AT&T 3G MicroCell Setup: An Exercise in Persistence July 18, 2010
Posted by jimintriglia in AT&T, Home Networking, iPhone.10 comments
When I received my letter in the mail recently, advising me that I qualified for a free AT&T 3G MicroCell, I knew that getting the device up-and-running on my home network would be an exercise in patience and persistence.
I had been hearing about the difficulty in getting the device setup and working, ever since AT&T announced the product would be available for $150 retail. A Google search showed numerous people having all manner of issues in their attempt to make use of the device.
As my iPhone is basically useless when I am at home here in Conifer, I decided it was worth investing some time toward getting my MicroCell up-and-running on my home network. If I was successful, I would then have the full use of my iPhone (voice and data applications) when I am at home. Neat.
To cut to the chase, here’s what I needed to do to get my MicroCell working with my iPhone via my home network:
1. Locate the MicroCell within three feet of a window. This is NOT an option! The MicroCell has a built-in GPS, which must acquire a position “lock” before the device will function. Both the MicroCell Quick-Start Guide and Users Manual fail to mentioon that this is a requirement for the product to work at all.
2. Once you have the MicroCell located by a window and connected to an open port on your router, you will need to power-down your router. This too, is not an option. Once your router is powered-down, power it up and then power-up the MicroCell. You will then have to wait for 90 minutes or more, for the MicroCell to download software and configure itself. If the MicroCell completes this step successfully, you will get an email from AT&T confirming successful MicroCell Activation.
3. If you are employing MAC addressing filtering as a security precaution on your router, be sure to add the MAC address of the MicroCell to the approved device list for your Router. Fail to do this and the MicroCell will convey “all green and good” status indicators, and you will remain “dead in the water” respective of your MicroCell connection to the ‘Net.
4. Once the MicroCell is working with your home network and shows a good GPS lock, Internet connection and solid “Green Bar” indicator, it’s time to get your iPhone communicating with the MicroCell. use the iPhone’s Setup application to temporarily disable Bluetooth and Wifi capability. Ensure that the 3G Networking capability is enabled, as that’s how the iPhone connects to the MicroCell. When all of this is done, power-down the iPhone. After a few seconds, power your iPhone up. If you are in luck, your iPhone will display the “AT&T M-Cell” indicator in the top-left of the display (next to the signal strength indicator). Make a test phone call and access a data application to confirm that all is working between your MicroCell, your iPhone, your home network and AT&T.
Special thanks to Marcus, the AT&T Customer Support Representative, that took me the last mile (Step 4) and got my iPhone running with the MicroCell.
I now can use my iPhone and all of the applications when I am at home– more value for my dollar.
VMWare Workstation v7.1: Not Ready for Red Hat Linux Varients July 4, 2010
Posted by jimintriglia in Open Source, VMWare.add a comment
Downloaded the 30-day trial version of the Intel 64-bit VMWare Workstation 7.1 for Linux, with high expectations, based on my excellent experience with the companys’ Fusion product for the Mac.
I was suprised and disappointed to find the latest release of VMWare Workstation would not install on a brand-new Intel Dual Core workstation, configured with the latest stable release of Fedora v13. Same results with CentOS v5.5 Linux; VMWare would not install “out-of-box”.
The VMWare Workstation installer proceeds to the very end of the installation process, It then displays a message stating the the installation failed. I can’t help but wonder if this product was tested on Fedora Linux, considering the maturity of that platform and its Linux lineage tracing to Red Hat Linux.
After doing a bit of research on the web, it seems that the VMWare Workstation for Linux product continues to experience problems with Fedora/CentOS Linux kernel updates that break the product.
I’ll submit a support ticket via the VMWare web site. This situation provides a good opportunity to evalute the level and quality of VMWare’s technical and community support.
