Testing Clear’s WiMax Internet Service

July 2, 2009 By Nick Mokey

Parking Garage
Going Underground

Things got interesting when we took the elevator down to the bowels of the building for any wireless ISP’s nightmare test: an underground parking garage. With 42 floors of concrete above and thick slabs on all sides, we were entering a tomb where signals feared to tread. And it showed when we fire up the Clear modem.

Nada. The client searched in vain for minutes and turned up not a thread of signal from above.

But we couldn’t help but notice suit-clad BlackBerry addicts chatting it up on the way to their Benzes. As it turns out, cell phones do work here, and so do 3G modems. We clicked in the AT&T stick for what we expected to be shameful failure, only to turn up one bar that eventually grew to three. It delivered a 0.5 Mbps from SpeakEasy. This isn’t the kind of signal you use you watch movies or stream music, but then again, we’re not the kind of creeps that sit around in parking garages watching YouTube. Gmail opened in a very reasonable amount of time, and the connection provided us just enough bandwidth to do some patient surfing, too.

Where Clear fails, older tech sometimes triumphs.

Car Wash Fountain
Free and Clear

Following the dismal results down below, we headed back up to the surface for some fresh air and pizza beside the so-called Car Wash fountain outside. After degreasing our pepperoni fingers and giving the spray from the fountain a wider berth, we fired up Clear for some post-lunch TV watching.

The signal was, in the words of Clear’s own software, “perfect.” Ten bars. And it screamed. A test on SpeakEasy showed impressive 3.0 Mbps download speeds, and a much more modest 0.5Mbps upload. At this point, it pretty much felt exactly like a hard line, pulling down South Park episodes, Hulu videos, HD content from YouTube and streaming music from Last.fm without breaking a sweat. We would have been content at the fountain side, finishing an episode of The Simpsons in the shade, but in the name of science, we endeavored on.

The MAX
On the Move

…And boarded the MAX. Portland’s light rail system snakes its way through the city and east across the Willamette River, running above ground on the same surface streets as cars. The car and tracks present no challenge for wireless signals, but movement does, so we cracked open the ThinkPad on a train headed north to Portland’s Northeast side, by way of the Steel Bridge. By all indications, Clear has this area saturated in green on its coverage map, but our experience didn’t quite reflect that.

On the way out of downtown, signal seemed to drop from excellent strength outside, to at times as low as one bar when the train began to move. A South Park episode continued to stream without issues for a while, but after a few minutes of flaky signal, the buffer ran out and it began to choke and sputter at times. Not unwatchable, but not perfect, either. The movement itself seemed to be interfering with the signal, since it jumped back up to acceptable levels whenever the train stopped. However, when we got off at a stop only about 10 minutes from where we hopped on, things took a turn for the worse.

North Portland
On the Fringe

The Mississippi/Albina MAX station can’t be called remote by any means – we can practically see it from the office window, and it’s definitely well within Clear’s coverage map. But here, our otherwise stellar Clear signal faded to just one to three bars. A quick SpeakEasy speed test turned up only 0.3 Mbps download speeds and 0.5 Mbps upload speeds, and performance across the Web seemed to reaffirm this. YouTube at standard definition and Last.fm both streamed without stuttering, but higher quality video like 720p content from YouTube and South Park Studios would no longer cut it on our connection. Surfing was also doable, but it lost much of the snappiness we had gotten used to, returning us to speeds that seemed more like a conventional 3G modem. Still it’s worth noting that even with a minimal signal, Clear returned results close to a 3G modem with good signal.

Captain Ankeny’s Bar
Wrapping Up

After wallowing in the crummy coverage out in North Portland for long enough, we hopped a train back to the nexus of Clear connectivity and grabbed a beer at Captain Ankeny’s in downtown Portland. About ten feet away from the window, the modem managed to snag seven bars – enough to comfortably finish the episode of South Park we started on the MAX, without any buffering issues. SpeakEasy delivered about the results we expected from the signal: 1.2 Mbps down and 0.5 Mbps up. One libation later, we hiked back to work to parse some results.

Results and Conclusion

When it comes to maximum download speeds, Clear blows conventional 3G Internet service out of the water. The 3.0 Mbps benchmark speeds and 350 Kbps we managed to pull with torrent files in areas of excellent signal trump anything you can do with a piddly 3G card.

But that doesn’t tell the whole story, either. WiMax signals also fade much more quickly with walls, concrete and other obstructions. The extra speed helps compensate for this, as we noticed when even poor signal delivered 3G-like speed, but in the worst of circumstances, old-school 3G modems will carry a signal when WiMax will not.

Want to connect anywhere and crawl? A 3G modem is still your best bet.

Want to connect most places and fly? Clear makes a lot of sense.

