UtterlyBoring.com: Anybody Actually Using Clearwire?

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Anybody Actually Using Clearwire?

I got a fancy marketing piece in the mail yesterday for Clearwire, who is now offering Wireless internet access in Central Oregon. Their coverage of the area isn't too bad, and better than BendBroadband's. Clearwire, according to my sources, has a big ol' antenna on top of Awbrey Butte so, in theory, anybody with line-of-sight on Awbrey Butte's towers should be able to get internet access (that being said, their system thinks my house is out of their coverage area, despite the fact that I can see Awbrey Butte, but I am awfully close to Pilot Butte). From the bit of research I've done, it looks like there are some issues with the service:

It's not nearly as mobile as they'd like you to believe. The directional wireless modem they require you to use is pretty decent size so while it's technically movable, it's something you need a power outlet to actually be able to use. One nice thing about BendBroadband's coverage is that they do allow you to use your own wireless equipment in your laptop so you can actually truly be mobile.
They've been known to block VoIP services, and they can get away with it thanks to a very broad TOS Agreement. There have also been reports of TCP/IP ports used by BitTorrent and other file sharing applications and Web and FTP server getting blocked (BendBroadband, last I checked, also blocks Web/FTP servers on their home accounts -- at least they used to).
The prices aren't clear on their Web site, so I have no idea how much it actually costs, though many reviews' prices seem a bit expensive.

Sadly, for those folks who can't get DSL or Cable, this might be an option for them (like my boss, who can only get DirecWay where they live. With a strong enough antenna they could probably get a signal, though I have no idea if it would work with Clearwire or not.

So has anybody actually used their service?

Posted by Jake on 12/14/05 @ 09:40 PM
Posted in Geekdom, Local | 62 Comments | Permalink
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62 Comments

Mr. Viddy said on 12/14/05 @ 11:02 PM:
I do not have the service but my nephew did so I have had first hand experience with using it and my opinion is this, it is just like borrowing a signal from someone in the neighborhood who has an open wi-fi setup. It is not 100% reliable. It is like paying someone to borrow their signal and when my nephew had connection issues they were not too accomodating when it came to giving him any type of service credit.

I suppose the basic premise is sound but that particular company doesn't seem to be put together very well and if I had the option to use it, I'd have to pass.

Felix said on 12/16/05 @ 09:19 PM:
Clearwire's service is COMPLETE crap! I had it for 3 months and finally had it ripped out and got DSL back. The worst part about Clearwire is, the company is very new and arrogant; they have NO idea about customer service.

mont said on 12/17/05 @ 04:42 PM:
I would disagree. Clearwire has been absolutely wonderful for us. It's consistantly faster than my DSL line and doesn't hang so much as sbcglobal. Plus, it's completely mobile and I can take it anywhere in the city and still have broadband access. I even have an inverter in the car to use in case I need it on the go. Portable broadband. The only that can touch this is Verizon's add-on service which is another $80 to the cell bill.

Bill said on 12/17/05 @ 11:49 PM:
I have been looking into Wireless Broadband for rural Bend Area. I contacted Clearwire and they were nice enough, but didn't offer it in my area (11 miles out of town).

I also wrote Oregon trail which sold to OneEighty and then to Unicom. It seems that Unicom may not offer wireless in bend, but it is available in Baker and LaGrand. We'll see...

Seems like all High Speed IPs cover town, but nobody seems to want to tap the rural market? With the way Deschutes Co. is spreading out, you would think someone would fill the niche.

Wonder if Verizon would offer just Internet connection as I really don't care to have a cell. Hey some of us have to keep our eyes on the road while driving!

Felix said on 12/19/05 @ 05:05 PM:
Mont sounds like he works for the company.

You can take it anywhere in the city...as long as you bring your directional antenna with you...it's not like they have an ASIC for this thing built into a laptop, or even a small portable modem.

I'm no fan of Verizon and their mobile broadband is expensive and slow...but I'd still take it over Clearwire for the time being.

daxorama said on 12/20/05 @ 03:45 PM:
I assure you I dont work for Clearwire. But what all of you fail to realize, there are several options out there for broadband intenet.....what it ultimatly comes down to is "WHAT WORKS BEST FOR YOU" one individual may recieve better DSL signal, while no wireless or coaxial is avaliable while another may get better wireless...... The point is, KWITCHYIRBELLYACHIN and use whats best for YOU

Felix said on 12/21/05 @ 11:30 AM:
Dax - can't argue with "Use what works best for you"

And what I'm telling you is, I've used everything except cable modem (DSL, EVDO, BWA). Clearwire was the worst of the bunch. Mediocre coverage, no advantage on pricing, and the worst customer service I've experienced. IMHO.

