If it makes you feel any better... I've been having the same issue. I came to the forum to see if others are having the same issue and low and behold you are. I don't have an answer to the problem.

Same issue here with Samsung Focus S Flash...

Same issue with 4 phones on a new Microcell

2 x iPhone 4 

2 x Samsung A737

 

Tech support suggested I change the modem --> router --> Microcell to modem --> Microcell --> router, but that didn't change anything.

 

Hey group! Having the same issue and have been told a number of things and don't know what to believe. I have a iphone 4, have had the phone and microcell since Feb. 2011 but have had connection problems since late October. After a while the phone looses connection and goes into SEARCH.....and also drains the battery. A quick switch to airplane mode or power cycle will reconnect for awhile and then the same SEARCH.......all over again.

Please AT-T or Apple resolve this matter!

I also experienced the same issue recently (within the last 10 days) for my iphone 4S.  I didn't have this problem before.  Chat with the support and they told me to recycle the phone power.  This only works whenever I recycle the power.  Let it idle for few hours, then connection lost again. 

 

My HTC Inspire does the exact same thing when I am at home using my Microcell: completely loses the network connection and only resetting the phone or turning the cell radio off and then on again will fix it. I also found the airplane mode button accomplished this same thing but this does not resolve the issue if you are expecting an important phone call and don't realize your phone is no longer working. Sometimes it goes for a few hours and sometimes just a few minutes and then bam... no signal. All of the lights on the microcell device stay solid green so unless you look at your phone you have no idea that you have lost the signal. My HTC Inspire phone is brand new directly from AT&T and I have zero third party apps installed.

 

Dear AT&T, Please fix this known issue with your microcell devices. This is very disappointing to say the least. I just paid $100 out of pocket for this device and now it is basically worthless due to it being so unreliable. I previously had the Verizon Network Extender with a Motorola Droid 3 and never once experienced this issue in over 2 years of service. This is seriously making me consider if I have made a huge mistake switching over to AT&T and makes your microcell device look like a joke. If I had know the reliability of your device was this poor I would never have switched back to AT&T.

 

So I have just finished rerouting my cables and now I am using the "Modem to Microtower to Router" setup like some other people online have recommended versus using the "Modem to Router to Microtower" setup I had before. I will report back if this resolves the issue with the Droid randomly disconnecting from the AT&T Microtower.

 

I can't believe there has not been a single response to this forum post from an AT&T rep since kevindente posted his original question over FOUR MONTHS ago. Does anyone from AT&T actually read their forums? Hello? 

At&t doesn't really have a presence here, this is customer to customer based

So basically AT&T has a forum just so they can say they have a forum but don't actually spend any financial support on staffing it. Fantastic.  Well if any other customers out there have a solution please post it!

 

I can report that using the suggested "Modem to Microcell to Router" method did not resolve my issue. Today's test went like this: I left my HTC Inspire in the house about 6 inches from the Microcell and plugged into the wall charger with 100% battery. When I returned from the garage less than an hour later I was not surprised to see that my HTC now says "No service" at the top of the screen.

 

I want to reiterate here that the Verizon Network Extender (Verizon's Samsung version of AT&T's Cisco Microcell) had zero issues with my current modem and router for two years and I only surrendered my beloved Network Extender because I got a new job and my old job wanted their Verizon stuff back. Now here I am stuck with a two year AT&T contract and a Microcell that only works when it feels like it. I find it hard to believe that my brand new HTC android phone is the issue considering that there are at least four other customers in this post all with different phone manufacturers having the same issue across the board. (iphone droids etc)

 

My HTC is less than a month old and is currently running Android 2.3.3. It came straight from AT&T and has had zero third part apps installed. If anyone has a fix for this please post! I am all ears.

 

To further "vent" I just discovered that my wife's Sony Ericsson C905  also loses all connection to the Microcell randomly throughout the day. 

Well after chatting with Trang from the AT&T wireless support department he recommended that I try re-registering the Microcell device at www.att.com/3GMicrocell which will apparently resolve the matter in his opinion. 

 

After going over some simple troubleshooting with Trang (check the cables, how many green lights etc) I was starting to give up hope and then my HTC suddenly reconnected to the Microcell out of the blue. I asked Trang if he had reset the device from his end and he said he was only "checking some settings" and said that if it happened again to just go reregister it using the tool on the website. 

 

While on the Microcell website checking the settings I noticed the device has a feature called "Automatic hand-out" which is currently enabled in my case. I asked Trang if he suspected it might help to disable this feature as I am not able to transfer calls from Microcell to ATT tower while leaving my house anyhow (there is no signal until the very end of my long driveway). Trang said that this would not resolve the "No service" issue we have been experiencing but if re-registering the microcell does not resolve the matter I am going to try that out anyhow...  

*Update* An hour later and no service once again... heading to the site Trang suggested to re-register my Microcell and wait the 90 minutes they say it can take to reset. If that doesn't work going to try disabling the auto hand off feature.

FYI, re-registering my MicroCell fixed the problem I was having with our iPhones that would occasssionally switch to "Searching...". 

