Clearwire Review - High Speed Internet Cheap?
By sabrebIade
Clearwire Speed...is it worth bothering?
Clear (formally Clearwire) says it provides easy high speed internet and digital voice service.
Here is my recommendation for using Clear.
DON'T!
Yes, it's that simple.
In my fifteen plus years of being online, this is easily the least reliable internet connection I have ever seen.
Let me take some questions from their own FAQ and answer them honestly....
Is Clearwire as reliable as cable or dial-up?
No, not even close.
The signal drops or cuts out completely at random times.
My old AOL dial-up connection in 1995 was faster and more reliable than this.
How does Clearwire’s speed compare to DSL internet service, cable and dial-up?
It doesn't.
With our local phone company I averaged 8,000 to 10,000 mbps.
With Clear I am LUCKY to hit 3,000 despite it being advertised as 6G.
VERY lucky.
Is it easy to set up my own Clearwire service?
Yes, if you like walking around the house with the antenna looking for a signal as opposed to just plugging in a cable.
How secure is the connection? Is it more secure than Wi-Fi?
That I can't comment on because I cant tell if someone is piggy-backing my signal or not.
How can I use my Clearwire connection in more than one place?
Yes by using a router as opposed to cables all over the place.
Unless of course you have a wire-less modem, then DSL and cable are just as easy.
If I share my Clearwire connection, can all computers be online at the same time?
This has not been my experience.
It seems the more people on line, the lower the signal.
What issues could impact my ability to receive Clearwire signals?
It seems the time of day, clouds, rain, and if the day of the week ends in a Y you might experience dropped signals, weak signals, no signals etc.
What happens if my modem doesn’t receive enough signal strength?
Contact Clear support.
Then pray, sacrifice a virgin, cry, throw things, etc.
Praying is actually a better option.
Here, let me give you a typical Clear Customer Support call (typical because we have had them for three weeks and I have called Customer Support about six times) :
Me: We can't connect to the internet.
Clear: Turn off your modem and then your computer. Unplug them. Wait. Plug them back in. Turn them back on.
Me: Still nothing.
Clear: They are working on a cell tower near you.
OR
You will do like I did this morning...and afternoon... and stay on the phone with tech for about two hours.
Now, I have to say that I hold nothing against the Clear techs.
They are all friendly and try to be really helpful.
This isn't about the people...it's the product itself that's at fault.
And really....it's not just me....
Last year in April of 2009, Clearwire had a class-action lawsuit filed against them.
The complaint says that the company's advertisements are deceptive in their promises of fast, reliable internet access, and of internet-based telephone service that's superior to conventional land-line service.
The lawsuit alleges that Clearwire customer's internet access service frequently experiences speeds that are as slow as those available with a dial-up modem, and that both internet access and internet telephone service are often entirely unavailable.
The lawsuit also says that Clearwire charges a pro-rata early termination fee of up to $220 when consumers try to cancel their contracts for these or any other reasons.
I really cannot believe a company with this bad of a product is still in business.
Heck, I think TracFone could do a wireless service and do better than this.
Despite all this, the press seems to be saying that Clear is doing great business-wise.
So what is really going on?
And as far as the "cheap" part, Clear costs as much here as DSL or cable, so there are no savings.
Clear's Awesome "InstantService" Online Help
After my connection dropped down to 803 last night, I decided to try Clear's "Instant Service".
This is the message I got over and over till I finally just gave up.
Please wait while we find a CLEAR specialist to help you.
Your question is: Why am I only hooking up at 803?
All agents are currently busy. Please stand by.
An agent will be with you in a moment. Thank you for your patience.
The next available Agent will be with you in a moment.
All agents are currently busy. Please stand by.
An agent will be with you in a moment. Thank you for your patience.
The next available Agent will be with you in a moment.
All agents are currently busy. Please stand by.
Clearwire says it may need to raise more money
Clearwire Corp., which runs a wireless data network used mainly by Sprint customers, says it may need to raise more money because it doesn’t know how much revenue it will be able to pull in from a fourth-generation mobile broadband network that it’s building and from its existing mobile WiMAX Internet network after 2013.
Sprint resells access to Clearwire’s WiMAX network as “Sprint 4G.’’
(Now that I did not know)
Full story here
As I said earlier, this is my own personal experience with Clear, but if you want other opinions....
- Clearwire SUCKS [dot com]
Has Clearwire/Clear ripped you off? You're not alone! Join us in the fight against Clearwire! - Clearwire Sucks and Blows all over | Clear Wimax and Clearwire Internet Sucks and Blows
Everyone has something to say about Clearwire, unfortunately its never anything positive. - Clearwire internet service sucks
This is the download speed I often got, even I was promised 2mbps. See it yourself. - Another Public Service Announcement on Clearwire The Storys Story
- Clearwire sucks? You betcha - ApplianceBlog.com - Appliance Repair Forums
Ok, When your on a fringe signal area, and you get a signal sometimes but not all the time, is that good service? I think NOT!!! I canceled their
Of course there are other opinions as well...