Foobar in Bend said on 01/05/06 @ 11:29 AM:
Hmm ... also, Clearwire will need to totally replace all of their hardware as their gizmo is based upon an old Wimax standard ... the real Wimax standard (just approved in December 2005) does not work with the stuff Clearwire is using.

Spaulding said on 01/05/06 @ 09:11 PM:
I've used Clearwire too...sux. Stick to cable.

Foobar in Bend said on 01/09/06 @ 09:19 AM:
I am clearly smack dab in their coverage in Bend. I have issues inside and on windows that have no line of sight of their antennnas. I have one window on with clear line of sight of transmitters ... the performance is still sub par.

ericinbend said on 02/17/06 @ 11:20 AM:
The Clearwire rep at Best Buy tried to convince me that their service is actually FASTER than my 6/1.5 cable modem service. "'Cause when yer nay-bor gits online yer speed is cut in half cuz you share it wit him."

Bill said on 03/12/06 @ 10:18 AM:
Saw a flier from YellowKnife wireless broadband http://www.ykwc.com . I dropped them an e-mail and they can indeed cover the rural areas of Bend. They mainly use Aubry butte for their equipment, but also have some other installations for the shaded areas.

Pretty steep install fees and you don't own the equipment afterwards. But it is certainly an option worth looking in to for rural broadband.

Jeremy said on 03/14/06 @ 11:48 PM:
I signed up with Yellowknife earlier
last year and their service has been
great. I'm pleased with their
performance, it's much better than
the satellite service. I don't care
too much about owning the equipment
because it only works with their service
anyways. The fact that yellowknife works so
well for me is worth more than a few
bucks for the hardware. They even spent extra time at my house to get a better signal around the trees.

Jared said on 04/12/06 @ 06:37 PM:
I'm using it. Torrents download amazingly slow.

Ray said on 05/13/06 @ 06:42 PM:
After three months with Clearwire, I can no longer put up with it. Frankly, I would prefer dialup over this piece of crap.

Clearwire does not answer trouble tickets. BAD customer service!!

Plus...I can't use Vonage with it.

I'm going back to cable next week.

Russ said on 05/27/06 @ 06:29 AM:
I have been using clearwire for about 4 months now in Jax. FL, the original location I told them I would be using it wasn't all that great, had to move the modem quite a bit. I moved to another house, and always have the strongest signal possible. Like said above, torrents download extremely slow. I had a period for about 2 weeks where I got good speed on them, but now its back down to around 10k/sec with BitTorrent.

I did have one issue with billing where I submitted a trouble ticket because they billed me at the full rate for the first 3 months instead of the 19.99/month offer, then called customer service and they were quick and friendly at solving that problem by giving me credits for the errors.

Quite Dissatisfied said on 07/25/06 @ 02:58 PM:
I'm writing this through a Clearwire connection right now. I live on the west side, just a few blocks from Newport Ave. Market, and I have a full 5 bars consistently.

Let me just say, it's terrible.

I mean, for a lot of users, it's probably fine. HTTP traffic (browsing the Internet) works pretty well, but I'm coming from cable at my last home, so there's a bit of a drop there. But beyond that, Clearwire has employed some great tactics to screw intermediate-to-advanced users out of a lot of service.

Pretty much any file-transfer program will barely work. Using BitTorrent, downloads may surge to around 30kbps for a few minutes, but overall they linger around 4-5kbps, sometimes less, and uploading is even worse. I am using every protocol encryption technique to be had, and no change. Same with Emule (my backup p2p method). Sometimes it will connect, and maybe even get a high ID, but mostly, it won't, and it will NEVER transfer anything, up or down. Basically, everything but HTTP is throttled down to almost nothing. Trust me, I've been spending a lot of time trying to find a way through - it ain't gonna happen.

So here I am, paying for a connection that won't let me do almost anything I need to do on a daily basis - things like downloading and uploading large files via BitTorrent (like Linux distros - I test and develop) and running a decent set of websites (blogs and so forth). But, hey, at least I can access all these websites that tell me just what a mistake it was to sign up in the first place. Oh, and H*R. That's good, too.

Thanks for the screw-job, Clearwire. I am looking for a DSL provider today, and you can expect that I'll be suddenly moving in the next week or so to a location that you don't service. . . which, as your salesman told me, provides me with an out on my 2-year contract.

Oh, and for anybody wondering, cable is not available where I live, or else I'd be on that already.

Mark Turner said on 08/03/06 @ 07:48 PM:
I dont understand why people would give up a wired connection for a wireless one? Basic networking knowledge will tell you that even if a wireless connection is rated at a certain speed, it is generally only able to provide that level of service in Perfect Conditions.

