Well, if you have an AT&T 3G phone, such as Apple’s iPhone 3G or newer or an iPad with cell data, you’re in luck.

AT&T has released in some markets around the country a device from Cisco called the 3G MicroCell. AT&T is expanding to other service areas around the country. I was lucky that it was already in the St Paul area in Minnesota.

I checked it out online, and spoke with a couple of phone reps, one was a “specialist” in the MicroCell. I even spoke to a few AT&T in-store personnel, but none could answer my questions before I lept. So I blindly took the dive anyway, once I had a sufficient number of my questions answered. But here are my questions, many of which AT&T personnel/web site could not answer correrctly.

Q&A:

Q: What kind of phone do I need for the 3G MicroCell (MC)?

A: You need a phone that is 3G enabled and your service has to be through AT&T.

Q: Once I have it, what else do I need to make the MC work?

A: You need an broadband Internet connection of at least 1.5 Megabits per second download speed, and 256 Kilobits upload speed. In major metropolitan areas, this is actually rather slow, so chances are you may already have this. Even some non-metro areas, speeds are increasing and it’s possible you may have this kind of bandwidth. You need to have standard 110 volt AC power, and you need a window.

Q: What the heck, what do I need a window for?

A: When setting up the MC, you need to put it by a window during it’s self-configuration. Way up in the sky are several GPS satellites hovering over us. The MC needs to have a “direct” view of the sky to be able to pick up on the GPS signal. This is used for regulatory 911 service. AT&T “say” that you can move it later after initial configuration, but you need to maintain a strong enough GPS signal so that it continues to be able to offer 911 location services. I know, I know, you already gave them your address, isn’t that enough? Apparently not, and they want to make absolutely sure about your location, but what I have read, they do use the address you gave them as well.

Q: What happens if I lose GPS connectivity?

A: Well, the little light on the front of the MC indicating GPS service starts to blink. I haven’t found any reference to the consequences are to this, other than you are out of compliance with the 911 location services. I do not know what could happen, nor do I recommend not having GPS connectivity.

Q: But what if I don’t have a window (that works), or I don’t want to place the MC in a location by a window?

A: I have done this. The initial configuration requires you to put it in the window. But after it was done, I unplugged it, placed it in a location away from a window, but in plane sight of it, and it seemed to get a decent enough signal as the GPS light is on and not blinking. But if you don’t get a strong enough GPS signal, then there is an antenna port on the back of the MC that is a standard size, you can go to a Radio Shack and pick up an antenna and antenna cable to extend the GPS reach. Note, this antenna does not extend the cellular service of the MC for your phone.

Q: I directly connect my computer to my ISP modem via a USB cable, will this work with my MC?

A: No. What will happen is you will connect the MC to your ISP modem via Ethernet. There is another Ethernet port on the back of the MC for your computer. You will need to connect your computer via that second Ethernet port. If you don’t have an Ethernet cable, you may have to make a trip to Radio Shack to get one. If you don’t have a working Ethernet port on your computer, you will need to get one, or you can get a wireless router and connect your computer through a wireless connection. Again, a trip to Radio Shack should work for these.

Q: It says that it may take up to 90 minutes for the auto-configuration to complete, is this true?

A: It may be under certain circumstances. In fact I read in other places that it will take up to two hours! Be patient. It took mine something less than 60 minutes, but more than 40, I didn’t sit and watch for the cell light on the MC to turn solid green. The one important thing to remember is to register it first (if they didn’t do it at the store for you already), and fully complete the setup of the MC online prior to plugging it in.

Q: It says it works for up to 5000 sq ft, how far is that from the device?

A: About a 40 feet radius, however, through experimentation I noted it can go further, about 50 feet, and the signal seems to penetrate walls and microwaves pretty well. The device actually works on two frequencies, 1900 MHz, and 850 MHz. These two don’t directly conflict with microwaves, Bluetooth, and wireless networking, but it’s recommended to keep them apart from one another by 3-4 feet.

Q: How many simultaneous calls can go through the MC?

A: Four. The fifth caller trying to get on will be moved to an AT&T cell tower.

Q: How many phones can be assigned to my MC?

A: You can have up to 10 phone numbers assigned to any one MC. Prior to the auto-configuration of the MC, you then go to the AT&T web site to configure register and set the phone numbers that can use the MC. The phones have to be AT&T subscribers with 3G phones, but do NOT, and I repeat, do NOT have to be on the same plan as the primary phone the MC is registered under; this is in contrast to what was reported by AT&T personnel.

