Does Nexus 4 Connect and Work With AT&T Micro Cell Booster?

[MrVeda]

I live in an area with very poor reception and can only make calls once our AT&T cell phones connect via The Micro Cell in the house.

Can anyone confirm if they use AT&T's Micro Cell and if the phone will connect like a normal AT&T phone? If so, what Sim are you using? AT&T or ST? Apologies if this has already been answered.

 

[Ricky2009]

I believe these cell boosters simply boost the signal, as long as your service matches up with the signal it's boosting your all good. So in your situation i would say yes as long as you use an att sim or a strait talk sim on the att network

 

[MrVeda]

I believe these cell boosters simply boost the signal, as long as your service matches up with the signal it's boosting your all good. So in your situation i would say yes as long as you use an att sim or a strait talk sim on the att network

Thanks. I should have mentioned that with the AT&T Micro cell, you have to register your cell number on your AT&T account for it to work. They allow you up to five cell phones to work on their booster. I wasn't sure if a pre paid Sim would work with ST

 

[Ricky2009]

Thanks. I should have mentioned that with the AT&T Micro cell, you have to register your cell number on your AT&T account for it to work. They allow you up to five cell phones to work on their booster. I wasn't sure if a pre paid Sim would work with ST

hmm yea i didn't know that. But i would think since the service would still be through att the would let you register it. hopefully someone with some more info will come along.

 

[Fairclough]

I wouldn't see why not. A provider in Aus does a similar thing, I think its to boost reception around houses as its an "Optus home base" something a rather, were it boosts others network signals but they provide the owner of the base with free calls when connected to it.

 

[shashankmittal]

Just to clarify, the AT&T microcell does not "boost" the cellphone signal...instead, it works like a mini cellphone tower inside your house/office by utilizing broadband internet and creating AT&T network. The only requirement for an AT&T compatible phone to work with microcell is that it should have 3G. Non-3G phones do not work with the microcell...so the N4 should not have any compatibility issues with the microcell.

I have the N4 on backorder and I plan to use AT&T Straight Talk sim with it. I don't know if it will work with my microcell. On various forums I have read mixed results about folks having trouble adding a ST number to microcell configuration. The other thing to note is that to use a microcell, you need to have at least one AT&T (not MVNO) number configured with it or else the microcell won't activate.

 

[bmolloy]

I have my unlocked GSM Galaxy Nexus with an AT&T Sim card in it and it connects to my microcell in my house no problem. You do have to have an AT&T Sim registered to that microcell to make it work

For those that are not familiar with it, the Microcell is not a signal "booster" but more of a signal replacer. It is basically a small cell tower that connects to your internet and gets its signal from your internet connection. You must have a 3G AT&T phone (sim card really) and register it to the specific microcell that will be using it (you can register up to 10 phones per microcell). I have never been able to find out if the microcell works on the 850 or the 1900 MHz frequencies AT&T uses for 3G but it is one of those. Standard 2G only phones (like the original iPhone) do not work with the microcell even when their phone numbers are registered to the microcell.

An interesting side note is that even though you never use so much as a kb of data through an AT&T cell tower when you are connected to the microcell you are charged for the data you use (even though it is actually using your internet for the phone). When I am at home or work (the two microcells I regularly connect to) I connect to wifi for data, it is much quicker. Microcell data is never faster than 3MB down in my experience even when it is hooked to my internet that is about 30MB down.

 

[bmolloy]

I have the N4 on backorder and I plan to use AT&T Straight Talk sim with it. I don't know if it will work with my microcell. On various forums I have read mixed results about folks having trouble adding a ST number to microcell configuration. The other thing to note is that to use a microcell, you need to have at least one AT&T (not MVNO) number configured with it or else the microcell won't activate.