Wireless was never intended to be a replacement for heavy internet usage(well at least consumer grade wireless) or users that require large amounts of bandwidth. Companies like ClearWire will have a hard time converting intelligent users to thier service, especially if they are allready subscribing to a broadband service. ClearWire does give another choice for users that are still on dial-up, but with the price of connections from companies like BendTel and BendBroadband I dont understand why users even subscribe to ClearWire.
PS. How many people actually need to have a wireless connection that they can access from anywhere? Have any of them drove around town with kismet? Its a hoot.

Jake said on 08/03/06 @ 11:16 PM:
Yeah, I'm driven around town with network stumbler on my PC, and there'd be no issue with me getting free connectivity pretty much any where in Bend with a few houses.

Cody said on 08/07/06 @ 10:00 AM:
Actually, Clearwire can hook into a wireless router to make it completely wireless in your home (allowing all of your computers to use the internet without cords running to the computers). It is fast (1.5 Megs/sec). Great customer service and reliable.

Joey said on 08/07/06 @ 11:04 AM:
Great customer service!

foolsome said on 08/15/06 @ 06:45 PM:
I agree with Mark.

Dave said on 09/12/06 @ 10:28 PM:
Central California resident with several friends using Clearwire. This service survives by being the only service available in selected areas. Bottom line: if you own Clearwire stock, then sell it. These guys are going out of business soon. But, shhhh, they don't know it yet.

I returned 1st modem as it did not work. Threats of early termination penalty be damned. Stupid me, I got another three weeks later. No better. Performance sucks. Speedtest tonight: 275 down 39 up... not much better than dial up.

busdrivermike said on 10/12/06 @ 10:21 AM:
I just bought a clearwire unit I wish I could buy some stock. The difference between DSL and Clearwire is the difference between a landline and a cell phone. These guys are going to be huge.

If you live in the sticks, you need a land based internet service. But, what if you live on a boat, or a motorhome, or just travel all the time? Yesterday, I sat out in the sun at the park, and surfed the internet. Who else provides unlimited usage of this type for $30 a month?

Me again said on 10/12/06 @ 02:02 PM:
"These guys are going to be huge."

Yeah, just like laserdisc and OS/2 Warp.

Just using a different system doesn't excuse Clearwire from over-aggressive bandwidth control. In my experience (first-hand, face-to-face), their customer service sucks, and they don't know anything about what they're even controlling - my service rep didn't even understand what BitTorrent was when I explained it to him.

Clearwire will die out as soon as another wireless ISP comes along to compete. All they have to do is offer standard service like any other normal ISP does, and Clearwire will be screwed.

houndjack said on 11/19/06 @ 09:32 AM:
It looks like there are plenty of people that just know what a Wi-Max wireless internet is. Clearwire is not a Wi-Fi service. Clearwire is a secure connection using a local area connection on your PC or Laptop. Now im am not an employee but I have talked to them in their office in the Cascade Village Mall. They are very nice people and they have great customer service. Your problems get handled a lot quicker than cable and or dsl isp's. If you call Bend Cable at 5pm you get a message machine. If you call clearwire in bend u talk to the same person all the time, Plus if your realy want to know more Just go into the office at the Cascade Village Mall by BestBuy and ask to talk to the District Manager and he will talk to you. All isp has their clicthes and problems, However Clearwire is constantly moving forward. Once they have coverage more than 10 miles out, I will for sure get this over bend cable or dsl. People just need to talk to the source instead of talking to poeple who just dong know anything.

Ohh, 19.99 1st 3month and 4.99 for the mondem rental verses 9.99 a month with bend cable. 34.98 (including modem) after that or 42.98 (including modem). If you have problem with clearwire usually it is because they just are unable to make Everbody happy! (come on people)

My 2 bits said on 11/19/06 @ 09:53 AM:
I guess I agree with houndjack, somewhat. Clearwire is a bit more convenient, but it is also more expensive and less reliable. Service was down for several hours yesterday. I've talked face-to-face with a Bend tech rep about service complaints, and he offered to call me at a certain date to see if I wanted to talk more. He never called. They're nice enough, but they don't so much DO anything for you (except maybe come and wiggle your modem around if you're having problems - I can do that myself). And if you want to use any sort of file transfer other than HTTP, prepare to get transfer rates of around 0.2kbps consistently.

Come to think of it, I don't agree with houndjack at all. Clearwire is fine if you want to check your email and read webpages, but it may be slow sometimes, and that's about all you'll be able to do.

