about 15mins in all. Very simple and works beautifully! I'm so happy 5 bars in the house!
 
I just got a MicroCell from AT&T, I get 5 full bars and the call quality is great, however the data over it is terribly slow. I looked in the instructions and followed there directions to change the one setting in the router to 1492. Is there any other ports I need to open up or is that it? Any help would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.
 
SRLMJ23 said:
I just got a MicroCell from AT&T, I get 5 full bars and the call quality is great, however the data over it is terribly slow. I looked in the instructions and followed there directions to change the one setting in the router to 1492. Is there any other ports I need to open up or is that it? Any help would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.
Click to expand...

Read through the thread. Data speed is capped.

Use wifi for you data needs.
 
Surely,

Thanks for the info. So you're saying the data speeds are capped through the MicroCell?? If so that's kind of stupid, but whatever. I appreciate your help man. Thanks bro.
 
SRLMJ23 said:
I just got a MicroCell from AT&T, I get 5 full bars and the call quality is great, however the data over it is terribly slow. I looked in the instructions and followed there directions to change the one setting in the router to 1492. Is there any other ports I need to open up or is that it? Any help would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.
Click to expand...

This is precisely my experience. Fortunately I can use wifi for data at home and only use the microcell for phone service. I'm sorry to know that the poor 3G data using microcell is not just my experience. Sorry that I have not found a solution.
 
Mad-Dog,

I'm still looking for a resolution. I called Linksys but of course my router was past it's warranty and they wanted 50 bucks just to talk to technical support so I was like F that. I think in my case it definitely has something to do with my router.
 
SRLMJ23 said:
I just got a MicroCell from AT&T, I get 5 full bars and the call quality is great, however the data over it is terribly slow. I looked in the instructions and followed there directions to change the one setting in the router to 1492. Is there any other ports I need to open up or is that it? Any help would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.
Click to expand...
Using the 3G M-Cell for data is pointless, and counts against your data allocation. It's not intended for data anyway. Use a WiFi connection to your internet service for data.
 
3gmicrocellsucks.com

After suffering with a litany of problems for 6 months with our Microcell, I've registered 3gmicrocellsucks.com. Initial content is a redirect into AT&T's own customer forums with over 300 posts on the number one problem - the 'stuttering audio' problem.

But I'm sure as the weeks go by without any word from AT&T, I'll expand on this and include lots of horror stories from the many people AT&T has defrauded with this device.

I'll even publicly promise that if my microcell is ever made to work properly, I'll turn the domain over to AT&T. But until then, I'll be content to be a gadfly.
 
As a bit of an update, I am still not sure how some of you are getting refunds/credits, but consider me jealous. I have talked to several different customer service reps via phone and email and have been unsuccessful. I have had legitimate problems with my microcell and have documented claims with tech support that are still not fixed and I still get denied each time.

AT&T, home of preferential treatment for some, and the shaft for most.
 
jcole31 said:
As a bit of an update, I am still not sure how some of you are getting refunds/credits, but consider me jealous. I have talked to several different customer service reps via phone and email and have been unsuccessful. I have had legitimate problems with my microcell and have documented claims with tech support that are still not fixed and I still get denied each time.

AT&T, home of preferential treatment for some, and the shaft for most.
Click to expand...
You need to go to the store you purchased it from if you purchased it locally. Thats what I did and was able to get full credit after 90 days of ownership. I spoke to the manager and she looked up my records with their engineering and tech support to see all that was attempted. She was glad to help me out on the return.
 
audiomixer said:
You need to go to the store you purchased it from if you purchased it locally. Thats what I did and was able to get full credit after 90 days of ownership. I spoke to the manager and she looked up my records with their engineering and tech support to see all that was attempted. She was glad to help me out on the return.
Click to expand...

I had tried at my local store were I bought it and was denied. The good news is that I was persistent and finally got a CS rep on the phone that did the credit no questions asked.

The bad news is that it has been a few days and the credit still does not show on my account. Hopefully it went through and will show up soon. I could tell the CS rep was new so I hope she knew what she was doing. I don't want to have to go through all this again if it didn't work.
 
ATT is seriously run by idiots. I already bought one microcell for my girlfriend, no way am I paying another $160 for my house. So I call up ATT and say, I want a microcell in exchange for me renewing my contract (I just went out of contract on Oct 1st). They more or less said we can't do that under any circumstances. I went through three different departments and no one could do anything. They told me going into the store is my only option, which I doubt will be any more successful. If the store doesn't give me anything I'm getting an Evo and going to Sprint. I hate ATT!!!!
 
brbubba said:
ATT is seriously run by idiots. I already bought one microcell for my girlfriend, no way am I paying another $160 for my house. So I call up ATT and say, I want a microcell in exchange for me renewing my contract (I just went out of contract on Oct 1st). They more or less said we can't do that under any circumstances. I went through three different departments and no one could do anything. They told me going into the store is my only option, which I doubt will be any more successful. If the store doesn't give me anything I'm getting an Evo and going to Sprint. I hate ATT!!!!
Click to expand...