- http://hubpages.com/hub/Clearwire-WIMAX-Wireless-Internet---A-Customers-Review-Thumbs-UP
Update follows main article I had to laugh today when I read about Comcast getting ready tomorrow to begin selling their wireless Internet service. What I was really laughing about was the price they're... - Does Clearwire work?
If you have found your way to this Hub, you A) live in a city covered by Clearwire (and have received enough of the mail advertisements for Clearwire to wall paper your house), B) Are considering untethering...
Have you used Clearwire?
Have you used Clearwire? If so...how was it really?
See results without votingComments
I had AT&T for about 8 years (it ised to be Bellsouth Fastaccess DSL). I never had a problem. I moved just 7 blcks from where I lived before. The connections were intermittent, slow, and virtually useless in the new house. They could not solve the problem and I switched to Comcast. I have no idea why the quality was so bad in the new house.
But Comcast is delivering a very fast internet service.
Still, we have had many problems with the D-Link wireless router. Some of the computers (I have 4 in the house) loose the wireless IP when turned off. One computer had to be conneccted via ethernet. I just gave up on another one and left it disconnected. One computer is perfect with the wireless, and my laptop has no problem either. I have the three services, cable, internet, and voice (phone) for $130.00 including tax. I think it is a good deal. I recommend Comcast so far.
Unfortunately, Comcast isn't in my area yet.
I've signup clear on Augues 10, 2010 at one the clear agent store of Chicago Illinois.
The agent told me to I have 2 week to try it out period, and buy the modem are much cheaper instead leasing it.
So I select the home and mobile package which is $55 a/mon.
I've paid $164.98 plus tax $14.85 for both home and mobile with a mon of charge of $55, so I paid $234.83 for the first bill with my credit card.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
The connection sucks..
The connection are sucks, the modem only show 2 LED on instead of 5 most of the time, maybe sometime 3, not reliable at all. And the mobile one with no connection at all at my house, and really slow at my work place.
Most of the time, I open the browser, it show with no connection, so the browser leave as blank page.
Even I able to connect, the connection slow as hell, even slow than the dial up modem.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
I call clear on the 6 days of activation, but the line is busy, I unable to hold it for long, so I hang it up.
I call them a again on the 13 days, and I talk with a representitive for a hour just for cancellation, she keep giving me an excuses, something like, why don't give us a chance to work it out or send out a tech to check it out, so wasted me a hour to just call for cancellation.
After cancell it, they send me 2 email for return shipping lable for the modem, both the link are not working, so I have to call again.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
It took about 2 weeks, I got 2 refund amount showing on my credit card statement, but both the amount can't be acceptable.
The send me 2 amount which is $31.94 and $87.79, total $119.73, which not even cover what I've paid for both the modems.
I though that is only part of the refund, so I wait for few more days let see is there any other refund, but nothing.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
What a nice excuse?
I call them again today Auguest 09, 2010, guess what they told me, they said my account usage too much, that is the only amount can be issue? After that, I go to clear.com with the live chat, they said that is the full refund? What the hell?
How could my account usage too much? Should I plug it on when I use it and unplug it when I don't use it? What a bullshit?
When I sign up it said unlimited usage, and now told me usage too much? Just for 13 days?
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
I've paid $234.83 and now only got $119.73 refund? So I have to paid $115.10 just for 13 days sucks service, even with the offer trying period?
After you have read this, don't ever think about it to sign up with clear, first of it, the coverage and the connection sucks, not reliable at all, just wasted your time and money, and they totally are SCAM!
When you read this, please copy and post it otherwhere, so let other won't get SCAM by clear.
Thanks for the info on Clearwire, it's alaways worth reading reviews and using comparison sites to make sure you make an informed decision, espeially when there's often a lengthy contract with these products.
Was "trying it out" Hoping we don't keep it! One computer can get on, but the other is left hanging. "Lights On, Nobody's Home!"
I like to stay informed on different internet products, so thanks. I have heard nothing about this yet, but wi-fi seems to be a very active thing to give a try. I'm looking into that one, will let ya know how it all turns out.
Clear wire sucks! I'm canceling mine service tomorrow, I don't mind paying cancelation fee!
Here is the bottom line folks, from my 28 years of experience I have seen a lot of changes with the Internet online business's. We make do with what we can access or afford. Depending on where you live this will be your issue with any Internet company. No matter what you are a slave to these companies for their access points of origin. If you want to access any service you have to do the research first then a breakdown of which company has the best to offer, this far honestly hands down Comcast is the one service to enroll with.
