AT&T 3G Microcell / iPhone 4/4S / IOS 5

Apple Support says it MUST be the Microcell and won't research it. They suggest that the SIM card contains the problem.

ATT says it MUST be the internet provider and won't research it.

The last word from ATT: "Well, that just happens. "

I'm glad you came back and reported what you found, however you never did say if you went to the AT&T website and unregistered the device and re-registerd it again. If there is the possibility it is the SIM, did you ask AT&T for a different SIM card. They should provide you one at no charge, especially if you go to one of the corporate stores, not a reseller.I wouldn't know about the internet provider question. I use Comcast/Xfinity, and like I said, no problems for me. I use a Linksys router, model WRT160N. I know you have no doubt unplugged and reset the Microcell. Wish I could think of another thing to try.

have done the off/on for every device in every combination and permutation.

Next step is to find an ATT store to get a SIM exchange. That's the only lead I have to work on.

I was underwhelmed by the ATT Microcell specialist. Dumb as a rock. Just working from a very short script and repeating herself. When I asked if there is a more technical resource that I could escalate to, she said there is nobody else.

..and have a new SIM card and it lost connection to the Microcell in less than an hour....

There's more to the on/off of the devices to reregistering your MicroCell. I had the same problems you describe and the only thing that fixed it was to go to ATT's site for the MicroCells and completely delete the instance of the device as if you no longer owned it. Then wait for a couple of hours and reregister it as if you were buying brand new. I'd even wait until the next day. Once I did this my problems with my MicroCell went away.

I fully agree with your frustration with both Apple and ATT. A pox on both their houses. I also agree that no one at ATT or Apple seems to know how to support this device.

ok. will try this next.

ATT person pointed at Comcast bandwidth, which measures just fine. Something, she said, was hogging bandwidth. To be sure, I turned off absolutely everything connected to the internet. It took the phone about an hour to lose the connection.

I'm thinking all these incantations are superstitious... Waiting for someone to report that drinking a glass of water while singing is the cure...

I had mentioned going to the AT&T Microcell website and deleting the device and re-registering. I use Comcast Internet and have not had an issue with that either. My last thought is the registering of the device. After you go back and re-register the device I believe you have to add the phone numbers of the phones that you want to connect.

Do you have someone else that uses AT&T (friend/relative) that you can add to your list and see if they get a connection and keep it. Someone that can come by and stay for a while? My son's girlfriend connects to ours with her phone, and it is a dumb phone. She has never had any connection problems either.

These are the last things I can think of to try and address your problem. Good luck.

ok. I de-registered the Microcell. Waited. Re-registered.

Now, it doesn't go to "seaching.....", but it loses the microcell and shows the 1-bar of the regular att tower. Even when I walk right up to the microcell. The airplane mode toggle doesn't get it to see the microcell anymore. I have to reboot the phone.

The de and re-registering did change the behavior of the microcell and phone.

I'm going to try that again...

If you can, I suggest doing like the earlier post said. Delete the Microcell tonight and wait until in the morning to re-register it if you can. I believe you need to unplug it too and let it reset. I just dug up my Getting Started Guide for hte Microcell. Let me get some information off that and I will get back to you.

Okay, according to the guide the device has to be powered down to register. After you are on the website and activate it you are supposed to perform the following in the order listed.

Turn the power off on your modem and router. Wait a minute and turn them back on in this order

1. Modem
2. Router
3. Microcell

Make sure the Power and Ethernet status indicators are solid green. Wait 90 minutes. The GPS and 3G status indicators should start flashing green after 10 minutes.

If they are still flashing after 90 minutes you need to do some troubleshooting. However, the Microcell is active if after an amount of time, the indicator lights are all on solid. You will probably also need to power cycle your handset. You also need to make sure your phone number is in the Approved User List.

Message was edited by: ChrisJ4203

ok. knocking on wood here. I've not had a drop in 12 hours so far.

There's something else I've noticed. I've 'registered' the device three times, now.

The first time was problematic, with dropped connections at random intervals requiring the airplane-mode toggle.

