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+--- Thread: Anyone here uses Clear home internet? (/showthread.php?tid=110354)
Anyone here uses Clear home internet? - Black - 01-17-2011
(hi kap :-)
My ATT bill hit $90 this month for a stable but unexciting connection of about 2.1 Mbps down and .34 Mbps up, last measure, and a landline I barely use any more except to send out about 30 faxes now and then.
I've been asking around locally and it seems ATT and Comcast are my only choices for wired service, but there's a third option of Clear.
Hard to get any current info on how well it works (it gets seriously blasted on local Yelp but for some reason most of the reviews are close to a year old).
Is anyone here using it for home service? What kind of speeds do you get?
Is there any way to sign up and not be out at least a month's fees if you determine it barely works at your location in the first day or two?
There's mention of a guarantee on these old Yelp listings but I don't see any reference on their site.
Thx . . .
Re: Anyone here uses Clear home internet? - Gutenberg - 01-17-2011
I tried it. It didn't work. No matter where I placed the modem in my house I couldn't get a signal, and according to the map I had the best coverage available, and was equidistant, about a half mile, from three transmitters. They are very good about taking returns though, and will credit you back fairly quickly.
The tech told me, when I called up for advice on the (no) signal, that the service does not work well in brick houses. I asked him why they were rolling out in Baltimore then, where 90 percent of the houses are made of brick. "Not my decision," he said.
I later poked around on Google and found that Clear is using shills to give good reviews on their local service. Someone from Belleville, Wash., said that service in Boston, Baltimore, Chicago, New York, LA, etc. etc., was the best he had ever seen. Once I started looking I found that just about all the comments on Google were shills. The one legitimate comment I found from Baltimore was that the service did not work and he had returned the equipment for a refund.
Re: Anyone here uses Clear home internet? - Filliam H. Muffman - 01-17-2011
I almost signed up for it then I read that they impose severe throttles after you hit the cap.
http://forums.clear.com/clearcom/topics/from_6mb_sec_to_256k_thats_a_400_bandwith_cap
Re: Anyone here uses Clear home internet? - numbered - 01-17-2011
It may be worth a try. At work, we have been testing it around the Bay Area for many months (under a developer agreement). We have seen a decent 6-7Mbps down with the small modem. Latency was an early problem, but seems to be better now.
I suspect it is all a matter of your specific situation.
Gutenberg wrote:
... the service does not work well in brick houses
There were also reports of signal problems behind high efficiency windows...
Re: Anyone here uses Clear home internet? - thermarest - 01-17-2011
I have not had it, but I did pre-signup research just like you are doing and my conclusion was NO WAY. Two friends locally had/have it. Speeds are absolutely terrible during peak times. Pings are long. Googling around revealed rampant customer service problems, including outright refusal to close/cancel accounts etc. Don't count on being able to cancel during any trial period. I'm no Comcast fan but I'd pick 'em over Clear.
Re: Anyone here uses Clear home internet? - AllGold - 01-17-2011
That seems a little high for your AT&T bill. I know there can be some regional differences but I'm only paying $85/month for 6M DSL and the highest level of landline service (unlimited long distance and all the calling features). The DSL is $38/month; the rest is landline and taxes/fees.
I think there is still a special going for DSL for $15/month for 1.5M or $20/month for 3M service if you agree to a 1 year commitment. I'm pretty sure I could get a lower price for my 6M DSL ($25 I think) but I haven't bothered because I intend to switch to U-Verse.
Re: Anyone here uses Clear home internet? - Black - 01-17-2011
AllGold wrote:
That seems a little high for your AT&T bill. I know there can be some regional differences but I'm only paying $85/month for 6M DSL and the highest level of landline service (unlimited long distance and all the calling features). The DSL is $38/month; the rest is landline and taxes/fees.
I think there is still a special going for DSL for $15/month for 1.5M or $20/month for 3M service if you agree to a 1 year commitment. I'm pretty sure I could get a lower price for my 6M DSL ($25 I think) but I haven't bothered because I intend to switch to U-Verse.
I just called to find out why it was so high.
I have two basic packages-- phone for $33 and internet for $33.
The internet is the "Pro package" with up to 3.0 Mbps-- next level down is for up to 1.5.
The extra $7 this month is due to the phone package increasing to $35 and a few short calls (faxes) outside 8 miles totalling about $2-- the rest seems to be taxes.
The rep offered to knock me down to a retention price for a year on the internet, and I accepted-- so for now I'm back to irritation-level pricing rather than above the "wtf" threshold.
She also gave the option of discontinuing home phone service altogether, which would mean $30/mo promotional price with a 2-year contract, or $50 (or was it $55) /mo without a contract.
Re: Anyone here uses Clear home internet? - deckeda - 01-17-2011
They have a trial. Use that to see if you've got good coverage and that the service suffices. However, I think WiMax is sufficiently different that a two- or fout-week window isn't enough time to really know how it'll perform longterm.
I honestly don't expect the infamous bandwidth cap to be a serious threat if you're a low-speed DSL user currently, because with slow Internet service it takes a long time to download stuff anyway.
And Clear's speed isn't much better. Supposedly it's 6-7Mbps but Clear will tell you 4-5Mbps is far more typical. I'm getting about 3.5Mbps on Clear currently. And that's double my DSL, which I haven't cut off yet for another month or so while I see how this fleshes out.
Gamers who need really low latency shouldn't probably consider WiMax. LTE, when it finally comes to Clear, might be better. People who don't ever want to see their connection throttled to dialup speed for a day or so shouldn't sign up either. I'm in the latter category but am so far going to see if I can avoid it. I'm not on contract with them; I have an unrestricted iSpot ($25/month) ---the absolute cheapest way to experience it, but no longer an option for new customers
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You might just run naked DSL since you don't use your landline much. We called up AT&T and they made it easy. Cost about $5 extra a month for the DSL, but cheeper than keeping the phone line. Puts the price more in line with Clear's normal service. I think Clear also has a slower service for $30.
.
Re: Anyone here uses Clear home internet? - lazydays - 01-17-2011
Run away, quickly.
Re: Anyone here uses Clear home internet? - deckeda - 01-17-2011
Didn't see your post before I sent mine above. Seems you did about as well as you could here and prices seem inline with GA (that is, if I was able to get faster than 1.5Mbps service through AT&T, which I can't.)
Ever consider dropping the landline, since you don't use it much?