Jeff said on 02/09/07 @ 09:30 AM:
I live in Eugene and have used Clearwire since fall of 2005. I absolutely love it. I used Qwest DSL before that, at home and at work. Two monthly bills, each far more than Clearwire. I am self-employed and use Clearwire at my office all day every day. Then I unplug the antenna and take it home and use it there, too, so I do not pay another internet fee at home. If I go outside or in my garage or to a friend's house or a restaurant and want internet for some reason, I can take a laptop and the antenna and use it there without any wireless password. I spent Christmas in Bend in 2005 and took my antenna there and used it in the hotel. It was a really weak signal in the window in my room, facing north, but I was able to do what I wanted to do. In Eugene I live and work close to one of the antennas, which I hear is on top of the public library. My friend has more problems where he lives, 14 blocks south and on a north-facing side of College Hill. I went to Orcas Island last August and could not get a signal in East Sound.

Ron said on 02/15/07 @ 10:28 AM:
I've had ClearWire for one year now - I originally got it for my house (and was told it would work there; it did NOT), and I brought it down to my shop since dialup was so painfully slow. For just web surfing it's not bad, BUT their "customer service" can NOT answer the simplest of questions; like: how do I set up an e-mail account (I followed their instructions and it STILL does NOT work), and "how can I transfer my personal domain to Clearwire (Web hosting)?
I have YET to hear ANYthing from them (via e-mail) and when I call there is NEVER anyone that can answer the "basic" questions...
I only have one more year on my contract with them - THEN I'M LEAVING!
I do ***NOT*** recommend them - unless you just want to get on line, and don't care about "communicating" with anyone.

Randall said on 03/04/07 @ 08:30 PM:
My experience with clearwire has been a bad one. I am not getting anywhere close to the advertised bandwidth and in trying to bring the problems to their support team, there is no effort to get the problem solved, just excuses and no offer to refund since they haven't delivered the service paid for. I even requested contact from an executive and got a run around by their service department on that too. I would not recommend them to an enemy even at this point! This account was given to me for a year by a friend to help me be able to show and sell my art on the Internet because I am disabled and the service works so lousy in trying to upload print files because they are throttling bandwidth on everyone. This is not how they represent their service to be!!!!

Randall

violet said on 03/08/07 @ 07:40 PM:
I don't know why everyone is so anti-clearwire. Clearwire was introduced to Honolulu last September. At that time I was looking for an internet service and Clearwire seemed to fit my needs. It's simple and most importantly I don't have to pay extra for a phone line or cable line. One thing clearwire offers that dsl and cable can't offer is their portability.

During the October earth quake Honolulu had a black out for over 20 hours. I was able to go online and finished my research that due the next day. During the time of black out now. Can dsl and cable do that?

The key here is with clearwire you can be creative and make use of it to the fullness.

Me again said on 03/09/07 @ 08:00 AM:
Violet:

Not everyone is anti-Clearwire. Obviously, there are plenty of people who like it. I specifically don't like it because they intentionally oversell their bandwidth and throttle P2P connections, which I rely heavily on for my work and hobbies. It's to the point where, when I was on cable, I could have downloaded an entire 4.3Gb DVD distribution image in about a day, but now, it can take many days, sometimes more. They misled me when they made the sale, and their service is, in my experience, ignorant of users' needs and generally unhelpful.

But yes, you're right, I guess I could take the modem and plug it in somewhere else. Screw the rest of the family who uses the Internet while I'm out.

kiki said on 04/01/07 @ 04:48 PM:
if you have the option to use clearwire.. don't. I wouldn't even take it if it were offered free. I've had clearwire for almost a year now. The representitive signed me up for 2 year contract without my consent. The cost is $50 a month. The customer service is non existant. The fee for cancelling is over $200. The service NEVER works. I am so close to the tower I can see it from my house. Still, my connection is slower then dial-up and disconnects about every 30 seconds. Hell for online games. It's worthless as an internet provider.

Rustabletoken said on 04/03/07 @ 12:56 PM:
WOW Dave,
You got that much speed from yours?!!
Try 42 down 17 up on my last test.
I'm lucky to get high 400's on a good day. When I took my modem in to be checked he tested it at thier facility and said it was fine but gave me a new one anyway. I was able to get a whopping 700+ for abhout 6 days then back to CRAP. They tell me now that I probably need to format and re-install window because I have some kind of virus. BULLS***. I have run several scans for viruses, Malware, Spyware, Adware, Rootkits, you name it. Clearwire SUCKS

ajames said on 04/09/07 @ 12:50 AM:
I just got clearwire here in Honolulu, and so far I could not be happier. I live in an apt where they offer free internet, but it is connected wirelessly to their roadrunner/time warner. The service was slow and spotty and would go out for days at a time. must be the apt bldgs doings.. Anyway, I moved in and realized I couldnot use the apts internet for my part time work at home job I do in the evenings after my real job.