You beat me to the explanation. Nicely done. I have a straight talk sim (AT&T) that I have tried to get to connect to my micorcell without any luck. I do know that the microcell just got a software update so maybe this would have an impact on MVNO sims like Straight talk connecting to it. The update came out at about the time as the iPhone 5. When I got the iPhone 5 for my wife (I know, she hates android, I have tried) it would not connect to my microcell so I found on some forums to try to deactivate the microcell and reactivate it so it would go seek out the software update. After that her phone connected no problem, I can't check if the straight talk sim would work again, I don't have it activated right now.

Just a word of advice with the microcell. It really works well, especially if you have no AT&T signal at all. At my house I have street signal and 0-1 bars inside. sometimes the phone will not get a low enough signal when I get home to go out and search for signal so it doesn't grab the microcell. It is always remedied by a quick on and off of the airplane mode but it can be a pain. I have one at work, which is a giant two story concrete and steel fire station that blocks out all signal, and my phone grabs that one instantly.

 

[natehoy]

I use a repeater instead of a microcell. I have an antenna on the roof of my house and a cable running in to the repeater box. It works with AT&T, Verizon, and any GSM or CDMA carrier. Since I'm repeating a cell tower signal, the carriers don't need to get involved in setup.

Just throwing that out there as a carrier-agnostic option.

I really wish more carriers would get onboard with Wi-Fi calling.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Android Central Forums

 

[MrVeda]

Thanks for all the feedback. Yes the AT&T micro cell works great with normal AT&T phones - my wife and kids connect easily in a shared family plan with normal AT&T sim cards.

I was hoping to hear from someone with a Nexus 4 to see if they had any success as I would need to ensure it works before committing to the 4. I was hoping to use a pre paid Sim. I understand ST might not work but hope the AT&T prepaid Sims work.

 

[ctechnow]

I would also like to know if a Nexus 4 on ST will connect to an activated AT&T Microcell.

 

[shashankmittal]

I think the ambiguity is whether ST will work with AT&T microcell or not. Nexus 4 is compatible with a microcell as it is a 3G GSM phone.
I have read on various forums that some people have been able to add a ST number to an existing microcell that is already activated. The phone with the ST sim card will show "roaming", but since it is essentially AT&T network, there are no extra charges, or performance issues with data.

I'll confirm if it works or not as soon as I receive my N4...still waiting

 

[shashankmittal]

Activated my new Straight Talk sim today and was able to successfully add it to the Microcell configuration. The Nexus 4 is now showing full signal and the call quality was very good. Will let you'll know in few days if there are any issues.

 

[bmolloy]

My N4 showed up today and the micro cell works great with my At&t Sim in it. I haven't activated my straight talk Sim yet to check it.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Android Central Forums

 

[nicknacknock]

If I understand this right:

- Nexus 4 works fine with AT&T microcell;
- Nexus 4 + straighttalk will work with an AT&T microcell, only if it is added as a user; meaning there needs to be a registered device active with AT&T service plan on the microcell. Correct?

The gf and I both have a service plan and we get crap signal in our apartment. I believe I can get off the account (breaking contract who cares, i'll come out ahead in the long run) and get onto straight talk after making her # the primary on the microcell and making mine an added number - all the while she remains on AT&T.

Would love for both of us to get off AT&T directly, both use straighttalk, and get on the microcell, but I believe that is not an option, correct?

 

[shashankmittal]

If I understand this right:

- Nexus 4 works fine with AT&T microcell;
- Nexus 4 + straighttalk will work with an AT&T microcell, only if it is added as a user; meaning there needs to be a registered device active with AT&T service plan on the microcell. Correct?

The gf and I both have a service plan and we get crap signal in our apartment. I believe I can get off the account (breaking contract who cares, i'll come out ahead in the long run) and get onto straight talk after making her # the primary on the microcell and making mine an added number - all the while she remains on AT&T.

Would love for both of us to get off AT&T directly, both use straighttalk, and get on the microcell, but I believe that is not an option, correct?

Your understanding is correct.