Q: What if I leave my MC service area while on a call, what happens to the call?

A: If you go out of the service area for your MC, the call switches to the strongest AT&T tower signal, and the call continues.

Q: What if I am on a call and the signal is from an AT&T tower, and I enter my MC service area.

A: Nothing, the call will not switch to your MC, and you will continue to use minutes on your plan.

Q: Hey, that’s right, what about minutes on my plan, how does that work with the MC?

A1: This gets a bit more complicated… If you don’t buy the “unlimited” plan with the MC, then minutes are minutes, regardless whether you are on the MC or an AT&T tower. I know, you are using your own Internet service, so you shouldn’t have to pay for minutes, but hey, everyone has to make money, including AT&T, otherwise they wouldn’t offer the service.

A2: You say you did get the “unlimited” plan with your MC ($20 / month), then you’re in luck. All calls originating from the MC are “free” with the unlimited plan. Notice I said, “originating from the MC”, that means if you leave your MC area while on a call that you started on your MC, all the minutes for that call are free; again, you have to pay for the “unlimited” plan for this to work.

Q: What if I get the unlimited plan, how can it benefit?

A: Great question! If you are in the MC service area a lot, like I am, then making calls with the unlimited are “free” (not including the $20 per month). I was on the 900 minute plan, and dropped to the 450 minute plan, which is a difference of $20 less. This means that the $20 for the unlimited MC plan is a wash (not including the $150 for the MC device, which I will at some point receive a $100 pre-paid VISA card good for 120 days, so effectively about $50 in cost, not including tax).

Q: How do I know my phone is connected via the MC vs. being connected to an AT&T tower?

A: That’s an easy one, thanks for the question. On the phone itself, when you are connected to an AT&T tower, it says “AT&T” somewhere on the phone. When it’s connected to the MC is says either “AT&T MicroCell” or “AT&T M-Cell”, depends upon your phone.

Q: What happens if I can’t get my phone to connect to the MC?

A: Good question, again! There are several things you can do. Really, the most important thing to remember is, give it time, it may take several minutes to switch over the MC, but if it’s going on five minutes, then do one or more of the following. One, put your phone in Airplane mode for a second or two, and then turn off Airplane mode. Two, turn off the phone, then turn it back on again. Three, power cycle (unplug the MC from the power) for about 10 seconds and then plug it back in again. There is one other option as well, and I have already had to resort to it because my phone was not properly connecting to AT&T’s towers, and that is to reset the “Network Settings”. You can do this on an iPhone or iPad by going into “Settings”, selecting “Reset” and then selecting “Reset Networking Settings”. This last option can will erase your network settings, such as Wi-Fi passwords so be prepared if you want to do this. Also, do these steps when you and your phone are physically close to the MC.

Q: What if I want to sell my MC to someone else, can I do this?

A: Yeah, sure, but make sure you remove your MC info on your AT&T account online. And make sure that the person buying the device goes through the entire setup process, including getting GPS signal, etc. so that it will re-register for their location.

Q: What if you simply don’t like the device, can it be returned?

A: Yep, and since it is classified as an accessory by AT&T, not only can you return it up to 30 days, there is no restocking fee. If you pre-paid for any additional services, you may have to eat those costs. What I would do is ask that any changes to your plan be “delayed” until the following billing cycle, in case you do want to return it.

Q: Is it true that my phone battery will last longer when on the MC than on an AT&T 3G tower?

A: Well, in theory, yes. The assumption for this reason is that the signal strength from the MC is stronger than the AT&T tower. This being the case, your phone doesn’t have to “work” as hard to get a signal, thus reducing the drain on your batter. In practice I can’t say if this is true, but I’ll monitor it and get back to you.

Q: How is the AT&T documentation for setting up the device?

A: It’s really pretty good. They go through all the steps you need to do to register, configure and setup the device, and troubleshooting steps you can take if it doesn’t go smoothly. They also discuss some options and best practices with the MC. There are a few things missing, but for the most part I would give it a B+, and maybe even an A-.

Q: How is the voice quality of the MC?

A: The jury is still out on this one. I have had several people say, “I didn’t catch that…”, or “You’re breaking up…”, so at this point, I am leaning to, “it’s good when it’s good, but it’s bad when it’s bad”. The interesting thing is that I have it directly connected to my cable modem, and I am using business class, and I have used VoIP before and do not have the issues I am experiencing so far.

