Review: CLEAR WiMax in Atlanta
// July 6th, 2009 // Technology
A lot of people complain about their Comcast service in Atlanta, but I can say I have been 99% satisfied with my Comcast cable internet service for the past three years. They give me 18+ Mbps down and 5-6 Mbps up regularly, and I’ve only had two or three very short outages.
As good as Comcast is, though, the new WiMax service from CLEAR just might win me over. I missed their demo day in Atlantic Station, but after hearing about it, I went on a twitter search to hunt down a trial of CLEAR’s service. I was able to get my hands on some WiMax equipment for only a short 48 hour test period over an already-busy weekend, but I was able to get some data points.
Background:
Before I share my results, though, a little bit about CLEAR WiMax. Basically they offer a viable alternative to your home internet, and they also offer a mobile option. There are a couple of options you can order from CLEAR. As the salesman told me, though (and I agree with him 100%), there is only one option: Unlimited Home and Mobile for $55/month. There are other ever-so-slightly cheaper plans that place caps on your data, or that only offer one of the two services. For $55/month, you get a fixed residential modem, plus you get a USB dongle that gives you internet pretty much anywhere in Metro Atlanta. See their local coverage map for Atlanta here.
Boxes
Mobile USB modem
Fixed residential modem
Back of the residential modem
With the Home and Mobile option, you get an advertised 6Mbps down and 500 Kbps up connection. This varies where you live, of course, since the WiMax towers are placed in various spots throughout Atlanta.
My Results:
When I received my trial package, the first thing I did was to pop it into a laptop running Windows XP just to get some quick speed tests.
First speed test
Since speedtests can sometimes be deceptive, I used a ~118 MB file to test upload and download speeds via FTP. These tests showed a consistent download speed of ~430 KB/s and an upload speed of ~58 KB/s. I did not notice any bandwidth throttling through the entire file transfer, a painfully obvious characteristic seen when uploading from a Comcast connection.
Download summary
Upload summary
All of these numbers are from the mobile USB device on a Windows XP laptop. One peculiarity I found was that speedtest.net detected my network being in the Seattle/Portland area, which I believe is where the CLEAR WiMax main hub is located. When I selected the Atlanta server on speedtest.net, I got the following results:
Speedtest with Atlanta server selected
I’m not sure what that means, but I didn’t have much time to play with different settings to notice any difference.
Another oddity I discovered in all of my testing was that I was able to get noticeably faster speeds out of the mobile USB device than the fixed residential modem. While the mobile device would get an average 4.5 Mbps, the residential modem would get close to 3.5 Mbps. This is still not bad, it’s just something I thought was odd. I was still able to watch high-def streams of the Daily Show from Hulu (as high-def as Hulu gets, anyway) through both the mobile and the residential connections. Pulling multiple streams through the residential modem might slow things down a bit, though.
Installation for both mobile and residential modems was a breeze. You just run a quick installer for the USB device and when you plug the device in, all you have to do is open the CLEAR Connection Manager and click connect. The only drawbacks to using the mobile modem is that the software is not Windows 7 compatible, and even worse, it is not Mac compatible.
Mobile USB modem with USB elbow
The residential modem installation was even easier. I plugged the modem into the wall, then connected the ethernet cord from the modem into my AirPort Extreme wireless router. This was simply a matter of swapping my Comcast cable modem for the WiMax residential modem.
I also had the chance to test this while riding in a car up to the Duluth area. I was getting very similar download/upload speeds while traveling at 70+ mph, and it only dropped out once around spaghetti junction (+/- a mile or two).
Pros:
• Super Easy Setup
• Decent download/upload speeds
• Affordable
• Flexibility of having fast internet access throughout metro Atlanta
Cons:
• Not Windows 7 or Mac compatible
• Speeds not near as fast as cable internet (this is only a negative if you actually need super-fast internet, which most people don’t)
• Unattractive and awkward USB dongle
Final Thoughts:
I think that CLEAR WiMax is a perfectly viable alternative to other broadband services. It’s not as fast as my Comcast connection, but I don’t necessarily need 18+ Mbps. It is definitely faster than any BellSouth DSL connection I’ve ever touched. It is cheaper than my Comcast service (because I don’t have cable tv), and in addition to being cheaper, I get two connections – a fixed modem for my apartment and a totally separate mobile USB modem. The only reason I am not switching right now is because the USB modem is not Mac compatible, since my primary computer is my MacBook Pro.
I recommend anyone in Atlanta to try out this service (to make sure it works at your residence and in locations where you would roam). You can get a 2-day trial by contacting William Higgins (find a short video about CLEAR WiMax and his contact info at www.wimaxatl.com). He’s a sharp guy and will answer any questions you have about the service.
