It doesn't surprise me that AT&T has come out with a device or femtocell that helps with iPhone coverage indoors. Lots of people I know who have iPhones say their coverage stinks compared to previous phones and can't use their phone any longer in the home or office. Maybe that's why AT&T has the most wireless coverage complaints on DeadCellZones.com.
Select features include:
- Installing your device near a window is strongly recommended to ensure access to Global Positioning System (GPS). A GPS link is needed to verify the device location during the initial startup. GPS signals are even worse at penetrating walls than cellular signals. The GPS confirmation is needed so that AT&T knows you are not bringing AT&T’s network to an unauthorized area.
- Enhanced coverage indoors - supports both voice and data up to 5000 square feet.
- The 3G MicroCell device is portable. The device may be moved, provided the new location is within the AT&T authorized service area and properly registered online.
- AT&T Official Description Here:
3G also has limitations outdoors and when you are traveling you consider a signal booster for your car products like the Wilson Electronic's iPhone Booster.
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Seems like ATT should pay ME to host one of these for them, especially if they could program it so it would support not only my home, but my neighbors and passersby as well!
Agreed, I should not have to pay extra for AT&T's screwups. Their phones and network should not need such boosting, especially in crowded metropolitan areas
How do I get one? I have been waiting for months...
Since using current internet as hookup, wonder how much bandwidth the device use. If it's so, that will not for those current using satellite internet as broadband.
i use the sprint airave and it works great at home. had to purchase a new wireless router that was compatable.
Less bars in more places......
I don't get it...if home, i can use my wifi, why do I need this?
And even more - why would you PAY for it?
Why would I have to pay ATT a monthly fee to use my bandwidth that I pay another carrier for?
You can't use WiFi for normal phone calls or SMS. Of course you wouldn't use it to surf, that would be silly.
only for sale in trial market right now its 150 dollars and if you pay the extra 20 dollars a month any time you are using the cell it doesnt cost you a dime to make calls or internet usage on the phone. Not for sale in all markets currently only for sale in one are in the mountains of eastern USA. Works good, only the person who buys it get the deal about unlimited ussage with their devices. All others are charged like normal but can benefit from the extra tower power.
RED
Just purchased two M-cells for ATT. No signal in my metal build but now I have 5 bars. Works great and worth the $150.00 to me. I have unlimited usage so no extra charges while on the M-cell. I am not sure about the one in my house though. It works great on my iphone but my wife complains about hers. It must be because Comcast service goes up and down and she drops calls when it goes down.
I hear through the grapevine that AT&T is launching their Microcell nationwide in February of 2010.
I am both a Sprint and AT&T customer and Sprint provides me with one of these devices for no charge because the coverage at my home did not meet the promises they made when I signed with them. I called three times in the first two weeks with complaints of poor coverage and informed them I would exercise my right to leave inside 30 days. This triggered an automatic escalation in their customer service system that assigned me to a specially-trained rep who acknowledged that their records showed a 88% dropped-call rate at my home and that this was unacceptable to them. She even agreed with me when I suggested that their computer didn't even count all the dropped calls as some calls were ended by me because all I could hear was my called party saying "Are you still there? I can't hear anything. Are you still there?" Since they could not hear me at all either I or they hung up; this shows as a completed call to their computer by it registers in my brain as dropped. If these calls counted as dropped, my dropped-call rate at home was very close to 100%. A few short (< 1 min.) calls were completed, but nothing more than a minute ever was. She agreed these should be considered missed calls, but that I should realize that they would have considered the rate too high if it had been 10%, so I should calm down and listen to her. I did. and I'm glad. She explained that she would now be my personal rep. I would have the phone number to her at her desk. I would probably get her VM, but she would return the call within the working day if she was working that day, her next working day if not. I wouldn't have to call and talk to a different rep each time and cover old ground; she would always know what had already been tried. Then she offered to send me an AirRave, which is what Sprint calls it's femtocells. She explained it's workings and that, ordinarily, Sprint sells them for $100 with a 2 year agreement and a $5/mo charge. ($15/mo. will get you unlimited calling from the femtocell.) There's a waiting list to get one. But she'd overnight me one, free of charge and no monthly fee, if I'd like. If I was unhappy I could still exercise my right to leave, and she'd extend that time another 30 days--but she told me she was sure I wouldn't. She, and the Sprint store where I bought my original have been very helpful, although I've lost my respect for Palm using the POC that they call the Pre. I have purchased a feature-phone (a Samsung Reclaim) as I use my sprint service mostly for the stuff AT&T overcharges for and my iPhone does badly anyway--TeleNav, texting, and voice. I use my iPhone for what an iPhone does best--apps and internet access. I cut my AT&T bill by almost wha my Sprint bill is so I get two phones for about the price of one. I use my Google Voice number to ring both phones, rounding out the 2 for 1 arrangement. Google was also the only place I could get a number that was actually local to my very rural area, a silly thing, but I no longer have to explain that I live at X but I have a Y phone number every time someone takes down my phone number.
As to those who say you should be paid to use one--why? It's not the carrier, but YOU who programs whether only you get to use it, anyone in range, or a specified list of phone numbers. I considered locking it down, since it can accommodate only 5 phones at a time and if 5 strangers were using it I'd be stuck, but decided that in my rural area it was unlikely it would have more than one person on it--let alone 5! If I lived in a heavily populated place I would probably program a list of "allowed" users. The point is, now that I've used it, I'd pay for one. I'm lucky to get mine for free, but I'd pay for one. No way the carrier needs to pay, and no way is this an answer to AT&T's under built network--it's a stopgap. But it is a stopgap that works.
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