 

However re-registering did not solve the problem I have where the MicroCell prematurely hands-out to a macro cell, even though hand-out is disbaled. My office is in an area of my house that gets the poorest macro network reception, and is about 20-feet from the MicroCell. Often during a call I will notice that the audio quality will change mid-call, I will look down and notice that my call has been switched to a GPRS macro cell.

 

During my last call to Customer Service I was told that my MicroCell will never work properly since there are 33 nearby cell towers. Unfortunately none of them provide a strong or stable enough signal in all of my house to eliminate the need for a MicroCell. 

 

Maybe LTE will work better for me whenever that launches.

Having multiple towers "close by" can definitely cause connectivity problems because the phone "sees" a big enough signal difference to start searching again but not be able to lock on. Some folks have had success moving their MicroCell around the house to find the sweet spot. It's unfortunate that the OPs attempt to use the priority setup (modem ->MicroCell ->router) didn't work. That eliminates any router issues and just leaves the ISP connection which can be the problem at times (speed, PPoE, etc).

I have the Microcell for 1.5 years and I am quite familiar with most of the problems with the Microcell as well as the all the "solutions" AT&T could dish out. In my opinion, these solutions do not really work. Few days ago, I rooted my Samsung Infuse and installed a custom rom. What I found is I am getting 100% solid connection to the Microcell since then. It never happened before. My Microcell always has solid green. Therefore, I can only speculate the problem in my case was from the software of the phone. The custom rom included a new "modem" and I think that is the software doing the trick.

Reregistering the Microcell using the website did seem to help in my situation but the problem still does occur occasionaly. I have not had time yet to leave the phone on the charger next to the tower like I did before for a true test. I did notice it said "no service" yesterday once but I was in the back of the house with about 4 or 5 walls between the phone and the Microcell.

 

If installing a custom ROM is all I need to fix the problem when I am in the same room and the Microcell I will gladly go that route so thanks for the suggestion. My Verizon Droid 3 did run much smoother with the custom ROM I had loaded on it. I was hoping AT&T would have a fix of their own and by keeping the default ROM on my HTC I could rule that out if I had problems. Hard to believe that BOTH mine and my wife's phones (Sony and HTC) have trouble staying connected using to the Microtower although my wife reports hers has not had any problems since I reactivated the Microtower throught the website. I dont think this is an ISP issue as my old Verizon wireless extender had ZERO issues like this using the same setup.

I got my AT&T MicroCell several months ago, and I'm frustrated to the point that I am seriously thinking of tossing it in the garbage, and ditching all of my AT&T services (U-Verse, internet, wireless) along with it.  I live in an urban "pocket" where I get 1 or 2 (bars) of reception at most, and the MicroCell is really the only viable alternative if I want to use AT&T at my house.  This problem applies to all types of phones (not just my iPhone), so let's not go blaming Apple.  The service here is equally bad on HTC, Sony, Ericson, and all the rest.  All of the comments below apply to all phone brands (my housemates have a HTC (Windows) and a Samsung (Droid)).

 

When I first connected the microcell it worked fine for a few days.  Then it started dropping the connection sporadically, and I'd have to reboot it each time I wanted to make a call.  Now, it barely ever works at all even after rebooting it.  And yes, it is right next to a window.  I've tried everything, moving it to different locations, powering the microcell on and off, powering the phone on and off, turning the airplane mode on and off, turning the LTE on and off, turning the Wifi on and off, and it still rarely actually works.  Last night I deactivated it, and then let it reactivate in the hopes that a software update just might do the trick.  It worked......for a few hours, and now I can't get it to connect again.  To make matters even more infuriating, I just bought a new iPhone5 (which I love), and even with its 4G/LTE, I still get crappy AT&T service at my house.  100 yards from the house, the service is fine, but like I said here in and around the house there is still only 1 or 2 bars max.  Anyway, last night when I reactivated the microcell my iPhone 5 did say "microcell" and showed 5 bars.........unitl the microcell just dropped for no good reason.  Now here I am sitting here watching the microcell 3G light flashing since I rebooted it about a half hour ago.  I have about a 50-50 chance that it will actually connect, and about a 10-1 chance that it will stay connected for more than an hour.

 

What is up AT&T????  I can only assume that someone monitors this site to understand your customer's complaints.  You are 1 of the largest, richest, most technilogically advanced corporations on this planet, but you can't get this device to work right?  Then why do you sell it?  And even worse, why don't you even address this problem when it is obvious from this forum that this is a common problem, and you have a lot of very, VERY unhappy customers.  All I can say is that if a solution is not found that I wll be calling up Comcast and Verizon very, very soon.  They have equally competitive prices and products, and I know for certain that I will be able to make a phone call from the comfort of my own home with their service.

Just to let everyone know, the problem continues to exist with the iPhone 5.  So it's definitely on AT&T's end to fix.

I had this same problem. Just installed it yesterday. Calls dropping every 5mins or so. I believe I have fixed it. I had my Microcell connected through my home switch, and then to the internet router. I plugged the Microcell directly to the Internet router instead, and now calls have not been dropping. Time will tell so we'll see if this is a permanent solution.

It sounds like the troubleshooting you've done identified the wireles setup you were using. 

 

Please do let us know if you see inconsistent service with the microcell plugged directly into your router.