Given that Clear offers both mobile and home Internet service, the real value in the service might be getting both and converging two bills into one. A well-placed Clear router in the home will provide speeds most casual Web surfers would be thrilled with, and the USB modem will do the same (less reliably) on the go – without paying two bills. At the moment, you can get home and mobile service for one $45 a month bill. By contrast, AT&T charges $60 a month for a limited 5GB DataConnect plan – and you’re still going to have to get home Internet somewhere else. We’re obviously neglecting the very limited size of the Clear network right now, but for folks who want to connect around their own towns, and not in the middle of Iowa, Clear makes a very economical solution, and we can only expect service and coverage to get better as the company grows.

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Showing 83 comments

fubon portland or» Blog Archive » psa3 test seattle at 12:45am 6th May 2011 [...] Testing Clear's WiMax Internet Service Jul 2, 2009 … Testing Clear's WiMax Internet Service … up from the Seattle server in SpeakEasy's Speed Test, … [...]
venturagonzalez46 at 3:19pm 21st March 2011 I live in Philadelphia and I've been using Clear service for a little over a year now. I’ve experienced some network issues during heavy snow; however, I’m very happy with the service overall.
Apple iPhone 4 vs. HTC EVO 4G - Google AdSense Blog at 8:52am 2nd March 2011 [...] to the high end of its own 4G claims (3 to 6 Mbps). We managed to hit 3 Mbps once in a while in our own 4G network tests, but it was the exception, not the rule, and we typically got much slower.PCWorld’s speed tests [...]
Zachary Burgess-Hicks at 6:31pm 16th February 2011 CLEAR (from underneath the tower) Tracing route to www.rr.com [24.28.199.168] over a maximum of 30 hops: 1 1 ms 1 ms 1 ms 192.168.2.1 2 2 ms 1 ms 1 ms 3 71 ms 94 ms 99 ms 4 88 ms 88 ms 90 ms 5 86 ms 95 ms 94 ms 66.192.62.1 6 65 ms 94 ms 99 ms 66.192.249.222 7 126 ms 99 ms 99 ms 66.109.6.176 Trace complete.
Zachary Burgess-Hicks at 6:30pm 16th February 2011 ROAD RUNNER C:Usershhgregg tracert -d www.rr.com Tracing route to www.rr.com [24.28.199.168] over a maximum of 30 hops: 1 51 ms 1 ms 1 ms 192.168.2.1 2 11 ms 8 ms 17 ms 3 9 ms 10 ms 17 ms 4 13 ms 10 ms 9 ms 24.28.224.171 5 20 ms 31 ms 18 ms 24.93.64.178 6 30 ms 22 ms 24 ms 66.109.6.80 7 26 ms 21 ms 32 ms 66.109.10.76 Trace complete.
Zachary Burgess-Hicks at 6:28pm 16th February 2011 See the Clear Ping and Road Runner Ping from below. I have both currently and was able to plug in and test both on the same comp within a minute of each other. However Road Runner Seems to vary between awesome and absolute crap. I have seen Road Runner be as bad as 200+ ping times reliably for days. Then some time later it magically fixes itself and no I do not torrent. I have had technicians out to my home 8 separate times. If I wasn't a hardcore gamer I would definately choose clear over road runner.
Rhonda B at 12:10pm 27th December 2010 Hi, I live in Baltimore, Md. and been a clear customer for 4 mos now, and is totally happy with my home phone and internet package, just wished i upgrade in the beginning to there 3g/4g internet on the go wireless plan because i don't have wireless service in state without clear Report
Rhonda B at 12:09pm 27th December 2010 Hi, I live in Baltimore, Md. and been a clear customer for 4 mos now, and is totally happy with my home phone and internet package, just wished i upgrade in the beginning to there 3g/4g internet on the go wireless plan because i don't have service wireless service in state with clear
Verizon will launch 4G LTE network on December 5 at 4:02pm 1st December 2010 [...] the other providers advertising “4G” service, T-Mobile with HSPA+ and Sprint/Clear with WiMax, meet the ITU’s strict 4G stipulations, either.)It feels like 3G was just barely introduced [...]
BigRod989 at 10:57pm 19th November 2010 I have Clear and live in Portland and having it over a year I can say crap service they have a program on there towers that cap's your speed at so many gig's downloaded so that you only get .25mb to .99mb and calling them you only get a run around about dealing with all the problems tech support will say your fine and there is no reason to be capped. I have called them everyday for a week complaining that it caps my speed after watching 1-2 shows on netflix from my Ps3 :/ so if you like streaming video online gaming do go with Clear. I was told when I set up my account that I will have unlimited speed for my home modem and Usb modem this problem has been going on for 2 months now and I'm one very unhappy customer there are many reviews out there about Clear's slow/restricted speed's.
hey there at 8:12pm 22nd September 2010 They now have a 3G/4G usb device that switches from 4G to 3G when 4G is not available. I bet this one would work better on a train/ in a parking garage.
Kimball at 11:11pm 13th September 2010 I recently tried Clear, and was left with a sour taste in my mouth - not because of the speed or performance... those were great. I had to cancel for an entirely different reason: http://www.kimballlarsen.com/2010/09/13/clear-int...
