These are now available in my area. I have lousy cell phone reception at my house.

Can anyone who might have one of them give them a ^ or

I have a friend who has one. He lives by Wrigley Field and says he can now make calls during Cubs games.

See this thread for some earlier discussion, it may be outdated, not sure

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/omni/...repeaters.html

I got one, mainly because we live so far out of the city center that even EDGE coverage is spotty. I got it for free after arguing with people on the phone about canceling the contract. Overall it works fine and call quality is great. The range leaves a lot to be desired, though, and it's even difficult to get reception outside when I'm less than 100 feet away from the thing.

Definitely ^! Could not argue about leaving ATT as we also have 2 iPhones, so had to pay full price. Did NOT take the unlimited plan, just paid $150 and use normal plan minutes. Willpay for the microcell in 6 months by stopping my $25/mo VOIP service (Lingo - very good, but not needed) I now use Google Voice and Skype for International calls.

Had a few times in the beginning when my Samsung EPIX did not seem to connect to the cell, but recently connections have been very reliable. Can confirm that range is pretty much in-house, but I have reasonable "normal network" reception once I get outside.

The Sprint & Verizon versions currently do NOT have data capabilities, so the only other alternative is a UMA capable phone from T-Mobile that uses your own WiFi instead of a microcell. If you do occasional international travel you might find this a good alternative to buying local SIM cards. Google UMA for more info.

I have one as well. I have to re-set it every few weeks, but other than that it works really well for voice. The data connection is slower, but I have WiFi in my house so I usually use that for data on my phone (iPhone 3G).

I have been generally pleased with mine. I did go for the unlimited option because my wife is a teacher, and in the summer, she runs us out of minutes!

So, the unlimited calls feature from the M-Cell was nice. I just wish a hack for the GPS in the thing was available so that I could take it with me when I travel and have unlimited coverage and unlimited minutes wherever I may roam...

Anyone know of a hack or something to allow these to be used internationally? That sure would be sweet as I'm living in Europe for 3 months...

I guess in theory AT&T could catch on fairly easily since you would have a charge on the AT&T network one second, then register on a foreign network a couple seconds later and vice versa everytime you left the house.

If you're using your AT&T SIM overseas for three months, you probably have enough money not to worry about such things.

Unfortunately I am pretty sure that if GPS doesnt work then you are out of luck. I had considered one of these devices for just the purpose of traveling since they dont have UMA calling like my old carrier T-Mobile does.

Timely post
Was just investigating this, today, as an option.
150 seems a tad step to me, maybe I can gen the company to pay for it

I had it and tried to make it work, but ended up returning. It caused problems with my network, basically stopping traffic while I was on a call. The coverage also wouldn't cover my whole house, so while the basement now has 5 bars, I couldn't get anything in my livingroom.

The microcell was just powerful enough that the phone wouldn't drop the connection and use the AT&T tower. I couldn't make calls now from some of the rooms which previously had service from the big towers. They do advertise that it covers 3,000 sq ft and our house is 6,100.

Moving to iPhone 4 improved my normal reception to the point that we how have a signal from the basement, so I don't miss the microcell.

I ended up getting it and it really helps around the house.

I could use a boost as AT&T frequently drops calls at my home. But the latest Mossberg review didn't cause me to run out to the nearest AT&T store:

Cell Towers For the Home Work Best in Worst Sites By WALTER S. MOSSBERG

If you have lousy cellphone reception in your house, you may have wished you had a cellular tower nearby. Well, now you can buy your own and plant it right inside your home.

Walt Mossberg tries out the AT&T MicroCell, a small gadget that acts as a personal cell phone tower in your home for areas lacking coverage. He says the device has some significant limitations, but more importantly, it raises the question of why you should have to pay to fix a service for which you're already paying.

Verizon, Sprint and AT&T all have started selling gadgets that act as mini-cell towers, broadcasting wireless phone service just like a real cell tower does, though over a much smaller area: a single house.

I've been testing one of these devices, AT&T's $150 MicroCell, in two very different homes—my own house in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., and my son's basement apartment in New York City. I chose AT&T for my tests because its network typically attracts the loudest complaints about bad coverage and dropped calls.

My verdict is that the AT&T MicroCell can, indeed, dramatically improve cellular reception and reliability, but it's not a silver bullet. I found it works best in truly dire coverage locations, with little or no service, like my son's apartment.

It is less useful in places like my house where the carrier's outside towers provide some reception, even if you find that outside reception unreliable. I also ran into limitations on where you can place the MicroCell and how much of a home it can cover.

An AT&T spokesman insisted that the MicroCell is meant only for "a very small subset of customers with no or very poor coverage," even though its website, at http://bit.ly/njH2s, includes videos touting the product for use in game rooms and home offices in any house. AT&T says it plans to tone down the Web pitch.

