Comments on: AT&T Launches Charlotte-only public trial of 3G MicroCell

By: Wimax BB

Wimax BB — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 14:53:16 +0000

Continue to keep up the excellent effort!

By: Justin Ruckman

Justin Ruckman — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 16:00:24 +0000

Anyone with an AT&T phone will by default have access to the device, their phone will switch to it just like it would switch to a normal tower. From what it sounds like, range is approximate to a wifi router, so while there will be some leaching, there probably won’t be much. If it’s like the Sprint version, you can choose to limit it to certain phone numbers, or ban numbers outright — again, just like a router.

By: Rik

Rik — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:54:22 +0000

Yeah, I agree. If it improves personal service for $50 flat its good. Do you know if it extends service for all or is it only for yourself. I ask this because wireless carriers pay good money for tower space. This seems like a way to get payed and to extend there service.

By: Justin Ruckman

Justin Ruckman — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:49:36 +0000

Haha, yeah I’m not sure how I feel about the idea in general. I think the price is way too high. $50 tops.

By: Rik

Rik — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:46:23 +0000

Don’t wait for the cancer to come to you, bring home today for the low low price of $199. This seems kinda strange, I know people don’t have landlines but to pay for the privilege to have service at home. Aren’t these mobile phones.

By: Andria

Andria — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 18:20:20 +0000

Thanks, Justin, for the details.
Seems it might be a good thing for some businesses that live in AT&T shadow zones, particularly in downtown Charlotte. I don’t see a need or cost saving at home, though, unless I bundled everything with AT&T. But the if AT&T goes out, everything goes out. I feel better with a little redundancy.

Maybe we can build cell towers into the trolley line or something….

By: Justin Holt

Justin Holt — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 18:14:49 +0000

Justin,

Aside from my home area, and another small area where Parkwood and Plaza meet, I have yet to find another area in the city where I get less than 2 bars EVDO Sprint. Mostly 1G-2G.

By: Austin Light

Austin Light — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:59:21 +0000

I’m on Verizon right now–rolled off Alltel–but I’ve thought about switching to AT&T because I want an iPhone that bad…

Then I read what gizmodo had to say about these microcells, and I’m not so sure. http://gizmodo.com/5364161/3g-microcells-att-wants-you-to-pay-extra-to-fix-their-own-failures

By: Dave Potts

Dave Potts — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:49:06 +0000

I’d consider this too, but it’s hard to get over the idea that I’d be paying extra for something I should be getting in the first place. If cell co’s were doing their job, a device like this should only be necessary in outlying areas.

By: Justin Ruckman

Justin Ruckman — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:28:51 +0000

I’m actually thinking of switching to Sprint for the forthcoming release of the HTC Hero. I’m curious how Sprint’s reception is going to compare to AT&T — definitely gonna buy it on a trial basis first before I cancel my AT&T account.

By: Justin Holt

Justin Holt — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:23:36 +0000

I use the Sprint Airave (basically the same thing) Femtocell in my Noda loft. The NODA area, in particular the area between 34th and 36th on davidson st., are notoriously bad areas for Sprint signal.

Until I got the Airave, my Palm Pre was almost constantly searching for a signal, bouncing between a faint roam and 1-bar EVDO. After plugging in the unit to my wireless router, and allowing it to grab a good GPS signal and map to Sprint system, I was at 5 bars 2G as soon as it rebooted.

the only drawbacks, if you START a call OUTSIDE the range of the Femtocell, and then walk INTO signal of the Femtocell, the handoff does NOT occur between the two and you drop the call. the complete opposite occurs on calls initiated ON the Femtocell network, then walk OUT of range and into EV signal it WILL handoff the call seamlessly.

Also rumor has it the Sprint Airave has such a strong signal, that it can potentially effectively block ALL other non-sprint carrier signals (ie, your friend’s Verizon) although I have not personally seen any issues with my GF’s Verizon phone since installation of the Airave.

I’m not sure about the limitations of the AT&T device, but with the Sprint Airave you can support 5 calls at a time max, but the signal does not block any numbers specifically (or allow only certain numbers only) UNLESS YOU SPECIFICALLY set it up that way (sprint recommends not to). So potentially if you live in an area with bad coverage and LOTS of Sprint subscribers, you could be providing better coverage to everyone at the cost of YOUR bandwidth.

All in all, I can say I am very satisfied with the Sprint Airave Femtocell unit and would recommend the AT&T unit to anyone experiencing the same issues as I.