MicroCell™ Informational Document for Technical, Operational, and Troubleshooting Issues v1.
MicroCell™ Informational Document for Technical, Operational, and Troubleshooting Issues v1.7 by Otto Pylot The AT&T MicroCell is a very useful device when in-home cellular coverage is lacking or non-existent. However, it has developed a love/hate relationship with some customers. The purpose of this document is to hopefully explain some the technical workings of the MicroCell, which may help to explain why some customers have problems with their MicroCell’s or their phones when attempting to connect.
MicroCell™ Informational Document for Technical, Operational, and Troubleshooting Issues v1.7 by Otto Pylot Unfortunately, the end user has no control over these issues and they can be on-going or temporary. Jitter – this is defined as a variation in the delay of received packets. Data packets are sent as a continuous stream evenly spaced apart.
MicroCell™ Informational Document for Technical, Operational, and Troubleshooting Issues v1.7 by Otto Pylot accurate determination on what is going on with your network, these determinations need to be made over longer periods of time and compared to the times of day to ascertain high usage windows which may coincide with issues. The following links are for two good tests you can perform to assess your line quality.
MicroCell™ Informational Document for Technical, Operational, and Troubleshooting Issues v1.7 by Otto Pylot The MicroCell can support up to four voice or data users at once and can be shared with up to 15 UMTS mobile phones (but they must all be on the AT&T service). There is no monthly cost to use the MicroCell unless you choose to opt for the unlimited in-home use plan. Pricing and rebates may vary from time to time. You can have multiple MicroCells on one account at a single location to extend coverage.
MicroCell™ Informational Document for Technical, Operational, and Troubleshooting Issues v1.7 by Otto Pylot OpenBSD 4.9 router notes: for those of you who use OpenBSD, some issues have been reported when using the 192.168.100.0/24 subnet. You may want to try 192.168.1.0/24 and see if that corrects the problem.
MicroCell™ Informational Document for Technical, Operational, and Troubleshooting Issues v1.7 by Otto Pylot Motorola NVG 510 for ADSL2+ - the newest offered but can have problem with marginal lines and has had DNS issues. Motorola NVG 589 – VDSL2 for those who have a bonded pair. PACE 5031 - are supposed to the “best” for VDSL without a bonded pair (they can also be used for ADSL2+ but are not recommended). 2Wire 3801 – VDSL2 of choice for customers between 1900 and 3000’.
MicroCell™ Informational Document for Technical, Operational, and Troubleshooting Issues v1.7 by Otto Pylot available. Without the use of the MicroCell, the Signal Strength LED will be solid green, yellow, or red to indicate the quality of the signal. When connected to the MicroCell, the Signal Strength LED will blink green. To connect to the MicroCell, the WHP needs to have its phone number added to the Approved User List of the MicroCell.
MicroCell™ Informational Document for Technical, Operational, and Troubleshooting Issues v1.7 by Otto Pylot hours of minimal usage, usually very late at night or early in the morning. GPS location is verified by using the local tower and the NWL (Network Listen) protocol. If NWL fails for any reason, then the MicroCell uses the standard GPS scan to confirm location.
MicroCell™ Informational Document for Technical, Operational, and Troubleshooting Issues v1.7 by Otto Pylot From AT&T: The address where the MicroCell is physically located will be verified via the online registration process prior to use. If buildings, landforms, or other obstructions block satellite and/or cell tower wireless signals to the MicroCell, AT&T may be unable to verify the location of the device.
MicroCell™ Informational Document for Technical, Operational, and Troubleshooting Issues v1.7 by Otto Pylot In soft handovers, the phone is continually talking to multiple macrocells (towers) at the same time, so the transition is seamless because you are already connected and communicating with the towers you are going to be handed over to. In hard handovers, the phone will literally drop the active connection and transition to another connection.
MicroCell™ Informational Document for Technical, Operational, and Troubleshooting Issues v1.7 by Otto Pylot AT&Ts 3G offers data up to 3.6Mbps alongside voice which is pretty much what I saw with my iPhone 5 SpeedTest when I tested it in 2013.. HD Voice, while it doesn’t pertain to the MicroCell specifically, does come up from time to time in the forums so I thought I’d briefly mention it here.