UPDATE (9/15/09): If you sign up for Clear WiMax service, please use my referral code, n49dt2. Thanks!
UPDATE (12/17/09): I was just informed that the Clear referral program was discontinued as of December 5th. If anything changes, I’ll post another update here. Thanks to everything who used my referral code!
How far up on I-85 did you go? How slow did it get at the northmost point you were able to try it?
Thanks!
I went all the way to Highway 120, exit 105 or so (exit numbers are weird since they re-did those exits recently). So basically, I was getting decent speeds (~3.7 Mbps up and .5 Mbps down) at Discover Mills mall. To give a little more of an update, I used it again 1.5 miles west of Discover Mills tonight, inside of a house, and got just over 1 Mbps down. The internet was still somewhat usable, but noticeably slower.
Thank you! I talked to them twice today and judging by what they said about the distance form my house to the closest tower I am guessing the tower is somewhere around exit 109 which is just a bit north of Discover Mill. I am about 1 miles north-east of Discover mill so I decided to order it to try it out. If it can do even 2.5 mbps I am keeping it!
Have had the service for two weeks now. I purchased the two USB modems (no contract), and the unlimited $55/month plan. So far, very satisfied! I live in Alpharetta, which is the northernmost point of service right now (to be expanded to Cumming in the future).
I have seen download speeds anywhere between 1 and 11 MBit. Upload is very consistent at .5 MBit. The USB is too big, but that’s a minor inconvenience for me. Have used in the Alpharetta, Roswell, Marietta area.
BTW, they also sell a wifi router that you can plug your usb modem into, making for a (mobile) hotspot that can accept up to 8 connections!
Thanks for the review, I’m so sick of Bellsouth and comcast wants to charge too much so I’m checking it out now!
Got it, and I love it! I am very very very excited about calling Comcast to cancel. I’ve been dying for a new service ever since Comcast placed a 250gb cap on their “unlimited” internet service. If you don’t believe me, call them, your service is capped. How can Comcast continue to justify capping internet service now that we can get an uncapped wireless service cheaper? May they RIPieces.
Hey just wanted to let people know how I got the usb dongle working with windows 7. Oh and also that it works great in south west fulton.
Yes there is I just got it working on my laptop running windows 7 rc. It was not as straight forward as some of the blogs out there have made it sound.
First you have to install the driver found on the cd. Now for me I had to point it to a file in the at the location CommonAppData/Clearwire/ConnectionManager/drivers/wimax/vista/32bit
Once that is installed the Device manager will name the device. Now I do not remeber what the name was at this point but there is still a “?” for the device.
Not to worry now you will install a second driver. This time I just pointed the install to the CD. After installing the driver the divice will be named Beceem Communications Inc. Tarang3.
You should be able to run the conection manager now and see the device. Not sure if you have to do these steps in order but that is what worked for me.
Very thorough review. I thought about getting Clear, but like you I am 99% satisfied with the Comcast service I currently receive. The only time I don’t like Comcast is when I have to call their customer support.
Just got word from an official Clearwire press release that Mac support for the USB adapter is due to land on August 17th. I am trying to get this double-confirmed but an official press release is pretty solid.
I have updated my blog:
http://blog.wimaxatl.com/2009/06/details-on-clear-wimax-and-mac-support.html
Press Release:
http://tr.im/tqD4
A word of warning: I just signed up for clearwire and don’t believe their claim that they have metro Atlanta covered. I live just south of Decatur, GA (in East Lake) and I can hardly get a signal at all.
When I did get a signal, I got the mind-boggling download speed of 0.16mbps with a ping of 472 ms.
They conveniently want to send me a service tech a week and day from now (hmmmm….beyond the 7 day return deadline). This sucker is going back.
Just found out that the Clear sales guy lied. You do not get access to the new 3G when 4G is not available and you do not get a new USB when its rolled out Aug 1. Instead of “its included” now they are saying it is changed service and will be $80/month to take advantage of the 3G/4G connection. That is true bait and switch which really leaves a bad taste. This makes it a much better deal to go with one of the other existing 3G networks because I am not seeing the benefits. And its almost as slow with real world speed at about 4 not the promised 6. I’m already finding service holes in major areas in Atlanta too. Also I had to connect the home modem to a WiFi router for true wireless but it drops connection several times a day. Clear tech blamed my new NetGear router and had no fix so the home modem is wasted money. I am very disappointed. Wishing I had never gotten Clear but I am stuck because of the $220 disconnection fee.
