Does The MicroCell Hate The iPhone?
August 10, 2010
One of the most prevalent iPhone issues is reception, and AT&T has started rolling out a new device that could solve those issues. Unfortunately, it appears that the solution has its own problems.
The AT&T MicroCell is a device you can place in your home and connect to your high-speed internet connection. Once connected, it acts as your own personal cell tower and VoIP phone. MicroCells were rolled out in test markets earlier this year and recently became available country-wide.
While this would seem to be a great solution for poor iPhone reception in people's homes, an article on tuaw.com states that the Microcell appears to be incompatible with the iPhone. The issue appears to be with poor audio quality that many are calling "stuttering." Some users are reporting that being closer to the MicroCell fixes the issue, despite the fact that they still show five bars when the problem is occurring. The video below demonstrates the issue:
While the problems being reported on AT&T's support boards are similar, it is hard to tell how widespread the problem is based on just those boards. It may be possible that the majority of MicroCell owners have iPhones, which could be skewing our perception of the issue. Do any of you have a MicroCell? If so, how is your MicroCell performing? Let us know in the comments box below.