charlie at 8:05pm 9th August 2010 in terms of clear's fastest home internet service, it's definitely fast enough to get by, and it may save you money if you're shooting for city-wide wimax coverage with your laptop anyway, but DEFINITELY avoid if you're just looking for internet in your home or apartment. the speed isn't nearly what's advertised (at least not in my use--6mbps download speed vs. .71, 1mbps upload vs. .14), bu that's not nearly as annoying as the unreliability of the signal. constantly dropped signal, signal dependency on weather, placement of the modem, open/closed windows, etc...... these are things i don't want to worry about when dealing with the very modem from which i'm getting my signal. i'll live with some delinquent behavior from a wireless router, but not from a modem. i'll take hard-wired dsl or cable any day, thank you very much.
Mully at 7:49pm 6th August 2010 Clear is not good imho, I am in there green coverage area just a few miles north of downtown Dallas at Forest and Inwood, no signal whatsoever, poor tech support using cut and paste scripts, etc. Calling for RMA Monday morning. We chose to try this prior to cancelling DSL, waste of time and money if you ask me. My modem looks like a refurb, the default password had been changed, etc. My results may not be typical, decide for yourself
T-Mobile Flips on HSPA+ 3G in 24 New Cities at 9:30am 21st July 2010 [...] the network performance right on par or faster than Sprint and Clear’s WiMax service. Our own 4G tests seem to bear out – but stay tuned for a more detailed comparison now that HSPA+ has [...]
Melissa at 6:16pm 16th July 2010 CLEAR is the WORST internet service ever. They started me out with a REFURBISHED modem and charged me a $9.95 restocking fee when they had to send me a new one. I then asked for a full months bill credit toward my next bill because for a full month I did not have service because of their REFURBISHED modem. They gave me a whooping ten dollar credit when my bill is $45.00. All their lovely TROUBLESHOOTING was awful as well. They kept insisting the modem was too close to other devices. I live in a small apartment and do not have many options as to where to put my "devices". Now that I have a new motorola modem the service is somewhat better, but the signal is very poor and the speed is extremely crappy.
1. johyny knoxvill at 5:04am 25th July 2010 I jsut got clear 3g/4g service I get the 3g with 2 dots on the connection manager but I can not get 4g in the bldg I'm in. This sucks because when modem is connected to 3g you have a 5 gigabyte limit and anything over they charge you out the wazoo. Concrete and steel 4g won't work !!!
= Bender = at 3:46am 13th July 2010 Clear offers the worst service from any company I've ever dealt with. Not the people, they're probably fine, but the actual internet "connection" they provide me. Notice the quotation marks? It's really hard to classify what they provide me as a "connection" since it's so sporadic and prone to dropping off altogether. If I lived in suburbia or the countryside I might be able to cut Clear some slack for their intermittent and often slower than promised service (I pay for 3Mb download, 1Mb upload speed but according to http://www.SpeedTest.net I almost never come close to those speeds), but I live in Center City Philadelphia. Center City is only 2 square miles and they are unable to provide decent coverage here? Bad news. I'm done playing "place the wireless modem in exactly the right spot and oriented exactly the right way by the window to try and get 4 bars of signal strength oh wait I moved my arm and lost a bar no wait its back if I step away slowly now its down to two bars now its reset itself and is trying to reestablish a connection with the tower because there's some rain or snow or a rainbow or air in the way." The game has lost its charm. And for those who think I may not have given Clear enough of a chance - I've wasted five months of my life playing this no-win game. I honestly don't know how I've survived this long. I must be lazier than I thought. And don't waste your time dreaming that you might be able to watch any sort of media online with Clear - the signal strength changes minute to minute so even if you get a low-res movie started via NetFlix, it'll stall out after a minute and have to buffer for 30 minutes before starting to play again. I had better and more consistent service via Verizon DSL with a slower download and upload speed for only $5 more per month. I'm going back to them. Right. Now.
Chris-mas Ray Mul'Herin at 7:18pm 5th July 2010 Ah, we all know there's 8 bits/Byte of data, but you're leaving out the 2 bits of overhead that packet data carry per Byte. So it's really 10 bits/Byte of data transmission, reducing any broadband calculations by 25%, a sizable chunk by any measure.
1. Chris-mas Ray Mul'Herin at 7:25pm 5th July 2010 Oh and obviously, 10b/B is easier to calculate on-the-fly when all you need to do is shift the decimal point... in your head.
Brent Jones at 1:39pm 8th June 2010 I hope to leave Comcast and go to Clear in Chicago. Boy I don't like what I read on http://clearwiresucks.com/blog/
david at 11:32am 8th June 2010 I've been using Clear for over a week now and I too was disappointed. I'm in Chicago and supposedly live less than 1/4 mile from a nearest Wimax tower. I get full 5 bars of signal strength but I think Clear is suffering like AT&T did around here awhile ago with network congestion at certain times. Either they are suffering network congestion and need to upgrade their equipement or they are purposely throttling bandwidth speeds at peak internet usage times.

