{"id":900,"date":"2011-06-05T03:03:29","date_gmt":"2011-06-05T06:03:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fonz.net\/blog\/?p=900"},"modified":"2017-04-11T18:43:45","modified_gmt":"2017-04-11T21:43:45","slug":"w-htm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fonz.net\/blog\/archives\/2011\/06\/05\/w-htm\/","title":{"rendered":"AT&T Microcell"},"content":{"rendered":"

Update 2: <\/strong>Woke up this morning to find things still not working for either phone, along with about automated 35 text messages AND emails telling me to call support. \u00c2\u00a0Anyways, spoke with someone new, they once again reactivated the device. \u00c2\u00a0After 90+\u00c2\u00a0minutes of waiting, now both phones seem to work. \u00c2\u00a0We’ll see how things go over the next few days\/weeks. \u00c2\u00a0In the mean time Anandtech has an extremely in-depth tear down of the AT&T Microcell device<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Update: <\/strong>90 minutes became a few hours. \u00c2\u00a0Apparently during the activation process if you have a device AT&T has deemed invalid, the Microcell will NEVER complete activation. The lights will blink indefinitely. \u00c2\u00a0Upon calling AT&T they informed me their systems have determined my phone was not purchased through them, and therefore they can’t activate the microcell for it. \u00c2\u00a0Still waiting to see if Maru’s iPhone 3GS has the same issues, now that I’ve removed my phone from the ACL list.<\/p>\n

Since signing up for service with AT&T in November 2010, I have\u00c2\u00a0continuously\u00c2\u00a0had call quality and service issues. Prior to AT&T the same NexusOne device had worked reliably on TMobile’s network (albeit slow due to only 2G being supported).\u00c2\u00a0 While not desirable I found ways to make it\u00c2\u00a0bearable\u00c2\u00a0while living in LA\/Santa Monica. However since we moved to San Francisco in April 2011 the service quality has been unusable, especially at home.<\/p>\n

For the first two months here AT&T was insistant that all of the world’s problems end, including my coverage issues would end if I 1) Purchased a phone from them that had an AT&T logo on the back and 2) Signed up for contract.<\/p>\n

Finally late last week they gave up on trying to up-sell me, and I got a call from someone in customer service department offering me a femtocell (or as AT&T calls it “AT&T 3G Microcell<\/a>“). \u00c2\u00a0These are basically rebranded Cisco devices<\/a> that provide a small 3G antenna in your home or office, and then route your calls via voice over IP.\"AT&T<\/a><\/p>\n

The device arrived today and is now online. \u00c2\u00a0There are a few limitations that leave a bit to be desired:<\/p>\n