MicroCell™ Informational Document for Technical, Operational, and Troubleshooting Issues v1.7 by Otto Pylot The IMSI number is converted by AT&T’s IT Department to a phone number. But AT&T doesn’t have a list of all of the possible IMSI numbers worldwide because that would be very expensive to maintain. The MicroCell is an IMSI based system which is how it ties into the AT&T network and forces conversion to actual numbers.
MicroCell™ Informational Document for Technical, Operational, and Troubleshooting Issues v1.7 by Otto Pylot (tower) locations, etc. some issues may be more difficult to resolve than others. MicroCell Service Area Outages: The causes for this are many and varied and are beyond the scope of this document so I won’t go into that here. An outage can be localized or regional depending on the cause and can be fixed quickly or go on for a week or more.
MicroCell™ Informational Document for Technical, Operational, and Troubleshooting Issues v1.7 by Otto Pylot Power Light is Red or Not Lit: Obviously a power problem, especially if none of the lights are on. Check the power cable to make sure it is firmly in place and the same at the outlet. Check the outlet with a circuit tester or a lamp to make sure it is ok. If the a/c adapter feels warmer than it should (subjective I know but if it’s too hot to touch….
MicroCell™ Informational Document for Technical, Operational, and Troubleshooting Issues v1.7 by Otto Pylot small stand so that the top of the MicroCell is about two or three inches below the window sill. This gives the top of the MicroCell maximum exposure to my North facing window. We have a metal roof and have no GPS issues at all with this placement. If you live in a rural area or a relatively new area, AT&T may not have your address in their locational database that matches your GPS coordinates.
MicroCell™ Informational Document for Technical, Operational, and Troubleshooting Issues v1.7 by Otto Pylot firmware is current or that any changes haven’t been made (automatic updates). If the above suggestions don’t work, then you may have to look at your router settings. The minimum requirements are listed at the beginning of this document. If you don’t know how to check the listed parameters, you’ll have to contact your ISP or the router’s mfr.
MicroCell™ Informational Document for Technical, Operational, and Troubleshooting Issues v1.7 by Otto Pylot this is only a temporary “fix”. Dropped Calls and/or Call Quality: The main cause seems to be variable internet speed. The faster, and more stable your speeds are, the better the call, connectivity and quality-wise. Latency, packet loss, etc will affect your calls. RTP jitter can also be a problem with VoIP calls using the MicroCell.
MicroCell™ Informational Document for Technical, Operational, and Troubleshooting Issues v1.7 by Otto Pylot cause other issues. If you can make your MicroCell work with SIP ALG turned off, then it’s an indication that SIP ALG is implemented poorly causing MicroCell traffic disruption even though, in theory it should not. Miscellaneous: Sometimes the MicroCell just doesn’t work because of the multitude of variables. It is also possible that the MicroCell is a lemon and needs to be replaced.
MicroCell™ Informational Document for Technical, Operational, and Troubleshooting Issues v1.7 by Otto Pylot If you have issues with your MicroCell, whether it is brand new or a working MicroCell recently developing problems, don’t always assume it’s AT&T or the MicroCell. As service providers merge, expand their service areas, install new hardware or security protocols that may, and will, affect the MicroCell for the reasons given above (see VoIP Basics).
MicroCell™ Informational Document for Technical, Operational, and Troubleshooting Issues v1.7 by Otto Pylot effort to setup.
MicroCell™ Informational Document for Technical, Operational, and Troubleshooting Issues v1.7 by Otto Pylot Connect the MicroCell directly to your router or router/gateway combo with an ethernet cable. If you are using PowerLine Adapters, bypass them if possible and see if that improves your connection Disclaimer: This has been a very long project and is still a work in progress. I have tried to make this as accurate as possible.
MicroCell™ Informational Document for Technical, Operational, and Troubleshooting Issues v1.7 by Otto Pylot Version 1.4, February 2014 1. MicroCell data speeds 2. U-verse Basics 3. VoIP Basics 4. Added a final comment to the Miscellaneous Musings section 5. Added a separate Ethernet conditions section Version 1.3, October 2013 1. OpenBSD 4.9 settings 2. Using an alternate browser for Activation 3. Galaxy Note 3 4. Contacting ATTCustomerCare 5. Complete Reset/Activation procedure 6.
