Clear Home Internet (WiMax)

[Luigi239]

Clear just turned on their 4G WiMax network in Charlotte, NC where I live. I'm seriously considering switching from AT&T DSL where I have a 6mbps down speed and a .41mbps up speed. Does anybody here have experience with Clear and their service? I would save money for my home phone and internet with them, but I'm worried I won't get at least the same speeds that I am getting now.

Also, how picky is the signal? The signal I get from AT&T in my house is 1 bar of EDGE. I know Clear and AT&T use different signals and towers, but how likely is it that I'm going to live in a dead zone? Lastly, I do a lot of HD movie downloading as well as some downloading on bittorent. Will clear throttle me, and is their unlimited plan truly unlimited?

Thanks.

 

[JoeG4]

Clear won't throttle you, there's no cap on your internet if they say there isn't. If you sign up in a new area, expect the network to have random glitches - when I got clear in Vegas the network had literally just been fired up and was dropping my modem about 3 times in the middle of the night (when they added new towers to the system they'd restart it).

Customer service is pretty good, the price is awesome. As for signal strength, you need to get a good look at a map, and if that fails then getting to check it out at your house would be a nice idea - sometimes they'll send someone to do that, but sometimes your best bet is just going to a kiosk nearby and finding out what they think.

While the contract has no stipulations for it, you're supposed to be able to get a week to try the service out. Seriously, while the modem is locked down to their service I'd suggest buying it and paying the activation to NOT get the contract >> it sucks. lol.

As for speed, if you have at least 3 bars you should have no problems.. the reason you'd want more is to not worry about random things (like microwave ovens) causing issues. With 4/5 bars I was able to hit 9mbps no problem (and I had the 3mbps service!)

 

[Luigi239]

Clear won't throttle you, there's no cap on your internet if they say there isn't. If you sign up in a new area, expect the network to have random glitches - when I got clear in Vegas the network had literally just been fired up and was dropping my modem about 3 times in the middle of the night (when they added new towers to the system they'd restart it).

Customer service is pretty good, the price is awesome. As for signal strength, you need to get a good look at a map, and if that fails then getting to check it out at your house would be a nice idea - sometimes they'll send someone to do that, but sometimes your best bet is just going to a kiosk nearby and finding out what they think.

While the contract has no stipulations for it, you're supposed to be able to get a week to try the service out. Seriously, while the modem is locked down to their service I'd suggest buying it and paying the activation to NOT get the contract >> it sucks. lol.

As for speed, if you have at least 3 bars you should have no problems.. the reason you'd want more is to not worry about random things (like microwave ovens) causing issues. With 4/5 bars I was able to hit 9mbps no problem (and I had the 3mbps service!)

Thanks a lot for your input.

They haven't turned on my neighborhood yet, but Clear says that they will probably do it sometime this week. I think when they make it available, I'll go ahead and try it because I'm tire of the slow as hell upload speed that I get (which I've read is about 1MBPS with clear...over 2x better than what I have now). If I don't like it within the 7 days, I'll return it.

Oh, and no, there's no way I'm doing the contract. I change my mind about stuff too often

 

[jav6454]

Clear just turned on their 4G WiMax network in Charlotte, NC where I live. I'm seriously considering switching from AT&T DSL where I have a 6mbps down speed and a .41mbps up speed. Does anybody here have experience with Clear and their service? I would save money for my home phone and internet with them, but I'm worried I won't get at least the same speeds that I am getting now.

Also, how picky is the signal? The signal I get from AT&T in my house is 1 bar of EDGE. I know Clear and AT&T use different signals and towers, but how likely is it that I'm going to live in a dead zone? Lastly, I do a lot of HD movie downloading as well as some downloading on bittorent. Will clear throttle me, and is their unlimited plan truly unlimited?

Thanks.

WiMax will have no cap, but if you ever fall back to EV-DO 3G it's a 5GB a month cap and the 3G/4G option is $20 extra a month. For $70/month you could easily get Cox high speed at top tier.

 

[Luigi239]

WiMax will have no cap, but if you ever fall back to EV-DO 3G it's a 5GB a month cap and the 3G/4G option is $20 extra a month. For $70/month you could easily get Cox high speed at top tier.

Clear doesn't have a 3G network to fall back on.

Also, my only other choice is to get Time Warner Cable internet, which is $60 per month, and tops out at 10mbps which is pathetic. For $50, I could get as much as 10mbps as well as a home phone.

 

[jav6454]

Clear doesn't have a 3G network to fall back on.

Also, my only other choice is to get Time Warner Cable internet, which is $60 per month, and tops out at 10mbps which is pathetic. For $50, I could get as much as 10mbps as well as a home phone.

Clear is same thing as Sprint (it's a joint venture) so you'd be covered by EV-DO.

In any case, what other providers are their for Internet besides Time Warner? I had assumed Cox Cable was everywhere.

 

[samiwas]

Clear is same thing as Sprint (it's a joint venture) so you'd be covered by EV-DO.

In any case, what other providers are their for Internet besides Time Warner? I had assumed Cox Cable was everywhere.

Well, Comcast for one, depending on where you live. I pay $45/month (I think it's discounted since i have cable as well), for around 22mbps down and up to 6-8 mbps up.

 

[jav6454]

Well, Comcast for one, depending on where you live. I pay $45/month (I think it's discounted since i have cable as well), for around 22mbps down and up to 6-8 mbps up.

6-8Mb/s up is way better than what I have (3Mb/s). In any case, I would go with the wired Internet solution than a carrier provided one. Reason is, that when airwaves get over-saturated your speeds will go down. It's the nature of EM waves, there's not much left in the US to provide for everyone.