AT&T Microcell - initial thoughts

Last weekend I finally managed to buy an AT&T Microcell. For those who do not know, this is a gadget that puts a cell tower in your home. We needed this because the AT&T signal at our house is dismal, even outside the house, but definitely insid, i.e. 0-1 bars. After 3 to four tires to activate the device, which the manager of the AT&T store had warned me about, we finally get 4-5 bars thoughout the house and quite a large circle outside around the house. Although a very short period I am very happy with this new toy, and am making plans to shut down our VOIP service and use our cellphones as primary phones. Technically the Microcell actually uses the Internet, like a VOIP service, but for free. Not completely for free as the device costs $150 if not purchased with an unlimited Microcell plan at $20 per month. As we have quite a number of RollOver minutes available, i.e. w do not use our monthly packet fully, we are going to use the Microcell without extra unlimited minutes. In fact, if I understand correctly, because I have two seperate accounts, one for my (business phone) and a family plan for my wife and daughter, I would need to subscribe to two unlimted microcell plans. The resultant $40 would be more than our VOIP service, so we are certainly not going down that route. However, while it is perhaps not right that we should pay to bolster AT&T's poor coverage, on the other hand, the Microcell pays for itself in 6 months as we can get rid of the VOIP service.

I have discovered one small issue, namely that my Belkin router, at a random frequency, shuts off the Internet for 5 to 15 seconds. I had actually noticed this on the VOIP service, especially on conference calls, where all of a sudden the line would be silent for 5-15 seconds. Now with the Microcell, it causes the device to lose its synch and it takes a little longer to get the signal back. Probably time to look for a new wireless/wired router.