iPhone 4s won't stay connected to microcell

[mmiller818]

I have a new iPhone 4s, and my husband still has his 3gs. His phone will stay connected to the microcell.

I can force my 4s to connect, (by going into and out of airplane mode), but it won't stay connected. After a few minutes, it drops off.

I have turned off cellular data, rebooted both the phone and the microcell, and moved the microcell so it's directly in front of the window. It still won't stay connected to the microcell.

What else can I try?

[gcreedon]

iPhones are apparently not compatible with many, perhaps all Microcells. Mine failed last week when I first activated my 4S. A number of calls to AT&T and plenty of promises of repair have been made. If you go to the activation page on AT&T's website you'll notice that apparently AT&T feels that the 4S is not 3G capable when it clearly is. I am at my wit's end now because I have no phone service at home. At this point it may be worth it for me just eat the costs and get out of AT&T. We pay hundreds of dollars for non-existent service.

[gcreedon]

I just got off the phone with AT&T. My case is one of 30 similar cases in New England. I imagine the number nationally is larger and, even more so, the unreported cases. No resolution until after Monday at the very earliest.

[ilikewireless ACE - Czar]

Ask AT&T if you can make and receive a call via your home wifi or any wifi. T-Mobile customers have had wifi calling capability since 2007. AT&T: Rethink Possible.

[the gryphon]

I'm glad I checked in. I too can't make calls with my microcell on my iphone 4S.  This will be a deal breaker for me. We have 14 days to return our devices? Correct? I'll call AT&T and make my issue known.

My office is a black hole for AT&T (Verizon iphones work just fine).   thanks for starting this thread.

[the gryphon]

I called ATT micocell and went through the steps to deactivate and reactivate, and then rebooted the phone. 3 calls later I'm still connected. Here's hoping.

She did say this has happened with other phone releases and that generally they can push an update to the device. 

[okstate87]

I'm having this problem too.  My iphone 4S was sitting 3 feet away from the M-cell last night and it didn't even act like it was aware.  I'd completed all the trouble shooting steps including have AT&T re-register my phone on the network before I saw this posting.

I realize the M-cell goes out and looks for updates each time it's powered back on after being off for more than 10 seconds but it would great if I knew what version it was on and when the AT&T regularly scheduled updates.  As it is, I cycle the power on it compulsively hoping this will be the time I get the jackpot.

[smr2112]

Something about iOS 5.0.1 broke working with the Microcell, I am convinced of this.

I have 2 iPhone 4s, both at 5.0.1 and both worked beautiful with the Microcell before

the upgrade (from 5.0).  Now one only works if I play with airplane mode and

the other won't connect at all.

At work I have a Microcell and it works fine with my phone.  Very weird.  And

in the midst of all this, AT&T must have had problems on their server that

was recently fixed.  What a mess....

[the gryphon]

---

smr2112 wrote:

Something about iOS 5.0.1 broke working with the Microcell, I am convinced of this.

I have 2 iPhone 4s, both at 5.0.1 and both worked beautiful with the Microcell before

the upgrade (from 5.0).  Now one only works if I play with airplane mode and

the other won't connect at all.

At work I have a Microcell and it works fine with my phone.  Very weird.  And

in the midst of all this, AT&T must have had problems on their server that

was recently fixed.  What a mess....

---

I made my report to microcell LONG BEFORE 5.0.1  My problems started with 5.0.

[smr2112]

So I just replaced the microSIM in both my iPhone 4 and wife's iPhone 4 (both on iOS 5.0.1).

Made no different at all with Microcell.  Mine works if I flip airplace mode on/off.  Hers will not

work no matter what I do (with the Microcell).  Very bizarre...her's is 6 months older, but otherwise

basically the same.

What would explain that...?  The antenna issue or something else?

Anybody know of a way to restore to iOS 5.0.0 ?

Gosh this is frustrating...

[A440]

Most recent advice from AT&T for iPhone 4 (assuming 3G, 3Gs, and 4Gs) and MicroCell connectivity.

1. Unplug MicroCell for 30 seconds.

2. Plug it back in.

3. Turn off iPhone for 30 seconds.

4. Turn it back on.

5. Reset Network Settings on iPhone. (Under Settings -> General -> Reset Network Setting) This will cycle the iPhone (turn it on and off automatically) WARNING: Resetting this will require you to rejoin your network (if wireless) and to re-enter your password for the network. Make sure you have it before you do this!!!

6. Wait until Friday when AT&T will call me back and explain why the iPhone won't force connect to the MicroCell when I get back to my house. Or when a random 1 bar of edge network signal is picked up and permanently disconnects it.

At the end of the day, the only success I've had is putting your phone into Airplane mode for a second and then turning Airplane mode off.

Take it or leave it, this is the best I've got right now.

[Ibamba]

Having the same issue.  Spent hours on the phone with AT&T and Apple.  I have done everything, restored the iOS, replaced the sim card, removed and reinstalled the Microcell, been to the AT&T store and the Apple genius bar.   Apple said that it is an AT&T issue and there is an open ticket.  AT&T says it is an Apple issue and they can't do anything about it.  Finally I spoke to an Apple tech who was honest enough to admit that both are aware of the issue and the only option is to wait for one of them to fix it.   So if you are running iOS 5 don't bother purchasing a microcell until either AT&T or Apple figures out a solution.