I can connect at 5.8mbps down and 0.98mbps up during the day but at night when most people are on it. I usually average between 1-2mbps.

Clear would get a better review if they are able to overcome these situations with peak internet usage congestions.

I'm done with SBC/AT&T as they've dissappointed me one too many times with price hikes/speed decreases/additional speed tiers/high initial installation fees. Comcast is way too expensive if you don't bundle the internet package with something else. Verizon isn't available in my area and the same for RCN. Tethering is being cracked down with data caps, although Sprint 4g or T-Mobile's new HSPA+ 3G sounds good if you didn't have to plug your phone in all the time.
1. kickya at 2:38pm 11th February 2011 David you are correct on both counts. high peak times are causing congestion which is also resulting in throttling of the speeds. It is in the process of being fixed its just taking time to do. So yes we are aware of the problem and we are working on getting them fixed. This should help all thoughs who use to have great signal and service and are now only getting moderate service. give it time guys I know that its rough but it will be fixed soon
lmsergiu at 12:25pm 3rd June 2010 D'ont tellm me about this Clear Mobile! Is the worst service mobile. They promisse 6 mega and they don's give 1 (ONE megab/sec). Almost all my friends from Chicago are upset about this situation and has cancelled the contract! With manny efforts, they d;ont pay taxes for cancelled. Anyway, is hard to belieave, but that's it! A worst public relations service with chinese or indiens hwo d'ont speak english better than me or my cat... :))
1. keith at 10:55pm 19th August 2010 And you obviously cannot spell for a crap.....please before you go off on a mispelled tirade.....the button says ABC with a check next to it
  1. Will at 11:34pm 29th January 2011 Perhaps you should learn how to spell misspell before criticizing others. Also, you may want to learn proper grammar and puncuation as well dicknose.
2. kickya at 2:14pm 11th February 2011 not to sound mean but for someone to pick on someone elses english and have the amount of grammer mistakes you have does not make your argument sound just make it sound like operator error.
clackamasguy at 5:41am 29th April 2010 4/28/2010 - I've had Clear WiMax for a week, and it's on par with Comcast's speed. I LOVE IT!

Using the Motorola Series M modem, living on the 3rd (top) floor of my apartment building across the street from Clackamas Town Center Mall, I am getting average 3-4 MBps down, and up to 3 MBps up during non-peak hours (tested on speakeasy.net during a rainstorm), and 1-3 MBps down and up to 3 MBps up during peak times during the same day/rain storm.

This is more than enough to run PS3 and Xbox 360, stream Youtube videos, and surf Facebook without lag!

I was skeptical at first, but now am confident I made the right decision going with the $40/month plan of "unlimited home" which gives me up to 4 MBps download speed.

I also did not buy this modem, I am leasing it. Based on the representative's advice, Adam said that when Clear comes out with a new modem, which they tend to do every year or so, I will be able to swap out my "old" modem for the "brand spanking new one" without charge. Personally I don't really see a disadvantage to purchasing the modem outright, but at least this way if the modem give me problems, I can get a new one easily - but it's your choice on this issue, either way you're saving about $40 if you buy it outright, or "losing" $40 if you lease this specific modem the entire 2 years.

I did notice the Clear documentation say this modem's default password is "Clear123" which it's not, I had to call the 800 number and the woman told me it's "motorola"

Clear's guide says to get the best reception, place the modem in the window, where the Clear logo is the receiver, so make sure not to block that part of the modem. I am getting full 5 bars, Windows Network and Sharing center (I'm on Vista) says my connection is 100 MBps, but "network utilization" is averaging 3.2 MBps.

Even though I lease the modem, the monthly bill is less than Comcast's - I was not able to verify my address with Verizon's FIOS, but oh well, I doubt it's a $45/month service!

So one more thing, this modem does come with an ethernet cord, but I don't know if it's cat5 or what. Maybe switching it with a cat6 cord may help increase my throughput a bit? I don't know.

Oh,and when I've downloaded HD videos, it does tend to slow to about 2 MBps download speed, this was tested during a stormy day into the early morning the next day. Both on iTunes and on Xbox 360 marketplace, HD video tended to take a bit too long to download for my liking, but for $45/mo wireless broadband, it's a minor issue for me.

