AT&T 3G MicroCell

Despite all the back and fourth gibberish between wireless providers, I find AT&T to be pretty damn good.  Since I am a fan of full disclosure, I want you to know that I have never used any other provider.  I've been an AT&T customer since the Cingular days.  The only time I had an issue with the service was my first semester of college at Winona State University in Winona, Minnesota.  Winona is located between a bunch of bluffs and only one service provider had a tower in or on the bluffs.  I was, however, able to pick up Cingular signal in certain places so I fared better than others, but I digress.

According to the AT&T Coverage Viewer, my house is located in the "best" service area with complete 3G coverage.  Outside, service isn't an issue, but problems exist inside of my house.  On the 1st and 2nd floors, I usually registered about 3 bars.  This is fine for SMS or MMS.  If I have a call, though, the call is either going to be less than clear or totally drop out.  Worse yet is that my office is in the finished basement.  Down here I usually had 1 bar, enough for SMS and MMS to work, about 75% of the time.  Calls don't work at all - sometimes the phone will ring, but often calls will be routed directly to voicemail.  The other 25% of the time my iPhone read "No Service" or "Searching."  To get around this, I gave people my Google Voice number and then routed the call to my home landline, but this is less than ideal.

The 3G MicroCell itself was first available almost a year ago.  It was released in Charlotte, NC which served as the trial market.  Apparently the trial went well and it was next released in Raleigh, NC in late September and in Atlanta, GA in early October.  Continuing the gradual rollout, Arizona launched in late March, California, Nevada, and New Mexico in early April, and it launched in Wisconsin and Illinois earlier this week.  Interestingly, I never received the availability email from AT&T that I signed up for, but got an inside tip that it was available.

The 3G MicroCell costs $150.  There is no monthly cost, unless the user adds on unlimited MicroCell calls for $20 per month.  I barely touch my 500 minutes, so I opted not to add it on.  The 3G MicroCell can be discounted if you have a corporate discount through school or work AND the discount applies to accessories.  Unfortunately, my corporate discount is service only so I had to pay full price.  The AT&T employee offered to register the device for me in-store, but I opted to do it myself so I didn't have to spend any extra time in a store full of gadgets when there's room on my credit cards.  Registering it online was extremely simple.  The device initially took 34 minutes to activate, much shorter than the 90 minutes the set-up guide says it takes.  I then moved the device to a different location (since my kitchen countertop isn't a very good spot) and it took 14 minutes to re-activate.  I received a text message and email from AT&T when the initial activation was complete, but not on the re-activation.

Thanks to the 3G MicroCell, I now have 5 bars everywhere in my house.  I ran a few tests to make sure everything was working and found nothing wrong.  I was even able to place a call from inside of a walk-in closest in my basement.  SMS and MMS now completely work and I have 3G service in the basement, too (although I connect to my wifi inside).  I do think it's kind of ridiculous to pay $150 to AT&T because their service isn't strong enough to reach my basement, but I guess I'm willing to do so in order to fully use my $500 phone!  I definitely recommend the 3G MicroCell based on my experience with it in the last few hours.  It's been great to be able to take calls in the basement!  I would give it an A+, but I'm downgrading it since I think it should be provided to those of us with service issues for free.


Side note: For those of you looking into AT&T U-Verse, I was told that wireless U-Verse boxes are coming soon.  I'd love to switch to U-Verse, but am unwilling to have a new RJ45 cable installed everyplace I want a TV, especially since I already have coaxial cables in those places!  Wireless boxes will allow me to have U-Verse service anywhere with a power outlet which means I'll probably be switching in a few months!  Sweet!

AT&T 3G MicroCell passes The Trav Test with a B+.

• Category: Products, Wireless, AT&T

• Location: AT&T Stores (Check for local availability here)

• Cost: $150 (plus $20/month if you want unlimited calling added)

• Ease of use: Easy

• The Trav Test grade: B+