If you throw a big enough fit, they will give in to you. I'm proof of that. I was told countless times that they couldn't credit me back what I paid for the microcell. I was persistent with calling and writing emails and then calling back with an even firmer tone. I eventually got the credit. It was not easy, by any stretch, but they will credit your account the $150 if you continue to push hard enough.

I agree that they are run by idiots. Dealing with their CS department is a guaranteed headache.
 
text from ATT this morning...

Early this morning 4:30 a.m. (thanks for waking me up) I received a text from ATT saying "Congratulations! You have successfully activated your 3G Microcell device. It's ready for use."

The thing is, I've had this device for 6 months now. Why would it be telling me that this late in the game? Anybody know what that's all about?

I also, just received an email saying basically the same thing as if I had just set this thing up!

Is this a normal event that goes on every once in a while or is something up?:confused:
 
DotCom2 said:
Early this morning 4:30 a.m. (thanks for waking me up) I received a text from ATT saying "Congratulations! You have successfully activated your 3G Microcell device. It's ready for use."

The thing is, I've had this device for 6 months now. Why would it be telling me that this late in the game? Anybody know what that's all about?

I also, just received an email saying basically the same thing as if I had just set this thing up!

Is this a normal event that goes on every once in a while or is something up?:confused:
Click to expand...
I only ever got the first one about 6 months ago. How odd.
 
DotCom2 said:
I can only hope that it might be some sort of firmware update because this thing has been basically useless for me.
Click to expand...

That's too bad. Mine is the only reason I'm still with AT&T. My colleagues and I work on the first floor of a tall metal building in the middle of a city. We got "searching" (til the battery ran down) day after day. Now all 5 of us have 5 bars. Have to reset it once in a while and toggle wireless on our phones once in a while, but we have a signal finally.
 
DotCom2 said:
Early this morning 4:30 a.m. (thanks for waking me up) I received a text from ATT saying "Congratulations! You have successfully activated your 3G Microcell device. It's ready for use."

The thing is, I've had this device for 6 months now. Why would it be telling me that this late in the game? Anybody know what that's all about?

I also, just received an email saying basically the same thing as if I had just set this thing up!

Is this a normal event that goes on every once in a while or is something up?:confused:
Click to expand...


The exact same thing happened to me this morning. I woke up and had the "Congrats on your Microcell activation" text message and email. Also this morning, I have NO Microcell service either. A reboot of the Microcell fixed it, but why did I need to reboot it? Something is definitely up and I may have to give AT&T a call later today. Grrrrrrr.
 
The wife and I got the 'Welcome, your Microcell has been activated' message at 3:46 this morning - again.

I assume there was some update / reboot and the flag for a new installation hasn't been cleared?
 
DotCom2 said:
Early this morning 4:30 a.m. (thanks for waking me up) I received a text from ATT saying "Congratulations! You have successfully activated your 3G Microcell device. It's ready for use."

The thing is, I've had this device for 6 months now. Why would it be telling me that this late in the game? Anybody know what that's all about?

I also, just received an email saying basically the same thing as if I had just set this thing up!

Is this a normal event that goes on every once in a while or is something up?:confused:
Click to expand...

Same thing happened to me..... I got the text at 4:06 am on October 22.

Friggin' AT&T. I've noticed that the thing was going offline all evening and into that night....... perhaps they were pushing some sort of update?
 
So, over the weekend I called AT&T (yet again) to complain about the crappy reception in/around my house. I've done this many times before but this time I was extra annoyed and persistant. I must have said the right things because they finally agreed to comp me a MicroCell.

The MicroCell arrived yesterday and I promptly set it up last night. Activation went smoothly.

Now actually placing calls on the thing is an exercise in futility. It consistently drops call after a few minutes of being connected. I'm on iPhone 4, which mysteriously loses connection to the M-Cell and reverts to cell towers, and then back to the M-Cell seemingly at random. After one night of testing, I think the device is horrible.
 
rikers_mailbox said:
Now actually placing calls on the thing is an exercise in futility. It consistently drops call after a few minutes of being connected. I'm on iPhone 4, which mysteriously loses connection to the M-Cell and reverts to cell towers, and then back to the M-Cell seemingly at random. After one night of testing, I think the device is horrible.
Click to expand...

I filed an FCC complaint about the same thing, and AT&T refunded my money for the device as a result.
 
RaceTripper said:
I filed an FCC complaint about the same thing, and AT&T refunded my money for the device as a result.
Click to expand...

Well, luckily i didn't pay any money for the microcell. It was a freebie. I'll probably hang onto it and watch the forums to see if there's a firmware update or something that improves performance. I'm simply amazed that AT&T can advertise so many great "features" of the MicroCell but it hardly delivers on the most basic feature of the device.

I may file an FCC complaint anyway.. could you provide a link?
 
jcole31 said:
If you throw a big enough fit, they will give in to you. I'm proof of that. I was told countless times that they couldn't credit me back what I paid for the microcell. I was persistent with calling and writing emails and then calling back with an even firmer tone. I eventually got the credit. It was not easy, by any stretch, but they will credit your account the $150 if you continue to push hard enough.

I agree that they are run by idiots. Dealing with their CS department is a guaranteed headache.
Click to expand...

These people really won't budge. Sent a few emails to them and still not even moving. Virgin Mobile's new android phone is looking nice right about now.
 
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