I'm glad at the least, there is an alternative to Comcast's strangle hold on the Portland metro area, not that I've had very bad service, but rather that we now have a few honest options for broadband service!

Thank you DigitalTrends and your commenters who helped me make this decision, I APPRECIATE IT! :-)
1. kickya at 1:54pm 11th February 2011 Glad to hear your liking the service. I believe I am the one you spoke with about the service awhile back when you were looking into it and hopefully my advice and info was enugh for you. I tend to ramble out as much info as I can but I look at it as if I was calling in because thats what I would like to hear when I was asking about a service.
Howard Solomon at 6:40pm 28th April 2010 Before signing up for Clear internet services, people should be aware that the following is in their terms of service:

"By checking this box, I acknowledge that I have read and agree to be bound by, the following provisions

By providing this telephone number (whether wired or wireless) as part of our established business relationship, and regardless of whether this number is listed on the federal Do-Not-Call-Registry, you consent to being contacted by Clearwire (and/or its designated agents) at this number, for any purpose (including sales, marketing, and promotional offers) and by any means, including autodialed or prerecorded voice calls and text messages. You specifically acknowledge that you may incur, and will be sole responsibility for, charges relating to these incoming calls or messages."

Read this carefully! It means that you pay whenever Clear decides that they want to call you with advertising.
I know of no reputable company that would ever include a clause that they could harass and CHARGE YOU for doing it.
LYNN BOBS at 12:27am 23rd April 2010 If you are considering serv w/Clear please read. We were in the mall when we were approached by a Clear Rep bragging on how fast their 4g internet speed was. We currently had another month to month provider & my bill was due that day so I opted new serv from Clear, who wouldnt want faster internet, right. I was skeptical but the rep said we had 14 days to try the serv & could return it if we were not happy; he verified my coverage area so we opted for internet & home phone. I immediately went home to connect the service which was fairly easy but was never able to get a good signal; it is recommended at least 2 bars out of 5 but only able to get 1 signal; i tried upstairs, downstairs vertually every room but only 1 bar & no connection. After 3 hours with this attemp I finally gave up. The very next day we returned to the mall to only learn that we had to go thru CS dept for all cancellations & refunds which would take 3 to 4 days to ship once they emailed a ups shipping label and another 48 to 72 hours for a refund. I was so livid because my funds were already low, my current provider would charge me an additional $10.00 late fee & to make things worse, the cs rep said that my address was not even in their coverage area & that the instore rep may not have had access to both of their systems that check coverage area. I responded mam, if your company is going to solicit services to consumers, shouldnt the recruiters have access to that so consumers like myself wouldnt waste time, money & energy? Then she apologized & had the nerves to ask me if I knew anyone that would benefit from their services; I cut her off & I said MAM, YOUR SERVICE SUCKS & that I had nothing good at all to say about their services & that I was going to make sure I post a blog to warn others of this. This service may very well work for you, but consider if you can wait a week or two to get your refund in the event the service doesnt work.
James at 8:03am 7th April 2010 I'm also in Philadelphia and the service is crappy. When I first got it and installed it, it took me an hour and 45 minutes to download a 2.3mb file. Then after hours of moving it around and trying it with a router and so on, it sped up. I was happy with it for about 2 days and even recommended it to people. Now it just sucks. I only get about 2-3 dots on the home device and i can't connect to gmail most of the time. Google searches take like 3 minutes. Don't invest in CLEAR. You'd be better off just putting out the extra money for Comcast.
Andy at 5:51am 4th April 2010 Hey all,

I'm here in Atanta, just started a $40 month-to-month contract with clear. The modem showed up, plugged it in and have been getting full bars. I've watched streaming movies on netflix with no problem. I can see how online gamers might want faster speeds but it seems good enough for streaming high quality video so I'm happy, delivery was fast. We'll see how it goes from here.
1. Myself at 2:25pm 25th September 2010 Mine used to be like that but after some time all of a sudden the signal and speed dropped dramaticly. Now Netflix has to rebuffer every 2 minutes of so. Also the video quality is terrible. I hate Clear!
mynameisntjamesitswill at 5:49pm 3rd April 2010 it is a scam. Ive had it for four months the bars have lowered. Im supposed to get 5 lights to show connectivity. I only get 3. I was playing street fighter 4 online with my xbox LAGGGGG.

here is my convo with a tech rep for clear.

