Clearwire's Non-WiMax Now Non-Useful: Blocks VoIP, Streaming Media
from the wonderful dept
Craig McCaw's Clearwire wireless outfit has received plenty of attention -- mainly for being run by Craig McCaw. Late last year, Intel had to pay Clearwire to convince them to use WiMax (which, still doesn't actually exist) as the core of their wireless offering, as WiMax was proving to be increasingly less than the hype would have you believe. Earlier this month, Bell Canada made a surprise announcement, saying they would provide VoIP for Clearwire in the US -- giving the Canadian telco a way to enter the US market. Still, it appears the folks at Clearwire haven't been paying attention to the whole "network neutrality" debate or the fact that an ISP has been fined for blocking Vonage. Instead, Clearwire proudly states that they will block any application they don't like -- including non-Bell Canada VoIP and any streaming audio or video offering. In other words, Clearwire's wireless broadband is becoming close to useless, because they want to control what you can and can't do over it. They claim they need to do this "to ensure network performance reliability," but can't explain how it's okay for them to offer VoIP, but Vonage must be blocked. More importantly, if Clearwire is saying they can't have a stable network when people are doing VoIP or streaming media, it certainly raises a lot of questions about the quality of WiMax.
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Clearwire is the problem, not so much Wimax
First I must disclose my reasoning behind this. 1. everyone deserves to know the truth. 2. I work for them between 60-80 hours a week in thier NIC, which was responsable for building(and I was responseable for comissioning all thier equipment too) all the cabinets the sit at the base of cell cites. After breaking my back I was graciously handed a pink slip from two unknowledable individuals who know little to nothing about this industry, yet the fate of the company lay within thier hands...
They block all ports! Except the basic email and web ports, they block the rest. They serve to the customers on licencsed 2.6G wireless spectrum and then do wireless backhaul using unlicensed spectrum! That is problem number 1. Then, then also plan to have approx 50+ customers per sector, with a 20/50/or 100 Mbps backhaul. Most people would say that is fantastic. But in truth, is is miserable. Even though the backhaul from the wireless site to the pop at "high speeds" thier connection to the Inet is usualy only 1.5 Mbps(1 T1) or even two or three. When you have 50-200 customers on a link, trying to share that little bandwidth, you'd be lucky to get the 64k I see referred to on this sites posts.
Furthermore, these cabinets are not built to any type of standard(which is the reason for the NIC, to standardize them). For example, they do not heat shrink thier power connections, and all equipment is hooked to a set of power relays for remote monitoring and power cycling abailities.
If I were to give anyone any advice about this company, STAY AWAY FROM THEM! Why would you want to support a company that insists on maintaining ignorance? Furthermore, why would you want to pay a company for a service that is far less quality than many other established providers out there.
PS, thier "Lead Engineer" at the NIC, does not even know the difference between a torque head screwdriver and a precision screw driver...
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Re: Clearwire is the problem, not so much Wimax
I am planning to deploy a network similar to Clearwire. Based upon your comments it appears that you have some insite into their network, as such, I would be interested in hearing more about their network.
Please give me a call to discuss if you get a chance. 866-686-2832 (toll free)
Reagards,
Mark Hedstrom
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Re: Clearwire is the problem, not so much Wimax
Seems you were willing to work for them, but when you got caned, whoa ,"now they stink."
sounds like sour grapes.
64K? I am running more like 1.8M.
Happy Thanksgiving!!!
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Re: Clearwire is the problem, not so much Wimax
I appreciate the information you provided, but I am unclear on which ports are blocked. Some people here say only VOIP and certain applications are blocked, but I have tried several different ports and none seem to be going through. So which is it?? and which port could I use my voip with?
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Re: Clearwire is the problem, not so much Wimax
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Re: Re: Clearwire is the problem, not so much Wima
Marc
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Re: Re: Re: Clearwire is the problem, not so much
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Re: Re: Clearwire is the problem, not so much Wimax
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clearwire not bad wolf
Clearwire does not block streaming media, but bearshare and kazaa which you can also change the ports for, or just use slsk since it is better anyhow..
silly net rumors.
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Re: clearwire not bad wolf
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Re: clearwire not bad wolf
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Re: Re: clearwire not bad wolf
All available ports to my VOIP have been blocked and clearwire tells me that they only block 5065 whe in fact the entire range of ports usable by my voice router are blaclisted. So good game clearwire good game.