Roadrunner could not connect my own service as the apt bldg already was on their system, so I bit the bullet and called clearwire. I had read dsl reports and etc. and saw some review were not favorable. I was obviously worried, but I needed something. A rep came over to my apt the next day, gave me a demo and I was very impressed. I have had 5 full bars so far for the week i've had it. I can download movies, listen to my internet streaming stations, watch youtube vids, do my work at home in the evening.

I am one happy camper. I realize a lot of message boards seem to get a alot of "negative" experiences, I assume many if not most who are happy with something do not bother to write their experiences. Obviously if you are unhappy, you want to find out if you are not the only one having probs. I am sure there exists those who are not please with clearwire's service, but I am quite happy here in Honolulu with my clearwire connection.

Fubarinkent said on 06/01/07 @ 05:45 AM:
ok. Clearwire for surfing the internet is great. I get good connection for the online games I play. Thats all fine and good. the problem i have with them is there crappy ignorant customer service and the fact that they throttle the hell out of P2P services, 60 percent of what I do on the internet involves P2P. the first week of having it, i got excellent speeds. between 100kps and 300kps, then it went down hill from there, now i get on average between 0.2kps and 10kps with it surging as high as 30kps. I can get better than that on dial up. when i had cable, i averaged between 150 and 350 with highs in the 7-800kps range.

houndjack said on 06/06/07 @ 06:07 PM:
well it's has been about 7 months since my last post and people seem to be miss in formed. Unfortanantly Clearwire can't monitor all of it's sales people on what they say to sell the product. I do know for a FACT, that clearwire does not train their employess to sell to P2P users. It boggs down the system. As any other ISP's. However with clearwire, if a customer does consideralbe P2P, clearwire will turn off or slow down your connection on purpose. THEY DONT WANT YOU as a customer. Now for regular users, the internet works great IF you live within the thier area. You get to try it out before for subscribe and you purchased, and find out a month later it's not want you want, then ya, you have cancell fee. You only pay your first months bill to get the service (2 yr). so ya, if you cancel the Sales rep has to pay back their commision and Clearwire still looses money. if you sign up with Cable, you pay just about $150. Clearwire is $220 to cancel, but they take off $5 a month of the cancel fee. So, Just know ask questions befor you purchase, Test it 1st, use for a week before you purchase, the sales person and renew the demo many many times, ALSO, if you do sign up, Sign up on the last day, that is when the DM gives out extra $ to you for signing up. (fyi). OH and to get out of the contract, all you do is let someone eles take over the service and put in their name and soc-sec. then your out. OH also, their customer service isnt people who work for Clearwire, they contract out their customer service to another company, so they dont have complete controll of the profesionalism of their complaints. BUT if you contact your local office, They do take care of you. Good luck everyone, and just be smart and do your own testing and investigative work. DEMO before purchasing. Thanks for your time,

noneofyourbusiness said on 06/12/07 @ 06:52 PM:
I just got it and I'm a little pissed. Sure you can brouse and stream video but torrents barely download, if they even start. I can't wait until I try to setup a web/mail server. I'll bet port 25 is blocked. Whats the point of internet service if it isn't a "real" connection. Phuck clearwire!

startswithaj said on 06/13/07 @ 01:57 AM:
I had clearwire, and, for the first month or two....it worked great. I could even use p2p without any problems...that changed all of a sudden recently.
Also, I had problems with my clearwire email account. I constantly got mail in my alternate email saying that the email they sent to my clearwire account was returned undeliverable.

fukclwr said on 08/03/07 @ 08:18 PM:
Wow... i messed up. Ive had Clearwire for 4 days... ITS SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!! AND NOW THEY WANT TO CHARGE ME $280 TO CANCEL... DO NOT TAKE THIS SERVICE!!! They're stock is dropping too.

Nameless One said on 08/03/07 @ 08:18 PM:
Wow... i messed up. Ive had Clearwire for 4 days... ITS SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!! AND NOW THEY WANT TO CHARGE ME $280 TO CANCEL... DO NOT TAKE THIS SERVICE!!! Their stock is dropping too.

