Bringing home a new AT&T phone to find out there is no signal is one of the most frustrating situations. You run around the house holding the cell phone trying to get a bar, or even worse is when the call drops because of bad signal. There is a solution. Cell phone signal boosters.
Why the bad wireless cell phone signals?
There are many factors that contribute to having bad cell phone reception. Near-by landscape, the composition of the building, weather, the cell phone’s antennae itself and the make and age of your cell phone.
That’s why having poor cell phone signal is very frustrating because it is hard to identify where the problem is coming from. Spending hours with customer service will only get you so far before you have to buy a signal booster for your AT&T phone.
AT&T’s Microcell
AT&T has provided a femtocell solution for their cell phone signal issues. It is Cisco’s product, MicroCell. It is a wireless signal booster that connects using your Internet broadband connection to boost the cell phone signal in your workspace or house. It essentially becomes a mini tower in your home.
Microcell improves the cell phone signal for 3G and voice calls, which helps when you are sending MMS and videos to your friends. It is also great because there is a sense of security with the phone actually working instead of dropping calls.
It is very easy to setup. You plug the MicroCell unit into your broadband internet connection (your router) and log into your AT&T wireless account. Only 10 cell phone numbers can be registered. It is convenient if you are using it in an apartment or home. For bigger area’s you will need to look into other cell phone signal boosters.
Concerns about MicroCell
The price tag on this baby is $200. $200 is a hefty price tag for a service you should be receiving anyways and it has made some customer not so happy. It was first $150 with a promotional offer but they made this change in January 2011 and decided to cancel the promotional offerings.
Some customers have reported that initiation of calls takes a very long time. The phone will hang for several seconds before a call is placed.
The range on the MicroCell is limited to 40 ft. If you live in a large house then you will have trouble picking up signal. Do not buy this if you are living in a large house because who wants to stand by the MicroCell to make calls? The reason people get a cell phone is to be mobile!
The way to fix this problem is with a Bluetooth head set. If you have a blue tooth head set than you can just place your phone in the Microcell signal area and use your blue tooth to talk on the phone. But this will drain your battery and distance will also play a role in the quality of your blue tooth device.
If you are having trouble with your Microcell and require trouble shooting go here. http://3gmicrocellsucks.com/#action. You can also check out the 3G MicroCell forum(http://forums.att.com/t5/3G-MicroCell/bd-p/3gmicrocell)