The only problem with Comcast is their billing practices. Their billing online does not often reflect the same when you visit your local payment center at least this has been my experience with them. I always go to the location in my local area to pay my bill. Also every time your bundle gets closer to running out of a set fee call them and tell them you want to close your account. They will give you a new package deal because they do not want to loose a customer.
You may want to stop paying the high prices for the extra channels since Hulu and Netflix have most of the programming offers with their services, for less than the cost of their premium channels. Grab the basics and sign up for the Hulu and Netflix movie channels. This is a wonderful way to go with Comcast and cheaper as well.
So if you can afford Comcast services, you get what you pay for "Good Speed" fair service but high dollar per month. Watch out for their billing practices, it can be overwellming in fees you may not be expecting. They are never fixed payments, there is always one charge or another for something if your not on top of them. Their attitude to me it seems is our crap does not stink, all because of their speeds.
Now on to my worst part of this subject. "Clearwire" The best thing you can do with their equipment is keep them away from cell phones other computers, anything that will interfere with the signals has to be out of the way, you will also spend a lot of time resetting the modem and hubs as well as routers and other electrical components.
Be sure that you have at lest 3 bars, move the modem very slowly as to not play catch up with the signal. Due to their allowable bandwidth, you are limited for sure. There is never enough speed. We are hoping that Clearwire will improve their speeds as the coming days approach.
All in all you get what you pay for how true this is. Clearwire is a fair service in my humble opinion, the price is high for what you receive. Also you have to clean out the browsing data left behind and trailing cookies as well. Make sure software is updated and your there is plenty of memory and good hard drive space. the less your computer has to work the better. Use anti-virus software that just kicks back and does the job without a major popup or cleaning process going on all the time. I just stick to Microsoft Security Essentials that is all I need.
In closing there is a few things you can do to assist your computer when you need to be online to speed up your browsing process, use either FireFox or Google Chrome those browsers are optimized to load quicker the IE is. So try those and see what happens you may be surprised.
No I do not like Clearwire but I can afford that better than Comcast these days and times.
John
John you really should make this into a Hub!
It's well thought out and I think it'd be great.
If you decide to, let me know and I'll take down the comment to avoid duplicates.
Thanks for dropping by!
I was talked into the service at Best Buy and was hoping to find a answer to dealing with broadband fees of cable companies. I was with them for several months when I realized I was paying twice as much for half the speed. I would call into technical support when I would continuously get kicked offline and have super slow speed. Thinking it was my computer I backed up my files and reran my operating system. Still no improvement. I called in again and was told that there was allot of customers in my area using clear wire creating a slower speed for me. That is not my problem, if that is the case I should get a lower fee.
Just before my billing cycle came due I called in to cancel service. I agreed to pay the cancellation fee. They told me they would delete my card and send me a paper “final” bill. Never did. However come time for the cycle I got charged to my card. I had already set up a block for the transaction. They began to run my card 3 times a day creating a mess with my card. I called in every week asking for that final bill and to see why I never was canceled. I was assured every time it would be handled. Not the case. Now I am considered plus 30 days past due, the late fees have been added and I am taking hits on my credit. They still have not sent me something saying final bill.
This company is not a company that shows respect to its customers, I would have stayed if I was not paying 79.00 for dial up speeds. I can get cable for 37 per month.
They should not be in business and they should not be charging me late fees when I canceled and requested a final bill prior to my billing cycle.
Michael Collins 2 years ago
Do not have, nor ever had, Clearwire (Clear) as my ISP. However, a person who is very dear to me, has Clearwire (Clear) as her ISP. She and I attempt to communicate via Instant Messenger (IM). She resides in High Point, NC and I live in Rutledge, TN a distance between these two points of about 271-miles.
Either she is a Liar, and playing video games; searching for and playing music via laast.fm; and conducting one or more IM chats while she and I are "supposedly" chatting OR her Clearwire (Clear) "connection" is causing her response delays of between 2-minutes to +20-minutes per single message! If indeed it is as she claims, it is her Clearwire (Clear) connection causing the response delays. then Clearwire (Clear) is the single WORST ISP in the history of the Internet.
I take Japanese language lessons from a woman in Tokyo,Japan a distance of approx. 8,000-miles from Rutledge, TN. Our communications are crystal-clear and in Real-Time, no connection delays. My special Lady in High Point, NC and I, had a *major* relationship blowup yesterday concerning her connection and response delays via IM.
If indeed she is telling me the truth about her Clearwire (Clear) connection, and she and I break-up due this grievous misunderstanding. Then I am going to instruct my Legal Counsul (a major Law Firm with extensive legal; social; political; financial connections) to litigate my concerns for Interference With Electronic Communications and Alienation of Affections against the principals; associates, and related-parties of Clearwire (Clear).