Hello james. Please wait while we find a CLEAR specialist to help you.
Your question was: contract cancellation fees
All agents are currently busy. Please stand by.
An agent will be with you in a moment. Thank you for your patience.
There are 18 people ahead of you in the line.
The next available Agent will be with you in a moment.
All agents are currently busy. Please stand by.
There are 13 people ahead of you in the line.
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.
There are 11 people ahead of you in the line.
All agents are currently busy. Please stand by.
An agent will be with you in a moment. Thank you for your patience.
There are 6 people ahead of you in the line.
The next available Agent will be with you in a moment.
All agents are currently busy. Please stand by.
There are 4 people ahead of you in the line.
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.
There are 3 people ahead of you in the line.
All agents are currently busy. Please stand by.
You have been connected to Gary Jones.
Gary Jones: Hi James! I'll be happy to help you today!
james: i am curious about early cancellation fees upon internet service
Gary Jones: I apologize James, I do not have access to information pertaining to early termination fees.

May I ask why you are considering canceling your services?

james: The modem only show 3 lights for connectivity never anymore than that. I have connection blackouts. Ive even walked outside my place to check and it doesn't happen. ive had it since december and just really need to figure something out im paying 52 dollars for slow internet something isnt right lol.

afterwards he asked for my info i logged out. they have screwed me already why give them a warning im going to cancel. log on to their chat and ask question. either they lie to you or thier tech support isnt very familiar with the product.
1. Carole Bittman at 9:46pm 6th August 2010 This is a great write up! Thanks for taking the time to write it. peace out.
bob at 6:32pm 1st April 2010 i live in garland and i just brought the service i am having buffering problems
JC at 8:38pm 31st March 2010 Horrible horrible horrible service, internet so slow and I am paying just the same I was paying with cable. Last time I called customer service I wasted a whole hour and they just could not give me any help.

Very very bad deal
Richard at 8:02pm 23rd March 2010 A good friend, who lives 1/2 mile from me, has Clear's basic home service and it is stunning. HDTV without a hiccup. 10 blocks away, I can barely watch a Colbert Youtube vid without stuttering. Their service is absolutely amazing if you have clean line of sight. It absolutely sucks if you are trying to get a signal out through heaps of concrete and steel.

But remember, they do have (and honor) a 7-day refund.

Clear is onto something absolutely brilliant, and while it won't work for everyone, it's worth seeing if it works for you.
1. Carole Bittman at 9:45pm 6th August 2010 You sound like you work for the company.
Simin at 1:16pm 17th March 2010 Downright the crappiest internet service I've ever used. If you want cheap, yeah, I suppose. If you want your internet to actually stay connected for more than 10 minutes at a time? Go with someone else. Seriously. In the past half hour, it's cut off on me six times. It's absolutely ridiculous.

Short version - do not get it.
sunitalal at 11:45am 17th March 2010 I have been trying to decide whether or not to get Clear mobile +home service bundle since AT&T sucks in my home office in East Dallas. I wanted to sign a 2yr contract but asked if they would still charge me early termination if I were to move to a Non-Clear coverage state/area within the 2-year period, they hummed and hawed and went all around my question, I made them check out the terms of service with me and they couldn't find it anywhere...kept telling me their team lead says they will not charge me a penalty. When I insisted I wanted to see it written in black & white they finally found the policy that states Clear will determine that in a case-by-case basis and their tech people will determine this.....
I dont understand why companies cant be transparent and open with customers, why they are looking to trap us into long term contracts and penalize us. Nice revenue stream for them I guess. I am already stuck with a 2 year contract with Dish that I regret so am not going to do the same with Clear.

Has any one had experience with this?
umdkristin at 3:57pm 5th March 2010 I live in Philadelphia and I have mobile internet. I did the month-to month. It only works out to about $20 more a year than the year long contract.

Service is spotty. You'd think that since I live 1 block from the clear store the service in my neighborhood would be great, but it's not. They definitely mis-represent their service areas. In the 3 months I've had it, I've completely lost service 5-6 times, each time for a day or two. When I call they say I should "move to the other side of my apartment" or "try to sit by the window" until they get someone out to reset the tower. It's cheaper than all the other providers so I guess you get what you pay for.
Fred at 9:33am 27th February 2010 What are the finer details of the service agreement? You know, things like credit check, deposits real cost billing issues etc..What happens if you get it and it doesn't work? etc.. Anyone know, I am a little skeptical just by the fact there is no online enrollment or application. Can the home version be heavily used for daily surfing, banks, news, investments, youtube. Anyones help would be much appreciated. Thank you.
Bill at 3:42pm 16th February 2010 ohhhhh boy... I just got my usb clear "modem" I live in N Dallas and didn't get one green dot whatsoever. Ill give you this however, the CSR had infinite patience with my bitching as I moved my laptop through every square inch of my apt. So I got in my car and just as soon as I pulled out of my garage the meter went to half, not a half a mile later it pegged out. I came to a buddies in the middle of Plano and its still pegged out. I guess I'm in a lousy spot or who knows. Incidentally they tried to upgrade me to the "dual band" (Verizon hybrid" card as well, or suggested I use the stationary unit since it has a bigger antenna. I purchased mine for $50 and am not locked into anything but I'm seriously considering exercising my 7 day grace period,
1. Myself at 2:20pm 25th September 2010 Clear is terrible. I think that is just a fact of life. Sorry.
joncambell at 12:33pm 14th February 2010 Very interesting article, I really enjoyed reading it.