What is their support like?
Also, how can you find out where the nearest tower is from your home without signing up? Or do you just have to do a trial with a CC?
Carol,
I never dealt with Clear’s support directly, but I did work with one of their resellers who was very helpful. See http://www.wimaxatl.com for more info about him. He can tell you where the closest towers are to you, but the locations of all the towers is not general public knowledge. You probably want to do a trial to get a real feel for how the service is at your house. The trial does not require a credit card, and it is rather painless to do.
I live in Sandy Springs (just south of the river) and bought the Clearwire Month to Month service.
It sucks. Don’t even bother. I have my home modem in a window picking up three lights.
2mbps download (If Im lucky)
Less and a 1mbps for uploads.
This is definitely going back. They will not beat comcast when it comes to bandwidth. I tried to play Call of Duty on the XBOX and was yelled at by my friends because of the latency…this is after the sales person told me I would have no problems using it for gaming.
Sorry Clearwire…Ill just keep my 18mbps Comast connection and tether my laptop to my iPhone.
CLEAR Connection Manager for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard RELEASED!!!
I have not tested this software yet myself. But I wanted everyone to know that CLEAR has released the beta connections manager for Mac OS X 10.5. Head on over to my blog to grab the download:
Link: http://ow.ly/kalK
Just so everyone is aware, Sprint owns a majority share of Clear. That would explain the technical and customer service issues noted previously. Once I found that out I changed my perception of the company and aren’t near as excited about dumping the monopoly cable connection (which I would love to do). Even Comcast is one of the partners and is using it as a wireless alternative add-on.
Someone on another forum mentioned getting emails and calls about “usage terms” even though he had “unlimited” service. Apparently they’re all alike. We pay double what the rest of the world pays to be treated like crap.
I received my 4th ‘excessive usage’ automated call/email from Clear WiMax yesterday. If you are using Clear just for web browsing/email/youtube, it works great- but it you actually want to use the full bandwidth for a while, you might be ‘impacting other Clear WiMax users’.
Also important to note the latency is usually 100ms+ and can cause issues with some online games (and xBox live).
Do you have the unlimited plan or the 2GB plan?
i’ll put this up in the actual blog post, too, but just in case any one chooses to go with Clear WiMax, please use my referral code (n49dt2) when signing up.
Download speeds sometimes drop to 2.6 from a normal 4.5-4.9 Mbps. You give the support tech the modem MAC address, they ask you if you have rebooted and/or restarted your computer and mysteriously the speed jumps back. When you ask for a description of what they did they don’t tell you. This happens on the USB and regular lines.
Anybody know what’s happening and how to permanently fix it? I haven’t received any notice of excessive use.
I started Clear today on my new Dell M4400 with internal Intel WiMax card. My office is on the 11th floor at Northpark. I had 2 bars in one office and no signal in my office 4 doors away (with windows facing south). I got on the Marta, connected with approximately 4.5Mbps download. However, I would not stay connected more than 20 seconds or so. Clear does not automatically reconnect. By the time I got to Lenox, I had to reconnect over 10 times. I gave up and will be canceling my Clear service. I didn’t expect service underground but all my issues were above ground. I expected more from Craig McCaw.
The Clear Connection manager does not work with Win XP64 (regardless of service pack). Also if you have an early (and perhaps later) Mac Book Pro the radio on the USB modem may be permanently and instantly fried – happened to me on two successive known-good modems tested on a PC laptop. Clear tech support is reasonably good and quite accessible Otherwise, on a Vista laptop for non-latency crucial browsing in Decatur/ Atlanta my service has been excellent.
Is the dongle required if you have built in wireless in the laptop? Why is it required? Also can you connect an Apple Touch on the road to the internet using Clear? Thanks.
Forrest
Forrest:
I was told that you can have the MAC address of your internal WiMax chip configured for your Clear account. I do not have WiMax built into my laptop, so I did not test this.
The best way to connect an iPod Touch to Clear is probably to just get the Clear Spot. It is a little box that you plug the USB dongle into, and then it broadcasts a wifi network to nearby devices. If your primary objective is to have iPod Touch wifi access on the go, you might want to consider a Mifi device from verizon, for simplicity’s sake (and for coverage outside of Clear areas).
I have been using CLEAR for a while now. It’s a great service. The response here in Metro Atlanta has been great. Great service + Reasonable prices + No pesky overage charges = Many, many satisfied customers. If anyone here wants any information about this great service, visit http://www.clear4u.net or call 678-938-0637.
