I'm one of the biggest critics of the microcell. Even so, I'll admit that counting the posts here is not the correct way to judge how well the Microcell works. Unfortunately, it's really the only way WE have to judge how well it works, because the real way is to compare the number of Microcells activated versus the number of people who call with problems, and returns, and so on. Customer satisfaction surveys are good too, but again, they're really only a tool AT&T can use, and it's unlikely they'd ever announce those results out loud.

All that said, I can safely report that in my 9+ months of experience with it, has never worked acceptably well. It is better now than it once was, but it still does not fulfill the promises that their marketing makes on anything approaching a consistent basis. Combine that with the abysmal support AT&T has given for the device - worse even than the general level of customer support you get from AT&T - and you easily see why so many people are so upset.

AT&T has, in the past, admitted that their data network needed improvement, and have publicly said that they're investing in bringing their 3G network to more places and improving backhauls and all the rest. In other words, they've said that they're working to improve their network to address the reports that have appeared in the press about how bad their macro network is.

They have never said a word about the Microcell. So far as I can tell, AT&T's true belief is that everyone who's having trouble with the Microcell is either incompetent or has a lousy ISP. In short, that we've always been at war with Eurasia.

AT&T could, if they chose, start an actual dialogue with their customers. Help them understand how to best diagnose problems with the Microcell - even provide diagnostic tools with which we could do so. They could tell us about service status - even tell us about known outages and expected times to repair. All of these are things that every purveyor of an Internet based service routinely does now that it's 2011. That AT&T refuses to do any of these things speaks volumes about the level of contempt that they hold for the people PAYING THEM MONEY every month.