3G Microcell Not for Business Accounts??

[businesscell]

I currently manage a business account with approximately 20 3G iphones. Thus my login is a premier login.

One of my co-workers has terrible service at home and wanted to have a 3G microcell installed.

After purchasing one yesterday and attempting to get it activated, I was finally told that the 3G microcell is not currently available for business lines. Only someone with a personal ATT line could activate the 3G microcell.

This employee does not have a personal cell phone (only the business line) and not allowing the 3G microcell to work for business line is a very poor choice.

If and/or when another carrier begins to carry iPhones (everyone here loves them and won't switch), we will likely change unless ATT comes up with an appropriate solution.

Just wanted to let all you business line users know that the 3G microcell will not work as it stands today.

[TomBeckman]

I'm also waiting for business access to the Microcell. We have over 50 AT&T business cell phone users at two locations who move back and forth a lot between the locations. It would be great if business-class Microcells could handle more than 4 simultaneous calls and ten registered phone numbers. We have mutliple AT&T T-1's in both locations that can handle the traffic. Actual bandwidth utilization by Microcell calls is surprisingly low.

Is there a way to sign up to be notified when the Microcell becomes available for business? I'm in northern California.

Tom

[MyDogHasFleas]

Count me in as majorly disappointed.  I work for "a large IT company" and they have employee discounts with AT&T that put you into Premiere plans, even though they are for personal use.  I have a family plan with 4 phones on it.  I guess MicroCell is not available for me right now?  AT&T can you please answer this question?  

[thively]

I'm on a corporate discount FAN.  I had no problem getting a Microcell.

I think the main thing is, you have to pay your bill to get a Microcell.  If you pay your bill and have full control of your account, then you can have one.

If your company pays your bill and you do not have access to log in add features yourself, then you can't activate the Microcell.

In order to activate a microcell you have to be able to log in to your account online.  It seems like that shouldn't be necessary.  I thik they should have a way to do it if you don't have a contract plan you control, but right now that's the way it appears to be set up.

But I do receive a monthly discount from a corporate foundatin account plan and can shop through premiere.  And I have 2 Microcells.

[businesscell]

^^This may be true, but I have the access and login to manage our corporate/small business bill and I still can't active the microcell.

[thively]

I stand corrected.  I guess it is only for consumer accounts and not for business accounts.

That's unfortunate.  I hope that eventually changes.

[MyDogHasFleas]

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thively wrote:

I'm on a corporate discount FAN.  I had no problem getting a Microcell.

But I do receive a monthly discount from a corporate foundatin account plan and can shop through premiere.  And I have 2 Microcells.

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Good to know!  That is my situation exactly.  I get a discount through a corporate FAN but it's my own account paid for by me, and I have the login.

Sounds like I am back in business!  So when is it coming to Austin?  

[iPhoneVT]

I also receive a FAN discount on a family plan with two iPhones, but I do pay for my own bill. I was able to purchase and activate a 3G MicroCell and it works great! I was worried that I would have problems because of the FAN discount, but that was not the case. Purchase, configuration, and activation was a breeze!

I live on the side of a mountain in Vermont and my broadband Internet is ADSL. Prior to installing the 3G MicroCell, I had absolutely NO coverage, as in "No Service". Now I have 5 bars and 3G service AT HOME! Needless to say, I am delighted. Since there is no AT&T coverage around me (or anything else for that matter), I suspect that the range of my 3G MicroCell is much greater than the advertised 40ft. Yesterday, I took a call (connected to AT&T M-Cell) at my mailbox which is well over 100ft from the house.

[MyDogHasFleas]

The less coverage you have from normal cell towers, the wider the range of your Microcell will be.   It "listens" to the towers around it and adjusts itself to the environment.  

[Bill48105]

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MyDogHasFleas wrote:

The less coverage you have from normal cell towers, the wider the range of your Microcell will be.   It "listens" to the towers around it and adjusts itself to the environment.  

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If that's the case then it makes sense to locate the MicroCell in the area of the house with the LEAST cell signal but as a minimum shows to try different locations to see.