Second time, the range of the microcell was diminished. Really. When it dropped the connection, the airplane-mode toggle didn't work. I had to restart the phone to get the connection back, and it lost the connection pretty quickly.

Third time: the range of the microcell is much larger. I get three bars in the far end of the house where it got one or zero bars in the first two tries. It hasn't dropped in 12 hours, which is a record.

So net net: Each activation/registration triggers a different experience.

I tried to disconnect and re-activate my microcell. I got a message saying it was deactivated. Yet later when I went back to the Microcell Mgt website it says my microcell is still activated. Tried deactivating it again and got an error message that it couldn't get my account information.

Tried an hour later, same thing. Microcell shows as activated but cannot get it to disconnect.

All of a sudden, after a couple of hours, the activation process became available to me for my microcell. This was after a few failed attempts to deactivate it only to get error messages and have the microcell management site showing it was still activated.

Anyway, I logged to the microcell management site and it went immediately to the Activation Screen. From there I entered all the information requested, got an email that the activation process had begun. I then went and unplugged the power for the microcell, waited a few seconds, plugged it back in, and about 20 minutes later it was all working.

Both iphone 5's and one old dumb phone now see the microcell and it seems to work even better than it did before with the iphone 4's.

So good news here, at least.

It appears that in the deactivate-activate cycle, a liberal amount of time is required. Not just count to ten. Not going to a Starbuck's for a cup and then activating. Not even going to the local bar and having a few beers. Best results are when you go bar hopping, close down an after hours club, spend the night someplace new, come home and sleep it off. That's about the amount of time you need to wait between deactivating and activating.

Hello Radumas..

I've --HAD-- the same issues as you. I bought a microcell when they first came out/offered in Kansas CIty area, maybe 2 years ago. My Microcell worked great for maybe 6 months till I upgraded from 3gs to a iphone 4. It stopped working when I bought the iphone 4 and upgraded to IOS 5.0, then 5.1. It (microcell) still did not work with the 4S. I purchased iPhone 5 and microcell still did not work. All the time calling ATT customer -DONTcare.

I noticed that a lot of blogs said their Mcell did work,, while others (like mine) did NOT work. I spent hours with ATT --upgraded/escalated- tech support in California,, still not working. but they (ATT tech support CA) did say to --DISABLE-- the Automatic Hand out. https://www.att.com/3gmicrocell/unauth/login.do?target=FOAMM (log in and deactivate). THey said the Iphone 4s and 5's do not reconnect after having handing off to a real cell tower vs Mcell. So, if you disable hand off, she said, once locking into a Mcell (like when you get home),, the Iphone does NOT release from that Mcell till you go 500-1000 feet from your Mcell device. That said it still did not work. I called them (ATT escalated support) last friday and for the first time got a decent answer, that you and others may find helpful. The EARLY generation Mcell devices are --NOT-- the same as today's. The newer ones are HARDWARE upgraded from the originals, and better interact with the newer phones. They suggested I go to ATT and purchase a new Mcell. I did do that. I then deactivated the old Mcell, and then activated the new/purchased Mcell. It has worked like a champ for over 6 days with my Iphone 5, son iphone 5, wife 4s and daughter 3Gs.

All I can say, since the new Mcells are returnable in 14 days from day of purchase,, you can try a brand new Mcell to see if that corrects your issue. It did mine.

I'm going to -try- to return my old Mcell back to ATT later this week. Wish me luck ! !

FYI,, Kansas CIty is a 4gLTE market. I usually get 1-2 bars of cell strength if NOT connected to Mcell, in my home/neighborhood. I have all settings (settings-general-cellular) turned ON, and with new Mcell,, all (phone, data, etc.) works great.

Good Luck to ALL! !

Markhe,

This is interesting information, and as we all know, hardware changes. That is why we keep buying new iPhones!! Did they provide you with any information on how one might tell which generation MicroCell you have? I must say that for the most part I have not had any issues with mine, however at times when I first return home for the day, if I try and initiate a call, it may fail the first time but get through on the second, even though the phone is displaying that it is connected to the MicroCell. Thank you for posting the information.