Bwana said on 08/08/07 @ 12:25 PM:
AVOID THESE SNAKES!!! They will keep jerking you around to keep your payments coming in. You can only be released from your contract if they send a "field tech" out to your home and determine you have absolutely no reception. If they find one small spot anywhere, and I mean anywhere, in your home, they will claim that you have reception. These people are only after the $$$$, just like AOL, and don't care about long-term retention. They figure they can replace you with some other sucker once you are done with your contract.

anti-clearwire said on 08/15/07 @ 11:47 AM:
Stay with your DSL or Cable. Clearwire had 1 or 2 year service contract, any return after 30days will be charge $280 ETF, plus their service is limited with the speed, if you are looking to replace the dial up with no other option, then go with Clearwire. Good luck with them

Jon said on 08/19/07 @ 12:00 PM:
Got clearwire 4 months ago. Now I wish I could shove the over sized modem up there butt. If I knew what I do now, I would have never gotten the service. Customer service.... NONE!!! I called them to see what I could do about the poor speeds.... The guy I talked to told me that I would have to just keep calling, and keep telling them there internet sucks. Then if I complained enough that they would then look into it. Still no change and I am stuck with this below average isp. I never thought that I would ever wish to have dial up again, but thanks to clearwire it sounds great! I am sure my torrents would be faster.

clearwire sucks said on 09/18/07 @ 11:42 PM:
CLEARWIRE SUCKS! DONT GET IT! I REPEAT, DONT SIGN UP! PICTURE THIS, 200 KLBP DOWNLOADS FOR 30 BUCKS A MONTH AND 200 BUCKS TO CANCEL IT! IT SHOULD BE ILLEGALLLLLLLLLLLLLL

Kristi said on 10/19/07 @ 07:13 AM:
I am trying to cancel because I'm moving to an area where I won't get service and they said "SORRY! YOU HAVE TO PAY THE $180 CANCELLATION FEE REGARDLESS" This is a bunch of crap. I'm filing a complaint with the Utilities Commission.

JoeSnuff said on 10/23/07 @ 07:09 AM:
Hello. I stumbled acrossed this page and its really disheartening to see so many people unsatisfied with clearwire's service. I'm actually a tech support rep for clearwire. I've only been working here for about a month, but I've taken hundreds of calls and usually the customers tend to be genuinely happy with our service. I do understand, however, that there are circumstances out there, with any broadband or like service, to where a customer will be completely unsatisfied, and angry. Suppose I let you guys in on a few secrets. Our tech support partners, at least in this call center, are very very thoroughly trained on troubleshooting and billing issues. We actually do care very much about our customers whether you want to believe it or not. We're actually encouraged (incentives) to go out of our ways to help our customers with their issues, and on most occasions with issues not related to Clearwire's service. I.E. Third party router setup, software/firmware installation walk throughs, re-installation of OS's even. We're not required to do so, but we do, because we actually give a shit. I'm sorry if you guys have had bad experiences with our customer service, I hear our vegas and new york call centers suck....but I havent had any personal experience with them. FOR THE RECORD: Mr. Houndjack, we are not contracted out to other companies, but are directly trained and are a part of the corporation itself. Our service is not WiMax yet, it's scheduled for the first quarter of 2008, and those customers who remained loyal should be extremely satisfied when WiMax becomes our protocol....very fast stuff. Anyway, go ahead and start bashing me in your future comments.. just wanted to get my 2 cents in. Thanks

Spike said on 10/28/07 @ 12:04 AM:
Clearwire will rip you off. They use a two year agreement that automatically renews. You have to cancel your service in a very narrow window that ends BEFORE your original service agreement ends. If you miss it you are either stuck with them for two more years or you pay them a $180 termination fee. They will not budge. I found their so called customer service to be terrible. I would not recommend them.

Wai Wong said on 11/29/07 @ 06:38 PM:
Here is my pissed off story with Clearwire:
I subscribed to Clearwire service couple months back because I was attracted by their advertisement of the broadband speed they claimed that they can achieve and their always on internet service. But since then I have received email letters of service termination from them complaining that I am over using their internet bandwidth. I spoke to their technical support and they finally told me that they do not expect people to download or upload more than a certain limit that they define. Problem is this limit is not at all stated clearly in their advertisement. They pointed me to the Terms and Contract which I signed, but it came with very vague meaning to me as it does not at all quantify the limit expectation that they defined. Anway, after the 3rd letter of service termination I recevied from them, they actually cancelled my service subscription and charge me $200 for the cancellation fee! The only resolution their tech support is willing to offer is to allow them to gain access to the data into my PC. I think this is a totally non-sense solution and I am not sure what kind of help it can offer to the situation. Obviously, their network infrastructure is not able to provide the amount of data and traffic that they claim in their advertisement, and they expect their customers to reduce their internet usage to meet their limit expectation which is not clearly stated in their contract. It just looks like to me this company is undergoing some deceptive marketing strategy and the little consumers are not at all protected in doing business with them.