Clear is absolutely terrible!!!!!!!!! I jumped on the band wagon during all the excitement and hype. I live in Duluth, not exactly downtown but def not the sticks either. My download speed was great when I first joined. Now I think that more people have the service overloading the towers my download speed is 1.5mbps on a great day. My upload speed is 0.08!!!! yeah you read that correctly 0.08 WFT dude!?!? When I call to complain my speed goes through the roof. That only last about 5 hours or so… The customer service is terrible. I was billed 5 times in one month. The list just goes on and on. I’m glad I didn’t sign a contract. Boy did I dodge that one. I”M CANCELING THEIR SERVICES ASAP!!!!!
I live at Shallowford and 85 and barely get 3 bars on my home connection (which I use for business). It averages around 2 bars. Right now it is clocking in at a sloooooow speed of 653.8 kbps! I am not satisfied at all. Although my Comcast was faster, it was spotty – cutting out periodically. Give me lightning speeds please!!!
I am a CLEAR user and reseller and I couldn’t be happier with the service. I saw a few reviews here that mentioned getting the equipment home and finding that there was no signal or poor signal quality. I recommend finding a retailer that will send a representative to your home to do a free signal quality test prior to making your purchase. That way, you can see how the unit works at your location before you go through the trouble of signing up then having to cancel. Also check in with a rep periodically because the tower system is still .being built up in the Metro Atlanta. A part of town that has a poor signal can literally do a 180 in the next week and have great service due to the placement of a new tower. Try http://www.clear4u.net This is an authorized dealer of CLEAR that will make sure that the service works properly before you buy it.
Curtis, I totally agree. I actually got 2 trials, one before Clear had a Mac OS X driver for the mobile device, and one after. After they started supporting OS X is when I signed up for the service. Unfortunately for me, Snow Leopard came out the following week and broke the compatibility again, but I signed up anyway. Now it is all fixed, and I need to post an update to this blog sometime about it. My reseller, William Higgins, was extremely helpful and was willing to work with me, as noted in this blog post.
I used your referral code, and this is what they returned:
Referral code must be a number
Mar,
I was just informed that they have discontinued the referral program on December 5th, which is really a bummer. If I hear of any changes, I will post another comment here and update the blog. Thanks for trying to use my code, though!
I am reading all of these reviews and and 50/50 on whether I should switch to Clear. I am looking into bundling home and phone, since I really don’t use mobile much. My only fear is signal strength. I live clsoe to S. Cobb Drive and 285 (right on the corner of James Jackson Pkwy and Bolton Road).
I currently have DSL with ATT, which is ok, but a little slow for my taste. Had Comcast cable but not worth $60 a month just for some internet surfing.
Anyone know how signal is around my area? I want to switch over, but just hesitant that signal will be really weak.
Don’t waste your time. The product is still in development, and it is up to the new customers to provide the start up capitol for a product which will be launched by more competent vendors in the near future.
CLEAR is absolutely awful. If it rains, my service goes out. And it is ALWAYS PAINFULLY SLOW. I’m returning to comcast.
I got Clear in hopes of finally ditching ATT
(I’m paying for 6 mb download but only getting 1.8 mb).
But after testing it looks like I’ll be with ATT a little longer.
Clear is extremely slow. I’m talking dial up speed.
I sat on phone with tech for an hour as he tried to boost it. I finally said forget it. I have two towers within a mile of my house and all I get are 3 bars.
I’ll give them a try after I move in a couple months.
“Paul” = William Higgins, who is CLEARly littering the blog with fake reviews and (not so subtly) dropping his website in order to push his product so he can earn commission. Check his posts and decide for yourself.
Sorry you feel that way, Captain Obvious. True, the commission program was nice, but it is no longer in effect. I have honestly been using Clear for many months and I love it. It streams Netflix movies and handles everything I need with absolutely no problems. The only time I feel any difference between my Clear vs. Comcast is when I need to upload or download a big file, then it just takes a little more patience. my VoIP phone works flawlessly and sounds better than a cell phone. I truly love the product and recommend it to anyone, but I warn those who are considering switching to test it out first. It does not work well in some areas of town.
I got service through William at WimaxATL a few months ago. Beware of him, he does not disclose the entire amount of the bill. I was told it would cost me $55 a month plus $4.99 a month for the equipment. I got 3 devices and now all of a sudden I am being charged $105.00 a month. This didn’t save me any money on my previous internet service like I had hoped. Make sure if you use William he discloses all costs to you fully, and in writing.
I got Clear 6months ago and it was really good till early Nov of 09. I had 2days of outage and now the speed is really slow. I think att was’nt that bad at all.The customer rep informs me that there are more users in my area. I am think of going back to ATT.