[timetwosave]

Just came here to say I'm having the same issue.  Please fix this AT&T!

[smr2112]

OK, I give up on 5.0.1.  Rumor is that 5.0.2 is coming soon - but held up for more testing by Apple

due to some issue (hmmm, imagine that....).

Anybody have a clue if *this* might fix our problem?  After everybody trying everythingm seens it's

at least partly on Apple's side to fix this.

I am most puzzled because I have 2 identical iphones 4 in my house.  One works fine with the Microcell if

I twiddle Airplane mode, other wone will ot work at all.  And the one that works sometimes, works *all* the time

with the Microcell I have at my workplace - very bizarre....

[nategold]

For what it is worth, we have an iPhone 4 (not S) and a 3GS and they both connect fine and stay connected.  Both are running 5.0.1.  But in the past they wouldn't see the microcell without going in and out of airplane mode,  and then suddenly they would.

My big problem is the delay on dialing out, for which there is 22 page thread.

The microcell is a majorly buggy device.

[aaalouie]

Just got a micro cell .....  We have two 3GS Iphones running 5.01 software and they will not connect to the micro cell unless we toggle airplane mode on and back off...  It sounds like a call to ATT would be a waste after reading the previous posts....Wondering whether to return the micro cell or wait/hope for a software update to fix this....  This sounds like a VERY common problem....

[jsharpe]

I was not aware of this iOS5 compatibility issue until we just tried hooking up a new microcell yesterday and couldn't get either of our phones to connect at all. (They are a 4 and a 3GS both running iOS5.0.1)   So it's now a month after the last post with apparently no answer in sight other than hoping some future release of iOS fixes the problem.

For what it's worth, all 4 iPhones on our account could reliably use a different microcell on our account when running iOS4.x.  Unfortunately I don't think it's possible for us to back down to 4.x at this point.

[smr2112]

Well very curious....after 1+ months of not working with the Microcell in my house, the 2 iPhones I have (wife and I) have started working without having to do anything. I did not update, still on 5.0.1 (both iPhone 4). One I could not get to link at all and the other I had to put in Airplane mode. But now work without a thing. Could AT&T have fixed something? Others report if that have noticed any magic on their end....

[jsharpe]

My situation is simlar to yous in that mysteriously I can now connect today.  I did cycle power on the microcell though, so I can't say that I did nothing on my end .  Although I had done that before with no success.  The only issue I notice now is that the phones don't automatically switch to the microcell when entering the house, we have to manually do the airline mode thing but they always now do now seem to find the m-cell when we do.  

[smr2112]

I should have said that mine is on a timer and power cycle it every day along other misc electronics. Can we suspect this was An AT&T issue all along? What else would explain this?

[MyDogHasFleas]

Really not a good idea to power cycle electronics daily.  Things like routers, switches, STBs, and the Microcell are actually designed to be running 24x7.  (STBs you should do soft power off though.)  

[furrynutz]

Has anyone talked to apple about this as it seems to be there issue and not ATT's. Anyone conect customer support or the forums? I purchased a MC last night and got it up and going with my 4s. Worked until this morning when I turned the 4s On and notice it was at my default 3G cell site which was low signal and not the MC. So it makes sense and backs up information about the phone picking a lower signal tower then the MC with a higher signal. We need to get apple involved.

[furrynutz]

Just got off tech support at Apple and they said this seems to be a major issue. Not sure if they are working actively to fix it right now however said he would forward this to engineers for review. He recommended that more people call in about this the better and that would help engineers move to update the 4s code. He agreed that this seems to be a code issue. He said that also to try to reset the network settings of the 4s under Settings/General/Reset. And see if maybe this might help. I'll try this again when I get home. He did ask me how long it took before the 4s failed to reconnect to the MC. Told him I let the phone go to sleep when I went to bed and when it got up and woke the phone, it wasn't connected to the MC.

So lets get all you 4s and MC users to call in and complain. Let us know what they said to you and get a case number. I did. Hope we can motivate them to fix this. I would be nice to the 4s to auto connect to the MC with out any interaction. )

Keep us posted.

[furrynutz]

Anyone else call Apple or any more information heard on this issue?

[BoxerBoi76]

While I have no issue with my iPhone 4s staying connected to my AT&T Microcell, my battery does drain quickly when connected to it and if Cellular Data is enabled - disabling Cellular Data resolves the battery drain issue.

I've filed a bug with Apple at https://bugreport.apple.com/ and had an engineer request a number of logs from my iPhone 4s while connected to my Microcell - I would encourage all of you to do the same!

Bry

[furrynutz]

Sounds like Celluar Data keeps going when it shouldn't be. Keep us posted on if you hear any feedback from Apply about this. 

You can disable CD on the iphone under Setting/General/Network.

[cck426]

i am another user with the same issue with my new 4S.  worked great for a long time with iphone 3.  Other 4S users in my office have no issue.  now i need to use the airplane mode cycle work around. It seems like a 5.1 issue to me.