Steve said on 12/11/07 @ 03:47 PM:
Actualy Wai Wong, that terms of service violation that you had was caused by peer to peer programing, sucj as limewire or any bit torrent program, these programs actualy FORCE internet services to open more bandwidth than the people pay for, if you have cable, most of those companys don't care, cuz that only affects th 15 people on you're cable line, but with clearwire where everyone within 2 miles of you can be affected because you are sucking up other peoples bandwidth, this is a problem, and i would think that with a three strike warning system you would have been able to resolve the issue if you listened to them :/

Mia said on 01/04/08 @ 07:59 AM:
I am beyond angry because I think I?ve had problems that go far beyond those mentioned above, and beyond anything that Clearwire should expect a customer to tolerate and pay a single dime for. I ordered phone and Internet service, dismantled my bellsouth equipment, and hooked up Clearwire. Nada. Not a weak signal, but no signal at all! And no dial tone on my phone. I thought maybe another, newer phone might do the trick. Didn?t. Unhooked everything and hooked my bellsouth DSL back up. Then, the real kicker. I called the support number listed on the paperwork that came with my modem and phone adaptor, and couldn?t even get through! From both my home phone and cell phone (tried for a couple of hours) I got a recording stating, ?This number cannot be reached from your calling area.? WHAT?! So I then sent an e-mail from my local library telling the idiots my problem, and they sent me some stupid, standard reply message that didn?t even address the issue at all! Next, I reconnected Clearwire equipment and called a number in my local area. They gave me an alternate number to reach Clearwire support. The tech I spoke with was very nice, but the 45 minutes I spent with him was pointless. He had me turn that modem every which way but loose, and the only location where I could get even a MODEST signal (one to three lights, sporadically) was in one front window of my house, perched at a precarious angle on a glass end table where my cat frequently jumps up to sit. And this was nowhere near my computer station! I had to go out then, so told this guy to thoroughly document what we had done, and that I?d get back to them. I sent an e-mail telling them I wanted to cancel and wanted return of all monies, to which I got a response saying I needed to call them. Called them just now, and of course I got a chick telling me I either had to give them a customer to sign up for their service in my stead, or pay their stupid $210! The only other option she gave me was to have yet another tech come out and try to find a place in my house to get a signal, wasting even more of my time. I am disabled, work from home, and have not only lost valuable time and service, but also business, and it took some doing for me to even get to the local library! The rep?s only response was, ?Well, ma?am, things happen.? I am going to post this warning message everywhere I can on the web, calling my attorney general?s office, and can only hope that there?s at least help for people who are unable to get any signal/service whatsoever.

daexion said on 01/05/08 @ 12:25 PM:
When I first started my computer back up stateside I had dial-up for a long time because it was cheap. Slow, but cheap, and it sucked for games, or well, anything. I can't get cable internet because my apartment complex doesn't get digital cable, and I don't have phone service so I don't want to mess with DSL. Clearwire was new in the area, and it seemed to be a good fit since it didn't require a land connection, and it was somewhat mobile, so I picked up Clearwire with Broadband (1.5 up 256 down) and it does speed test out to that on a decent day. They get that speed by sending bigger chunks at a time, me thinks. For about 7 months I played World of Warcraft and my ping was consistently in the 200-400 range, sometimes it was great at 100ish, but during the last month of my 6 month sub it was hitting 9-10k spikes with 2.5-4k consistently, and an average of probably 500-700. So, yeah, I don't play online games anymore as in CS that kind of ping gets you killed 10 time out of 10, and it makes for not so much fun in the Outlands on a PvP server. Currently I am using BitLord (decent front end, not great) to download some builds to test out, and some files for one of my classes, and have been having to reboot my computer once or twice a day because the Internet is getting shut off. I can ping the sites, so DNS lookup is working, but no amount of starting/stopping, releasing/renewing/w.e helps which points to Clearwire doing something on their end; however I'm still T/Sing the issue.

FYI, there is a month-to-month contract you can do which completely negates any problem with getting out of it.

Overall they rate a 3 due to speed issues.

On that note, a last look at Clearwire's main problem: any atmospheric interference including, but not restricted to: wind, smog, trees, people, WL routers, power lines, telephone lines, rain, snow, walls, windows, insulation, air, heat, and cold.

snow level said on 01/15/08 @ 06:58 PM:
some people like to pick anything apart just to be heard
clearwire has done nothing besides what they said they would do
wireless modems
its not their job to start everyone that is going to eventually end up with their service at the highest most possible topped out speed because theyre still building their network.. give them time and they should be able to easily snuff out verizon and comcast
they got to the wireless airwaves first

bob said on 01/20/08 @ 08:13 PM:
After reading so many negative opinions it's no wonder the phone companies and Cable providers keep raising their prices...... because they can and you gave them the greatest reason to do it. Just keep handing them all these compliments....Also of the 350,000 CW subscribers the net total bitching is very small compared to say an AT&T or Verizon or Qwest.. (not enough pages on the internet to list all those complaints) remember "buyer beware" always go month to month on the front end and if it sucks you can just drop them.
I am going to ask them to do a signal test before I sign anything and also get a SLA or no deal.