These devices, technically called femtocells, work like small versions of a cell tower. You plug them into your home broadband network, through which they acquire a signal from the carrier's network. Then, they wirelessly redistribute that signal inside the home. Your cellphone treats this signal as if it came from a real outside tower, and latches onto it. But the signal supposedly is stronger and better, because it's much closer and more focused.

While some people will welcome these devices as a godsend, others will resent the idea that they have to spend anything extra to get cellphone service they are already paying for.

Plus, when you make calls while your phone is connected to the MicroCell, you are still using up the minutes in your AT&T plan, just as you would on a regular outside tower, unless you buy an optional extra-cost MicroCell service plan. The company defends this by noting that you are still using its network, even though you are connected to it differently.

However, at least two of the carriers—AT&T and Sprint—are quietly giving away these devices to selected customers with terrible coverage whose patronage they presumably wish to keep. It is unclear to me how to qualify for these free devices, which appear to be handed out on a case-by-case basis.

The MicroCell, built for AT&T by Cisco, is an 8.5-inch tall white, plastic gadget with an upside-down V-shaped base. As noted, it costs a one-time charge of $150, though AT&T will knock off $100 if you buy an optional $20-a-month plan that gives you unlimited voice minutes while using the MicroCell. It is only sold at AT&T stores.
3G-Capable

AT&T's device is 3G-capable, meaning it can also be used for data services at decent speeds, though the company recommends you rely on Wi-Fi for data. Verizon's rival device, which isn't 3G-capable, is called the Network Extender and sells for $149 after a $100 rebate, with no monthly fee. Verizon is working on a 3G model. Sprint's version is called Airave. It costs $100, but requires a monthly plan ranging from $5 to $20. It also lacks 3G capability, though Sprint has just announced a 3G model that isn't yet being offered for sale.

In both of my MicroCell test homes, the setup, which takes about an hour, went fine. You have to specify on a Web site which phone numbers can work with the MicroCell. Up to 10 phones can be listed, though the MicroCell can only handle four calls at any one time.

AT&T says the MicroCell has a range of 40 feet in any one direction, and can cover up to a 5,000-square-foot house. At my house, which is considerably smaller than that, it worked fine with both an iPhone and a BlackBerry, as long as I was in the same room as the little transmitter. In those spots, calls were made and received fine, and hardly ever dropped.

But it didn't magically give me great coverage everywhere. First and foremost, because I do have fair AT&T coverage in most of my house, my two phones kept switching between the MicroCell and the outside AT&T tower when I wasn't close to the device. When this happened, once in the midst of a conversation, the call cut off. Also, I could only plug in the MicroCell in the two locations where I had an Ethernet jack, neither of which happens to be in the two places in my house with the worst coverage. So, in those bad spots, the MicroCell signal was weak, and the outside tower kept taking over, even though it barely covers those two places.

AT&T says you can get around this problem by using a powerline adapter to create an Ethernet jack where you'd like one. These adapters route your Internet network through your electrical wires. But, in any case, the MicroCell mustn't be located within a foot of your Wi-Fi base station and AT&T suggests it be within 3 feet of a window—further limitations on location.
In the Basement

At my son's basement dwelling, where he barely got an AT&T signal on two generations of iPhones, things went much better, but only after some fiddling. His only standard Ethernet jack happens to be upstairs (it's a two-level apartment). When the MicroCell was plugged in there, the signal was very weak in his basement abode directly below, constantly battling with the almost useless outside AT&T signal.

The problem was temporarily solved with a long, snaking Ethernet cable running down the stairs, but he viewed that an untenable solution. He finally plugged the Microcell into a basement jack on an Apple Airport Express gadget, which he uses as a Wi-Fi signal booster. While AT&T doesn't officially support this approach, it worked, and the MicroCell has been a dramatic improvement for him.

Overall, I can only firmly recommend the MircoCell for situations where coverage is virtually nil, you are willing to spend an extra $150, and you can locate it in a way that works. If you just want to improve a spotty signal, or a few weak areas in your house, you might be disappointed.

—Find all of Walt Mossberg's columns and videos at the All Things Digital website, walt.allthingsd.com. Email him at [email protected].

I've had my mcell for several months now. The 3G in the house is nice. Seems to work better with iPhone than Android. The Android is often not connecting to it.

The hand-off when starting a call on the microcell and heading out of the house has not worked once for me on the Android. I need to see how it goes with the iPhone.

Signal strength is poor. Ended up putting it in the living room. Walk down the hall into the bedroom and in about 20' switches back to the cell tower.

GPS is not too bad. It is about 12' from the nearest window and still locks in.

All in all I'm glad we have it but it is not as powerful as I was expecting.