AT&T is ready to be the next wireless provider to get on board with home femtocell technology, letting you run what's essentially a mini cell tower out of your house, to help out if you're suffering from poor reception.

We just took a look at Verizon's femtocell, the Wireless Network Extender, and earlier Sprint's AIRAVE. AT&T's MicroCell is only for GSM phones, unlike those other CDMA models, so it requires substantially different technology. Perhaps as a result of this, AT&T is requiring 3G phones for use with the MicroCell - older 2G phones, like many voice-only models are, can't be used with the product.

Just like the earlier femtocells, the MicroCell hooks into your broadband connection to do what's pretty much standard VoIP, except using your existing cell phones instead of existing landline phones. As the MicroCell uses standard cell frequencies like any other cell tower, calls will automatically transfer to the device when you're in range — no need to hang up and redial to set up a connection.

While Verizon topped out at three, AT&T lets you use four phones at once on the device. You can also secure it so that only the phones you pair with the MicroCell gain access, up to ten handsets.

There's no word yet from AT&T if the device will be a one-time purchase like Verizon's femtocell, or require an extra fee above and beyond what you're already paying for cell service and your broadband connection, like Sprint does. AT&T already has a page up for the MicroCell, so we expect to hear more about it soon.

This story around the web: