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My Clear 4G Experience

Discussion in 'GENERAL Wireless Discussion' started by Scrumhalf, May 15, 2009.

  1. Scrumhalf

    Scrumhalf Bronze Senior Member
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    As I had mentioned earlier, I decided to give the Clear 4G mobile internet service a try. As most folks here know, this has been introduced in a handful of markets including Portland OR.

    I got the wireless home internet + home phone + mobile internet package. It would cost me $80/mo with discounts from work and the package guaranteed 6Mbps for home internet and 4Mbps for mobile internet.

    Anyway, here is a report of my experience. I tested it while driving and while on the train, as well as indoors at work and at home. The basic summary is that the service exceeded expectations outdoors and is unbeatable for the price. Indoors, I had trouble at my house although I got flawless reception at work.

    Here are the details:


    Freeway Driving at 65mph:

    Very good reception. Tested on about a 30 minute drive. There was one location where the connection dropped but otherwise, no issues.

    [​IMG]


    Train at ~ 50mph:

    Very good reception. The speed did change from location to location - the first speed test shown below is in a relatively open location. The second is in a heavily wooded section. Still pretty good.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]


    Outdoors in the City (Beaverton):

    [​IMG]


    Indoors at Work:

    [​IMG]


    The only problem I had was at home. I live in a high rise condo with very modern construction, double paned windows and a metal sheath all around the building structure. The signal could not penetrate into the building at all. I got good signal out on my deck, but almost no signal inside the house. I will be having a Clear technician visiting next week to figure out what the issue is, but I will probably be cancelling the service.

    So, the bottom line is that it didn't work for me and I can't explain what it is about the construction of my condo that is the problem, but I think Clear is a fantastic solution for anyone who a) gets a good signal in their house and/or b) who needs mobile internet service.
     
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    #1 Scrumhalf, May 15, 2009
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  2. Matt

    Matt Twin girls!
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    Great report. Hopefully the tech will have some suggestions for you, but if not it looks like it was worth the effort.
     
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    #2 Matt, May 16, 2009
  3. Yankees368

    Yankees368 Compulsive Signal Checker
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    Very nice writeup. It's too bad that it wont work at home for you, which basically negates the point of the whole thing. Maybe they can help you out before you decide to cancel.
     
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    #3 Yankees368, May 16, 2009
  4. Chinasaur

    Chinasaur Senior Member
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    #4 Chinasaur, May 17, 2009
    Last edited: May 17, 2009
  5. Scrumhalf

    Scrumhalf Bronze Senior Member
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    I called up Clear and they gave me a 14 day extension of my free trial period. A technician will be out on Thursday to my condo to figure out what is going on. I'm not hoping for any miracles, but let's see.

    I did see your other thread. Good for you - I'm glad it works out for you. I really like the speeds everywhere else - just my house is the problem unfortunately. :(
     
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    #5 Scrumhalf, May 17, 2009
  6. Buickman

    Buickman Gearhead/Gadget freak
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    I don't get it, Scrumhalf posted several tests all with ping times in the 50-70ms range (awsome!), and yet Chinasaur's test on the exact same kind of system brought a ping time of about 1/4 second? Is their system just not as good in Denver as it is in Portland or do some air cards perform better than others?
     
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    #6 Buickman, May 20, 2009
  7. Chinasaur

    Chinasaur Senior Member
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    I live in Portland as well. Scrum lives downtown where the reception is very good and latency low. His problem seems to be signal degradation. I live in N Portland where I'm farther from the tower/or different tower with higher latency, but have no signal attenuation. For some reason, tests to Denver give me a better bandwidth reading than Seattle. I also use the home modem with trees and homes blocking, where I "think", the antenna is. I'm not sure if Scrum was using the home modem or the USB modem.

    I also use speedest.comcast.net and 2wire.com for testing.
     
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    #7 Chinasaur, May 21, 2009
    Last edited: May 21, 2009
  8. Scrumhalf

    Scrumhalf Bronze Senior Member
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    I actually live in central Beaverton, which is a western suburb of Portland. I have tried both the home modem and the USB modem. Both give excellent performance if they are sitting out in open air and awful performance indoors in my condo. :(

    I have a technician coming to my condo this afternoon to figure out what's going on, but I don't think they are going to be able to do anything. Too bad....
     
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    #8 Scrumhalf, May 21, 2009
  9. Yankees368

    Yankees368 Compulsive Signal Checker
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    Keep us updated. Maybe he knows where the nearest tower is, and can align your antenna properly. Keep your fingers crossed.
     
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    #9 Yankees368, May 21, 2009
  10. Scrumhalf

    Scrumhalf Bronze Senior Member
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    Well, just as I expected, the tech spent all of 5 minutes in my condo before agreeing that the double pane sliding glass doors have some kind of coating on them that blocks the signal and that I should return the units and cancel service. Too bad...

    I have to give Clear very high marks for customer service though. First of all, all their phone reps are US-based. Secondly, they were extremely courteous, canceled my service over the phone and send me confirmation email within 2 minutes. They will also email me UPS labels within 24 hours so that I can package the hardware and drop it off at UPS.

    Bottom line is that Clear seems to be a top notch outfit, very organized and professional, with a great service and a compelling price. Certainly the mobile portion is unbeatable at any price, and if you have good signal at home, a package might be compelling from a price standpoint. Highly recommended despite my negative experience!!
     
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    #10 Scrumhalf, May 21, 2009
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  11. Chinasaur

    Chinasaur Senior Member
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    Upgraded to 6Mbps service yesterday. Only $40 a month! :) Bandwidth was available immediately after a modem reboot..don't even know if I had to reboot. Getting over 6Mbps and almost always close to the 500Kbps upload.

    [​IMG]

    I have a thunderstorm in area right now with lightning and rain and wind. NO degradation of signal. I thought WiMax had issues with weather?

    Anyway, still recommending two months into use.
     
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    #11 Chinasaur, Jun 4, 2009
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  12. kenfuzionad

    kenfuzionad New Member

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    Dude, I got that in Las Vegas and it kicks much ___! Superior to the Cricket modem that I ditched for Clear. I have the eithernet and the wireless modem and they both work flawless, no matter where I'm at. I have to give them credit when it's due, they have put up a lot of sites in just a little amount of time. If I was the PM I would be very pleased.
    Clear+Vegas+Awesome
     
    #12 kenfuzionad, Jun 26, 2009
  13. Scrumhalf

    Scrumhalf Bronze Senior Member
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    Clear is great! I was the anomaly because of my condo, not because of the service. I can't think of anything even remotely cost competitive with Clear at this time.
     
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    #13 Scrumhalf, Jun 27, 2009
  14. Chinasaur

    Chinasaur Senior Member
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    And they give you more than you pay for in order that you never see losses due to signal degradation over distance. Paying for 6Mbps, and consistently test out over that limit.

    [​IMG]
     
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    #14 Chinasaur, Jul 19, 2009
  15. Yankees368

    Yankees368 Compulsive Signal Checker
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    Why is your experimental wireless internet connection 2x faster than my DSL? lol
     
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    #15 Yankees368, Jul 19, 2009
  16. Chinasaur

    Chinasaur Senior Member
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    Whoa Nellie!! Don't know what's going on in Portland ... but I'll take this speed anyday for only $40 a month and supposed to be 6Mbps/450Kbps!! I know it says Comcast but it's still Clear WiMax service...don't know where the Comcast is coming from... They must have switched to Comcast for main net access. Everywhere I test comes out the same speeds with Comcast as ISP. I'll take it :)

    [​IMG]
     
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    #16 Chinasaur, Aug 11, 2009
  17. Chinasaur

    Chinasaur Senior Member
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    Just moved to Tacoma, WA. Modem flat, 7' above floor pointed through wall to avoid thermopane windows.

    I know Clear has opened the antennas so that anyone who "can" get a signal, gets the best signal possible... good for customer relations, and reduces the amount of dissatisfied people who can't get a signal at all.

    Plan is 6Mbps/500Kbps. Switching to Qwest 12Mbps DSL on Thursday for $20/month.

    Clear has been a lot of value with almost no hassle. YMMV.

    [​IMG]
     
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    #17 Chinasaur, Jun 21, 2010
  18. QLR

    QLR RIP Note!
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    Sweet... My dad and his wife decided to get Clear internet at their apartment because their place isn't wired at all for Comcast or AT&T DSL in Atlanta. I have to say that they are pleased with their service... It has to be good when my brother can stay on those music theft sites and not get frustrated with the download speed. I don't have Clear in my area (and will probably never get it :mad: )... if it ever gets here, I would bundle my Comcast internet with the 4G services
     
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    #18 QLR, Jun 26, 2010
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