Q: How does the MC work?

A: Well, I don’t have all the answers, but I’ll do my best on this one. The MC has a low-power 3G signal that it sends out on two different frequencies, 1900 MHz, and 850 MHz). It uses GPS so that if someone makes a call using the MC, 911 service will know, within about a 50 foot radius of where you are. It goes through an initial configuration to detect for GPS signal, and determine how it is connected to the Internet, and if there is a computer(s) connected to it. There is a way to set “Priority” mode on the MC, so that it will use some form of QoS (Quality of Service) to dedicate more bandwidth to the 3G phone calls, and set your data connection to your computer lower. This is to maintain a decent quality on the voice calls. The device will look to a DHCP server to get and IP, and if a computer is connected to the MC, it will distribute IPs, acting like an internal DHCP server.

Windows 7 will be release on October 22, 2009, Snow Leopard is expected to be released October 26, 2009, so benefit to Microsoft for four days earlier.

Snow Leopard will require no, or few paid software upgrades, Windows 7 will require nearly all paid software upgrades if you did not make the switch to Windows Vista, benefit Apple. Note, you can use the Windows XP mode in Windows 7 with degradated performance and less than 100% compatibility to run some old software.

Snow Leopard is a re-write of the very stable and current Leopard OS (10.5). Windows 7 is a re-write of the very unreliable Windows Vista.

Apple has not intention to change the OS to something new in the future. Microsoft may make Windows 7 the last official version of Windows, switching to nearly the same OS as Apple has developed, a Linux flavor. This means, that after you purchase all new software for Windows 7, you have to purchase all new software for the next OS that Microsoft releases. And, if Microsoft follows it’s past record, you must purchase new hardware to run their new OS. Again, benefit Apple

Snow Leopard will have significantly improved performance, and hardware requirements will not be increased for Snow Leopard. Windows 7 has significantly increased requirements for computer hardware over Windows XP. In fact, even if you have Windows Vista, you may have to upgrade your hardware. Benefit Apple.

Apple’s cost of an upgrade, if you qualify, is $29 to Snow Leopard, otherwise it will likely follow the normal pricing of $129. You can get a 5-user family pack for $199. Microsoft has had some discounted upgrades for Windows 7 Home Premium for $39, or Windows 7 Pro for $79. But if you want Enterprise, or Home Basic, or Ultimate, or Starter, all have different feature sets, and not all will be available in the US, and not all will be available at retail stores, and not all will be available to all users. Microsoft has stated that Home Premium will list at $120, and Pro at $200, and Ultimate at $220. Apple has one version of their OS which is the same as Windows 7 Ultimate, price comparison $129 for Snow Leopard, $220 for Windows 7 Ultimate. Advantage in both deciding which OS you need or want, and price, Apple.

In the Beta and Release candidate of Windows 7, there is much improved performance, and installing speed over all prior versions of Windows, going back to Windows 95. But if Snow Leopard is at all similar in performance and install speed to Leopard, which, Apple is claiming both will be better, then, it’s difficult to say which has the advantage here.

So, let’s review, Microsoft releases it’s new OS four days prior to Apple. Advantage Microsoft.

None if any paid software upgrades for Snow Leopard, not true for Windows 7. Advantage Apple.

None if any hardware upgrades for Snow Leopard, not true for Windows 7. Huge advantage Apple.

Snow Leopard is following the footsteps of a very successful Leopard (10.5). Windows 7 is following in the footsteps of Windows Vista, and tell me, do we have to explain this? Huge advantage Apple.

No changes in the OS for Apple, but Windows 7 may be the last true version of Windows. This means all new software and hardware required again for Microsoft’s next OS. Huge advantage Apple.

Cost to upgrade for similar feature sets is less for Snow Leopard than Windows 7. In fact, how will you even know what you need with Windows 7, and don’t forget the richer the feature set of Windows 7, the slower it will be, and the less secure it will be. Huge advantage Apple.

Performance overall is still an unknown, so we may have to wait until we can compare with final releases of both OS’s.

So, that’s one advantage to Windows 7, one unknown, one advantage to Snow Leopard, and four huge advantages to Snow Leopard. It’s safe to say, Apple has nothing to be nervous about, in fact, Windows Vista was the biggest benefit to Apple, perhaps Windows 7 will further assist Apple.