Government Alerts (AT&T) + MicroCell = dead battery

Good luck with that, tvuolo. I deactivated/reactivated the MC twice (online mgt. page) over the weekend. No change. Try 2 things: unplug the MC for awhile and monitor your battery usage, it should improve considerably. Then look into this. I'll exerpt from a post I have going at the AT&T forum:

Here's a theory, and let me repeat myself, hopefully for the last time, it only started after the Gov. Alerts update, before that, I was connected to the MC, stable connection, no significant battery drain:

My phone periodically disconnects from the MC, searches for a second and re-connects to the MC. All this disconnecting/reconnecting is draining the battery at an excessive rate, even the nice people at AT&T Tech Support back me up on that one. For those of you that are affected (amylyn1970), try this experiment. You'll probably notice your phone carrier at the top left of your screen goes from "AT&T Micro-Cell" (or similar) to "Searching..." then back to "AT&T Micro-Cell" repeatedly. Now, here's the fun part: Launch your stopwatch app. When you see "Searching..", tap "Start". When you see it again, tap "Lap". Do that for 20 minutes. Mine disconnects from the MC like clockwork every 2.5 to 3 minutes, then reconnects, rinse and repeat, all day. Thus, excessive battery drain. Now turn off your Cellular Data (Settings>General>Cellular Data). Now my phone cycles through the disconnect/connect sequence every 25 to 57 seconds. What's up with that? Those of you that are not affected, you should see a stable connection to the M-Cell all day, unless you walk far enough away from the unit with your phone in your hand. Have fun watching your screen that long, I have.

Please report back if you're seeing similar (mis)behaviour.

Yes, the MC seems okay, I agree. It's the phone that's connecting/disconnecting to it that is causing the problem. Have you timed the "searching..." displays as I indicated above? Does it happen on fairly predictable (2.5 to 3 minutes) intervals as mine does? Anyone who is affected should definately call their carrier to report this issue, because only when Apple and, in my case, AT&T, realize that it's not just one person on their network or using their device having the problem, will they look into a solution (patch?) I keep hearing Tech Suport reps at AT&T saying, "We are not aware of any problems the Govt. Alert may be causing." I tell them, "Oh, you will..."

"if it is something between the router and the microcell"

If it was, then all three phones in my house connected to the Micro-cell would be experiencing the same issues because they're all on the same wifi network (router) and all connected to the same Micro-cell. Remember, one phone of the three did not get the Govt. Alerts update since it's still running 6.0. It doesn't disconnect/reconnect all day. The MCell connection is stable and continuous. The battery charge is lasting 3 days plus with light to moderate use.

"Since there have not been too many reports about this"

Not yet. Remember the AT&T Gov. Alerts update just came out on June 15th. Some phone owners are still asleep. Also, not everyone in the world reads the posts at this or any other discussion forum. And yet others keep their phones connected to a charger all day and therefore would never know how long their batteries last between charges. And my son's phone didn't even get the notification that "your Carrier setting have been updated" (like that tells you anything about FCC mandated Gov. Alerts Updates), as I did on my phone at 1 a.m. Sat. morning June 15th. He'd still not know 'less I had told him.

"since this is the only thread that I am aware of..."

There are, on the other hand, an abundance of reports on the internet about excessive battery drain after software updates in general and an even as impressive number of reports about excessive battery drain while using a Microcell device.

Google this:

at&t microcell battery drain iphone

or:

excessive battery drain after iphone update

"but no matter what I do with mine, I cannot duplicate the behavior"

No matter what I do with mine, I can't fix it. And so far, neither can AT&T or Apple. But AT&T is starting, in my case, to get and idea or two, and are finally talking about pow-wowing with Apple about a solution. Keeping my fingers crossed and my charger nearby.

Not sure what I did to warrant a thank you. I'm the one that should be thanking you and everyone else who has perked their ears and stretched their brain to try to find a solution.

"Good luck in working through the problem."

Thank you!

Like most of these mysterious issues, the answer to the problem lies firstly in the recognition, the chiming in of as many people as is possible voicing their experiences. Then, other knowledgeable people add their voices with possible solutions until one, hopefully, gravitates towards the best fix. And I'm sure all this chatter is monitored by Apple, by AT&T, by Google, until some other brilliant engineer or programmer says, "This needs fixed" and writes the code to pull that off. Keep chiming in, keep proposing things to try, until it works or someone brilliant picks up on it and finds the answer. That's my motto.

I have 3 phones, all iPhone 4, all AT&T, all purchased at the same place, same time, all connected to the Micro-cell.

Phones A and B run 6.1.3 and got the Govt. Als. Upd. Both of these phones do excessive battery drain.

Phone B also gets a frequent notification that a phone number needs to be put into Settings even though one is already listed there, in most cases, but is sometimes missing and says "Unknown" (Settings>General>About).

Phone A has seen this notification, but not as frequently as phone B.

Phone A sometimes see Carrier under Settings>General (as if it's roaming) but Carrier disappears after a few seconds.

Phone A and B have frequent disconnects/reconnects to the M-Cell. They cycle every 2.5 to 3 minutes, always. If Cellular Data is toggled off, the the disc/recon cycles every 28, 42 or 55 seconds. Distance from the M-Cell doesn't change this. I've seen this (mis)behaviour within 3 feet of the unit and as far away as 50 feet.

Phone C runs 6.0, DID NOT receive the Govt. Al. Upd. Battery last up to 72 hours, light to moderate usage, does not Search for network or disconnect from the M-Cell when in range.

Phones A and B have "normal" battery life when NOT connected to the M-Cell (48 -72 hours on full charge, moderate usage).

Phone A sent a diagnostic report to Apple who determined that the batery was healthy and normal. I was advised to do a backup/restore on phone A, set it up "as new". Part of the restore process included the carrier update (fresh, as opposed to the original OTA update on phone B), which Apple advised me to perform specifically while I was on the phone with them.

I've had the M-Cell for 1 month today. Deactivated and reactivated it twice via the management website with no affect. It works fine with phone C, the one with 6.0, no carrier update, great battery life. Let me know if I missed anything.

You sound pretty certain. Are you basing your assessment on first hand experience or would you care to share your logic for thinking it's the SIM cards? What is the Govt Alerts update connection to the SIMS?