🚀 go-pugleaf

Boris <nospam@nospam.com> wrote in
news:Xns9D919057D2A26blahblahcom@81.169.183.62: 

> malch@malch.com (Malcolm Hoar) wrote in
> news:htvj8m824i002malch@news.sonic.net: 
> 
>> In article <Xns9D88B2EAE9646nospamnospaminvalid@85.214.73.210>, Boris
>> <nospam@nospam.invalid> wrote: 
>>>I set up the microcell.  It took 5 hours for the GPS to go solid, and
>>>another hour for the 3G light to go solid.  The microcell is
>>>positioned near a window, upstairs.  While upstairs, I get between 4
>>>and 5 bars, and when I go downstairs I get between 3 and 4 bars.
>> 
>> I get 4 or 5 bars all over my house except for one dead spot
>> (a large oven and fridge are between the Microcell and that
>> spot so I assume all of the metal blocks that signal).
>> 
>>>I wonder if my cell phone is first connecting with the microcell
>>>signal, but then wants to hand the call off to the outside (weaker)
>>>signal, and it gets dropped during the handoff, and not because the
>>>outside signal is weaker.
>>>
>>>I have read, and the ATT rep did tell me, that hand offs get dropped.
>> 
>> Yes, handoffs suck. And my phone does (rarely) connect to a
>> regular tower although it's on the Microcell 98% of the time.
>> 
>>>Wonder if I should try a different placement of the microcell.
>> 
>> It's certainly worth a try. With all low power RF setups, minor
>> changes to the position and orientation of the antenna can make
>> a huge difference.
>> 
>> Sorry it hasn't worked out better for you so far.
>> 
> 
> Good news.
> 
> I looked for the next most convenient spot to locate the microcell, 
> somewhere that didn't require me to run any ethernet wiring from my 
> router, yet place near a window.  I have a wired pc in the garage, but
> about 10-15' from any garage windows.  This hookup was a little
> different in that the first time I connected the microcell directly to
> my router, but this time, because the microcell would be 'sharing' an
> ethernet LAN connection with a pc, I removed the ethernet cable from
> the pc, plugged it into the microcell, and then used another ethernet
> cable to connect the microcell to the pc.  (Are the microcell and the
> pc are using the same ip that's handed out by my router?  Is there a
> switch in the microcell?)
> 
> The garage is at street level, and the rest of the house is one level
> up. 
> 
> The gps came up solid right away, no hunting.  Actually, once it 
> established gps connection the first day, it never hunted again
> whenever I'd reboot (to get 3G going).
> 
> The internet connection came up solid right away, and dropped a few 
> times, but stayed solid within minutes.
> 
> 
> The 3G signal took about 15 minutes.
> 
> While away from home, I used my att cell phone and called in to
> family's att cell phones to check the microcell home connection, and
> all stayed connected.  I had family move about the house, especially
> where connections had dropped the week before using the microcell, and
> this time the connections held.
> 
> The garage is at street level, and the rest of the house is one level
> up.    The microcell, so far, works well under the devices it needs to
> reach.  When the microcell was on the same floor, it wouldn't hold a
> connection. 
> 
> I would like to place the microcell somewhere other than the garage,
> but for now, I seem to have a place that works.

Well, it didn't work for long.  Keeps dropping calls.  Works better 
without it.  Going back.