Jon
www.PhiladelphiaClearInternet.com
Juan Bexar Street at 12:12pm 13th February 2010 Jus saying,

Thanks for defending me!
As far as the service, I actually got 4 bars when I opened the window (cold here in Dallas). I actually got a dwld speed of 4.23 and an upld of .47; I was amazed. I can now upload pictures to my FB page in a few minutes rather than timing out. No, the service isn't wonderful, but it is good. Hopefully in the future it will get better and you will have the service you want. Don't let it annoy you. Man will always beat the machine.
1. Carole Bittman at 9:43pm 6th August 2010 Most of the people that get good reception are in Texas. Why??For this wireless service.
2. Myself at 2:18pm 25th September 2010 Over time my signal got worse. We used to have 4 to 5 bars all the time. Now at best we get 2 and it is really slow and unreliable. The modem is in the same place as it has been.
JUSSAYING at 6:05am 13th February 2010 hi Juan, I wish I had saw this post before you invested in clear, I would have told you dont waste your money!!!!! I got it back in December and have had nothing that they promise. My job takes me thru out the city where I need internet service and I have not been able to get it everywhere like they promised and advertise......IT'S A JOKE!!!!. Most places in the southern part of Dallas and even in some Northern parts I can not connect. When I called them on this they were trying to sell me a more expensive plan a 4G or something saying it will connect me. I say cancel while you can, IT IS HORRIBLE SERVICE !!!!! I WISH I HAD KNOWN B4 IT WAS TOO LATE FOR ME TO CANCEL, BUT IM STILL WORKING ON IT........SPREAD THE WORD!!!!!
jus saying at 5:54am 13th February 2010 how rude and ugly of you!!!! I bet you say that about JESUS because he was born in a manger. I think you should think about what you said and apologize to Juan or you might find yourself somewhere where you cant even get food and water.................think about it my brother.
juanbexar at 10:01am 30th January 2010 Ok, I got Clear and I can only get a constant 1 bar light. 2 bar sometimes and a 3rd rarely. The most speed for dwnld is 2.36 and upld is 0.03. My AT&T gets dwnld speed of 0.43 and upld of 0.33. This really annoys me. I think if I were a few minutes closer to dwontown I would get a constant 4 lights and better speeds. Still will invest, but right now it is not worth my monthly fee. BTW, why didn't my tech show up to check my system out? Not good.
angelica at 4:09pm 28th January 2010 hi there ines , could you please send me more information about clear just reply to this msg thanks
1. Adam at 9:29am 20th October 2010 Hi, have you gotten the information on Clear, yet?
Juan at 7:55pm 15th January 2010 Jamaal, you can't be aware of something if it is not explained to you and made available. If I grow up in darkness, how will I know there is light if no tells me to open my eyes!
Jamaal at 9:59pm 14th January 2010 Cabs don't go there, let alone fiber!!!! Fiber will never be there because the majority of the people in your hood can't afford it, or are not aware of the technology available.
robert42424242 at 7:07pm 3rd January 2010 anytime you sign up you get 7 days to return for a full refund
1. Carole Bittman at 9:40pm 6th August 2010 Look You people with good reports on this service are just in the right area. But If you read everyones comments you will see it is a scam and a damn good one.
Juan Bexar Street at 8:48am 24th December 2009 Correction: My AT&T DSL does not allow me to watch tv shows or videos longer than 20 sec. I have asked for AT&T to install fiber optic lines in my area, but they refuse due to limited financial returns. Time Warner refuses to add cable line to my new development because the city pulled the lines out and TimeWarner wants $8000 to add new lines. I am just stuck with a decent internet service and I have no cable service. A satelite for tv or internet is out of the question. I am going to go with CLEAR and see how it works and hope in the near future they will offer cable services to go along with their internet. Looking at their stock prices and their potential, I will be buying their stock!!
Juan Bexar Street at 8:42am 24th December 2009 I live south of Downtown Dallas and as of now, I have AT&T DSL. I cant want shows. It gets stuck and I hate it. With the refusal to install fiber optic lines, for UVerse, I have come to realize I need something much better. I really hope CLEAR is the answer. I will order next week and see what happens. Hopefully they will eventually add wireless cable service.
1. Myself at 2:13pm 25th September 2010 My Clear service in Waco is now really slow. It can barely load the lowest quality youtube video, and every night the signal goes out completely. It used to be good but over time it has become almost unusable. I wish you good luck.
2. Adam at 9:27am 20th October 2010 They do, actually. They teamed up with Dish Network and from what I've heard, they have some pretty sweet bundles coming out with satellite tv. How is your Clear service?
Ian Bell at 4:04pm 17th December 2009 We totally agree with this statement and I think the author (Nick Mokey) mentioned that in the closing paragraph. He is very impressed with Clear.
RF Guy at 3:03pm 17th December 2009 Also, everyone needs to remember that this service has been around less than a year in portland. How were any of the cellco 3G services doing less than a year in.

