Clearwire Clear 4G WiMax
Fastest mobile internet hookup
Clearwire Clear 4G WiMax
If you live in a city with a CLEAR network, you can go anywhere in town and download an entire iTunes album in 90 seconds flat. Clearwire is the first American company to set up WiMax, a wireless technology that has the speed of home Wi-Fi but the long-range coverage of cell towers. Using a unique part of the radio spectrum, the service loads files up to five times as fast as current mobile networks. Launched late last year, CLEAR service plans and hardware, including USB modems and WiMax-equipped netbooks, are available in 25 cities and will blanket 80 markets by the end of next year.
From $45/month; clear.com
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It's a great idea, but the execution is sloppy. I bought into Clear Unlimited (4-6 Mbps) for the home, and they sold me the service before they had upgraded the old Clearwire equipment from their towers, so I end up with service that drops 5-6 times each day and badnwidth that ranges from dial-up speeds to low-end DSL, never reaching even half of the touted 4 Mbps. Since I'm only one mile from the nearest tower (I pass it on my way to work each morning) I'm weel within their reported 5 mile range, but they are way behind schedule on getting the 4G equipment in place and apologized profusely for being unable to provide reliable service in my area (Boise, Idaho).
I would wait a good 6 months before trying to depend upon this for anything other than getting your email or very light web surfing, the performance and reliability just aren't there yet. The fact that they continue to sell the service that is not even ready to carry the load for the new customers coming in says that they are running their operations on the financial brink, paying for their network infrastructure with cash from incoming sales to customers they can't yet deliver services to.
Nice idea, and a welcome competitor, but very poor execution.
Ok, on month 3, and Clear is still not ready for primetime, but I'm hopeful; their technical staff hinted at a Motoral modem coming soon with a roof mountable antenna that would eliminate the fact that their signal has trouble passing through walls and dual-paned windows stop it dead in its tracks.
*sigh* Another 3 months to go perhaps?
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