[Freeda]

The microcell connects by a short cable into your wireless router, or modem; it sits near them, on your desk, on the floor etc; there is no direct contact between the microcell and your cell phone. It then emits a signal that your cell phone runs off of when it is within range of the microcell. It is like having your own mini cell phone tower in your home.

[angiefox10]

Originally Posted by Schaumburger

What does a micro cell look like? Is it something you plug into your AT&T phone?

I hope this link works. This is what mine looks like.

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=micro...34&tx=46&ty=67

[cmhmom]

AT&T service in and around Buttonwood was awful last spring. Husband's Verizon worked very well. Hoping for new towers too!

[handyman]

Originally Posted by Freeda

The $199 device is a microcell. There was a previous thread where someone had mentioned being offered this free by AT&T because of the poor signal strength in TV. After learning of this I asked for and got a free one,too, and it gives me five bars in and outside my home. You can probably convince them to waive the charge, also; I would imagine that others in TV have been given these. If enough people insist on this, maybe they'll get the tower improvements done sooner. AT&T is trying to merge with Tmobile, which will probably solve the problem if/when that occurs, so that may be a reason they are dragging their feet on getting new towers of their own up; but since.the merger is, predictably, in regulatory debate now over whether to approve it, it is indefinite as to when that might solve the problem in TV.

Also, if you do decide to cancel service because of the signal problem, I should add that when I first complained to AT&T about poor reception a few months ago, they told me that if I wanted to cancel my account, they would waive the contractual cancellation fee, because of the poor service available. Then, when I asked for the microcell instead of cancelling, they agreed to waive the cost of it.

Also, if you ask them to, they will credit you some rollover minutes to try to make up for the dropped calls, slow connection, etc. (They credited us 5000 recently -and I was only explaining our problem and asking about the new tower, not seeking more minutes - plus several hundred a few months ago).

We have been with AT&T since it took over from Cingular (and, before that, Cingular was originally Bell South Mobility, at least in Louisville), so in all have I been a customer of theirs since the late 1980s (I think it was?) when cell phones first came out; and over all, over the years, they have been abundantly reasonable to work with; so we decided to stick it out for a few months and see if they resolve the signal problem in TV, since our phones works great anywhere else we travel to. And with our two phones, plus 3 children's phones still tied into our family plan for business reasons, and including 4 I-phones out of the 5, unlimited data and texting, and insurance, etc, our bill is still only $210 per month, actually less than it was a few years ago with fewer 'extras'; so out of loyalty we are trying to wait and see if they solve the problem in the near future.

What kind of internet service is required ?Broadband or will dsl work?

[Posh 08]

I'll be happy when I retire and can do away with the cell phones and the bill and all the issues. If you don't get me at the house, forget about it.

[zcaveman]

Originally Posted by Posh 08

I'll be happy when I retire and can do away with the cell phones and the bill and all the issues. If you don't get me at the house, forget about it.

Amen to that. The only reason I carry a cell phone is for emergencies. Otherwise it is turned off.

[Posh 08]

Originally Posted by zcaveman

Amen to that. The only reason I carry a cell phone is for emergencies. Otherwise it is turned off.

Well hopefully if I carry for that reason "I won't fall and can't get up" in a dead zone

[angiefox10]

Interesting...

We couldn't wait to get rid of our land lines. I rarely talk on my cell phone although on occasion I can use it for that!!! It's my golf GPS, grocery list, Garmin, I watch the stock market, my to do list, read my books on it, make my reservations on the go,I watch movies on it, listen to books, podcasts and music when I walk, it's my camera, my translator when I travel, as long as we had our phones, we NEVER got lost in TV... I think you get the picture. I use is for so much more then a phone. If I only have to carry one thing... it would be my cell phone! In fact, as soon as it has a comb app... I can do away with that too!

My land line... *shrug*

That being said.... I turn my ringer off when I don't want to be disturbed.

[billnterri]

I have AT&T cellphone coverage with the Iphone3 and live in the village of St. James.
Coverage is Poor to Very Poor. Half the time I get a msg "No Service" on my Iphone. Many calls are dropped. My wife has Verizon with her Iphone and has no problems. I will be switching to Verizon when my contract ends in Dec.

[ladydoc]

Originally Posted by billnterri

I have AT&T cellphone coverage with the Iphone3 and live in the village of St. James.
Coverage is Poor to Very Poor. Half the time I get a msg "No Service" on my Iphone. Many calls are dropped. My wife has Verizon with her Iphone and has no problems. I will be switching to Verizon when my contract ends in Dec.

WE ran back to Verizon from AT&T as fast as we could. They took us back, waived the cancellation fee we incurred when we switched and then gave us a break on the price of a better phone AND a very similar plan for $10 less then At&T!

[Freeda]

Originally Posted by handyman

What kind of internet service is required ?Broadband or will dsl work?

Hi, Handyman, sorry that I don't know the answer. We have broadband, and have never had dsl so I don't know how that works; but just give AT&T a call at 800-331-0500.

[Schaumburger]

Freeda and Angiefox, Thank you for posting information about microcells.

[Freeda]

Just realized the ATT ph no. was wrong in above post; has been edited.

[Figmo Bohica]

When I talked to ATT about getting the mircocell, was told that it plugged into the router, not the computer. So it should not matter if you have broadband, DSL or satillite service since your router is on all the time.

But no matter, got rid of the ATT phone and the Verizon phone arrives today. Same package for $10 less per month, just had to pay a little more for the phone, but I think that it is worth it to have a phone that gives good service.

[linandvin]

Wow! Thank you for the heads up! I just spoke with AT&T and they wanted to charge me $300. Brought it down to $50. I suggested it would be quite unfair, and probably illegal, to charge some people and not others. The ***free*** microcell is on its way. Thanks again!!!!