Clear has, I think, created quite a high quality network for Portland in less than 12 months. I suspect that over time, it will get much better as well. All we have to look forward to from the cellcos is a slow and painful rollout of 4G/LTE in what 3 years...
1. Myself at 2:10pm 25th September 2010 I have had Clear in Waco, Texas for a couple years now. It does not get better over time. Over the years it has gotten slower and slower. I can't play any online games now because they always lag out. It's as if they slow your internet over time. I don't know how it is there, but here in Waco it is now a terrible internet company.
RF Guy at 2:59pm 17th December 2009 bear in mind that AT&T/Veizon and Sprint have BDA's (bi-directional antenna) in the bowels of Big Pink. That is why your cell phone and crackberry work in the parking garage and all the way to the roof. Clear obviously does not.
1. hey there at 8:05pm 22nd September 2010 there are no taxes on clear
Inez Rivera at 8:20pm 15th December 2009 Thanks Elena for the update I sell for clear and love to hear great stories if you need anything or know anyone who wants to purchase send them my way and you can get a referral fee thanks Inez Rivera
1. Aida at 7:03pm 8th August 2010 I want to get clear internet the bundle home and mobile. Can I get a free trial first? How much would it be monthly with taxes and everything?
  1. Clear123 at 9:24am 20th October 2010 Have you already looked into it since your post here?
2. photographess at 10:11am 9th February 2011 Hi Inez, I am about to interview with Clear, for a "management" position in Ohio. Can you give me any insight to the company and it's income possibilities? You can email me at photographess@msn.com Thanks!
Elena at 1:04pm 14th December 2009 Hi i live in Garland, TX and i got the home plan for $30 a month with clear. I bought it over the phone on Thursday December 10th and got over the mail the next day,Friday. It was easy as 1-2-3 to install, all you have to do is plug it in. I can surf the internet like crazy now!! It is super fast. I even downloaded 100 songs to my computer and it did not take me a long time. It might be too soon to say i would recomend it but so far i love their service.
Amy at 1:57am 9th December 2009 I didn't see any free trial on the web site? I was looking for some kind of trial offer or trial period, since it's scary to sign on for two years to life, without some way out...
Carlos at 10:38pm 6th December 2009 Hi, I live in Dallas, Tx and I just signed up for Clear Internet a couple of weeks ago. I have the home service and mobile service and I am very pleased with my service. My internet service is fast on both my desktop and laptop and I download like crazy (15+ music files at a time). So, no complaints here. I hope clear bring out even faster services.
1. SCraw at 7:24am 19th October 2010 Carlos, I am in dallas, and also thinking about getting clear. Now that you have had it for awhile, what do you think about the service?
Apollo (works for clear) at 9:37am 27th November 2009 Did you not try the 7 day free service first?
Austin Nukemdomis at 1:09am 19th November 2009 As a new customer I seriously hope Clear has improved. I live in Las Vegas and here are my results so far using Clear WiMAX Internet.

http://www.acreativedesktop.com/clear-high-spee...
dan at 4:32pm 17th November 2009 This is a legal scam, they lock you into a contract then cut your speed way back. I havent been able to play a online game in 6 months. Now I cant cancel without paying 230 bucks. Been through the customer support, had techs come to my house they admit that I dont get the speed they advertised, hell at this point Id take dial up.
http://clearwiresucks.com/blog/
1. Myself at 2:05pm 25th September 2010 I have Clear at my house. It used to be fast but now it is horribly slow and unreliable. I hate it.
Anderhan Comm at 9:32pm 16th November 2009 Great review. Has coverage improved in the last four months. An update would be appreciated. We will be running similar tests here in Atlanta.
ADSL Viettel at 3:59am 16th November 2009 Thanks man, just what I was looking for. Worked like a charm Thanks so much…
andrew at 10:52pm 30th September 2009 Clear seems like they are definitely moving mobile internet in the right direction. I really hope it does take off, it shows a lot of potential. My only question is: They installed a fairly large infrastructure on an aging internet platform, how upgradeable is WiMax technology, and what kind of lifespan can we expect out of it. DSL was the hot ticket 10 years ago, and now it seems unthinkably slow to most users.