[malameel]

I wish I had found this post before I bought 3 of these things.  I just spent about 2.5 hours on the phone, draining my battery, using my minutes to finially get this info.  The whole reason I bought this is because I had 7 dropped calls yesterday.

I just do not get it, why would a buiness account not be allowed to use these?  There is no techniocal reason to prevent this uasage and it won't save businesses money since it really only imporves yoru signal.  The unlimited plan is stupid because I still need to use my phone outside the MicroCell so I will have to buy those minutes as well.  The high price of the MicroCell should be for businesses first!  

What consumer would be happy to pay for an internet connection, the microcell, and a limited minute plan?  The unlimited plan only works while connected to the MicroCell which is silly!  I would rather add the $20 bucks to my plan so I can use my minutes anywhere, not just on my MicroCell!

Just silly, now I have to return 3 opened boxes to AT&T.

[Valgar]

Another issue is the 10 person access list. I would love to buy 10-15 microcells to provide coverage at work, but would need a MUCH larger, or even open, access list to allow employees to roam the building and use the nearest cell.

[Planet-Ed ACE - Geek]

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MyDogHasFleas wrote:

The less coverage you have from normal cell towers, the wider the range of your Microcell will be.   It "listens" to the towers around it and adjusts itself to the environment.  

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That hasn't been my experience.  I live in a really good 3G coverage area and never had any issues with my service (great signal and no dropped calls).  So by that logic my Microcell coverage would be smaller.  I picked up a MicroCell last weekend for the fun of it to just test and play with and the range is way better than advertised for me.  I have a 2 bedroom/2 bath apartment on the third floor.  My MicroCell is in my bedroom on the far outside end of the apartment.  I get max signal all through the apartment.  I can go outside down the stairs at the other far end of the apartment and get signal all the way down to the first floor.  When I come home my iPhone locks onto the microcell on the stairs before I can even make it up to the second floor.

But a lot can also be contributed to the construction and makeup of the building its installed in.

[larrywha]

If it's in the budget.. just by a few new personal numbers and activate a MicroCell on them. That's how we bypassed this ridiculous restriction, and now we have a very happy exec just in time for Memorial Day weekend, yay!

[businesscell]

It looks like everything is fixed. Microcell's can now be activated and managed under a premier login.

Ours is finally working just fine.

[larrywha]

Says who? How? Where? I just tried 3 days ago and it didn't work. Figures that as soon as we accept that fact and move on it gets "Resolved". Ugh.

[businesscell]

After you login to the premier site, go to Manage, and then find a primary number you want to register the microcell under.

At the bottom of the "View Account Information" page for a specific phone number, there is a section that says "ATT Microcell, get started".

That's where you click to register the device under a business phone and login.

[nthomthom]

If they do not allow the 3G microcell for business customers there is an easy solution for this. If you know anyone with a personal account you can easily add multiple microcell to their account. The Microcell doesnt require a plan so this will be free for that person. Once you add it anyone can use it as long as you have added their number to the authorized list. If you do want a unlimited plan... please call customer service and add the unlimited microcell calling to ur business account. This will work even tho the microcell will not be directly activated to ur business account.

[Wireless_Guru]

The MicroCell IS available for businesses now. There's a link on the main MicroCell page to http://www.wireless.att.com/businesscenter/solutions/network/3g-microcell/

[Planet-Ed ACE - Geek]

Nice, however still not a great solution.  Your still limited to only 10 authorized users.

It would be better for small businesses if you had the option to openly allow anyone with ATT to access it.  This way anyone (up to 4 people at a time) could access like at doctors offices, conference rooms, or other small locations.  They could also have the 10 people listed on the account to have priority over everyone.  So while you might have it open publicly it will still be available for the most important people identified.

[drewcwsj]

Has this been addressed yet? I just started working for a company with a business account with AT&T and several hundred users all across the USA. I work from home in Seattle and have terrible service and want to get a Microcell but I'm pretty sure I can't activate it.