Michael Johnston said on 02/17/08 @ 10:49 AM:
I have used clearwire on and off for a couple years, either buying the service myself, or having pirated it off of a neighbor. For surfing the web its fine, but not fantastic. Its definitely not much use for filesharing anything larger than 120 mb, though I've gotten speeds of up to 80-150 kbs for mp3 albums from torrent sights, using LIMEWIRE as my torrent manager. Downloading direct from FTP using google or taking files from download.com, you can get 200-300 kbs most of the time. Definitely get better results with dsl or cable, but sometimes clearwire is just more convenient for your situation.

Mr.Expedience said on 03/20/08 @ 05:30 PM:
Hey JoeSnuff, Im a technical rep in ireland and I totally agree with what you have said, we also go out of our way to help clearwire customers who constantly complain, sometimes staying 2 and a half hours in their house getting rid of their viruses and spyware and installing new antiviruses etc.... They should be gratefull!! You offend clearwire; you offend me!!

JoeSnuff said on 03/22/08 @ 04:04 AM:
Thanks Mr. Expedience, its really hard to stay happy when all you hear is complaints. Especially when you struggle over the phone to walk someone through CMD prompt, and when you reset their TCP/IP settings...and get their internet working again, you hardly ever get a 'thank you'. Ungrateful, this world is.

Sean in CA said on 07/03/08 @ 04:25 PM:
Wow! Such hatred for Clearwire here... I have been using Clearwire for 4 years and couldn't be happier with it. No problems with the equipment or the connection. Sometimes it slows down a little for a few minutes, but I have been able to stream full ballgames from MLB.com for the past two years with barely a hiccup. I have read through most of these posts and it seems like those who claim that Clearwire is for "unsophisticated" users can't spell or form complete sentences themselves, which leads me to believe that the problems they're supposed to be having with Clearwire are probably related to an insufficient central processor located in their skull, more so than a Clearwire issue.

walldoo99 said on 08/23/08 @ 12:11 AM:
as long you don't have any rain or snow or trees clearwire works sometimes. They transmit from some local cell towers and not from some big antenna on a mountain top. If all you want to do is check email and intermittent service blackouts are ok with you they are ok at best. If you want to download file or swap files over 40M clearwire is a nightmare.They do have bandwidth limits. They advertise 1.5 meg but it is in reality, "up to 1.5M" which means you may get that for a maximum of 20 min of every hr.YOU WILL NOT GET IT AFTER THAT. Then you drop to .9m for 10 min. and then to .5M or less for the rest of the hr.
Sad to say clearwire trully sucks if you want a reliable service. Their tech support is only open 9am-10pmeast coast but I don't know about the rest of the country
Clearwire has no problem lying to you nor do they have any tech support people who know what they are doing that I have found.

Sean in CA said on 08/23/08 @ 12:11 PM:
waldoo... you couldn't be more misinformed.

Michael said on 09/19/08 @ 04:39 PM:
Clearwire is great... as long as you're used to crappy speeds and have no other options. I tried to set up a new Linksys N router with the Clearwire product and spent an hour and 45 minutes on the phone with Linksys tech trying to get the network set up. This was particularly frustrating since I'd JUST DONE IT the weekend before with the same model router and the same model laptop, and it took me all of ten minutes, because she was using a Clearwire Cable Modem. Couldn't get it to work, and I was only getting about 340kps to 1.2mps on really good days. So I called Clearwire to cancel and they actually pulled out the 'ole 2 year service agreement. I pointed out to them that it was going to end up costing them a heck of a lot MORE than $160 in the long run in lost customers, because I would spread the word. They suggested that I sell the remaining year subscription to someone else. Amazing. Their customer service was just great until they get outclassed, and at that point they say "sorry, we gotcha stuck in a crappy agreement". Don't do it.

Sean in CA said on 09/19/08 @ 06:56 PM:
Mike, seems to me your issue is between the laptop and your wireless router, and nothing to do with Clearwire.

I run my Clearwire through a D-Link wireless router to my laptop and have never had any issues at all beyond the initial setup.

If you want to get "faster" speed, position your Clearwire modem (they don't make a "cable" modem, by the way) on a windowsill where you can get 4 or 5 lights consistently. Then adjust the antennae on your wireless router so you have a pretty good coverage bubble in your house or apartment. Once you have those tweaks done, you should be fine.

As far as your dealings with Clearwire customer service, I can't vouch for them because it's been a long, long time (think YEARS) since I needed to call them, and even then it was a billing issue, not for technical support.

Everyone's experience is going to be subjective, just try some of the ideas I gave and hopefully you can make the best of your situation.

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