My response:
Couldn't you just put a firewall in front of the voice router and forward the ports you want to the ports your VoIP router can handle?
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Re: clearwire not bad wolf
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Re: hosting on wireless connection
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The internet they sell you is NOT the internet you
That's just the beginning. They also squeeze down FTP ports as well as bittorrents. I know i DID NOT agree to this! We're going back to clearwire to get out of my TWO YEAR agreement with them.....mainly because nothing in any paperwork I signed says anything about blocking ports. That's why we got the internet was to host our own business site!
Beware.....find something else if you can. Clearwire is NOT HONEST.
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Re: The internet they sell you is NOT the internet
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Re: The internet they sell you is NOT the internet you
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Re: clearwire not bad wolf
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Never sign a contract with them
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Glad I read this
So glad I read these comments.
Thanks to all of you for saving me such a hassle!
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Re: Glad I read this
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Clearwire not honest
I went over to clearwire, and the salesman told me that if I moved out of Abilene, my contract was null and void, and he recommended that i sign a 2 year contract to get free equipment. Once I got it home I had hell with the service not staying connected, as well as the latency on the connection was horrid. once i connected to the site it was ok, but it would take 45 seconds to a minute just to connect to google.
I graduated college and moved out of Abilene. (Bless my soul I can finally dump Clearwire) Remember earlier my salesman telling me I could cancel with no penalty once i moved out of Abilene? Well I happened to move to another clearwire service area, so they attempted to hold me to my contract. When my lawyer informed them I had a witness to my verbal agreement with the salesman they eventually let me out of the contract, but it's rediculous that the salesman took advantage of me as a college student to get his commission. STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY, you will probably have to threaten a lawsuit in order to get out of their crappy service.
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Re: Clearwire not honest
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Re: Clearwire not honest
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Same Story Here
I complained so much to them and nothing ever got done, a guy did finally come to my house to "test" my connection, but the testing was only on the web surfing port. I told him everything else sucked and he said that my speed was fine and left.
Whatever you do, DO NOT GET CLEARWIRE!
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I have been unable to set up a wireless network
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Do any of you have a clue?
18. Third Party Services, Content and Materials Accessible on the Internet; Disclaimers, Cautions and Restrictions.
(a) We do not control, nor are we responsible or liable for, data, content, services, or products (including software) that you access, download, receive or buy via the Service. We may, but do not have to, block information, transmissions or access to certain information, services, products or domains to protect us, our network, the public or our users
You'll see that Clearwire, "Clearly" informed you before hand that 3rd party products and services may not work with their internet service.
So please stop whining about ports being blocked, when they told you up front that some might be.
TIm, you also must be a bit slow on the uptake. As per your contract you would have to pay the $180 early termination fee, regardless of the fact your moving. They were cutting you a break by letting you opt out if you were moving to an area that did'nt have service.
But beyond that you agreed that the level of service was to your liking when you signed up. So if the internet was sooo slow that you could'nt use it, why did you give the sales rep your credit card?
As for "Jared" you are obviously a bitter x-employee, that not withstanding you could be sued by Clearwire for letting confidential company information out to the public. Cause as you know, unless your as dumb as I think you are, you signed a non-disclosure agreement when you got hired.
I will agree with you on one thing Jared, the Clearwire tech staff isn't always the brightest bulb on the Chirstmas tree.
Lastly "john" commented about not being able to use Clearwire for online computer gaming, that is partially true, I have tried it on everything from xBox to Playstation and PC games. It works good most of the time if you pick a nearby server, but experiences some large pings spikes when playing farther away.
To make a long story short, Clearwire isn't perfect, but what ISP is? They are a new company and have their kinks to work out. Give it some time and go at it with an open mind, and maybe you'll have more luck than some of these posters.
Thanks, and good night....
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With regard to streaming media, Clearwire regulates usage based on the number of users on a sector and their data throughput. Under ideal conditions (ie: you aren't running LimeWire on your computer and you are free of spyware), it is highly unlikely that you should ever see a slowdown. If you notice any significant slowdown below a peak speed of 1.5meg or 768k (depending on your package), you need to contact your local office RIGHT THEN and inform them of the problem immediately. They depend on those complaints from you to justify the expense of turning up a sector. Before you call them, verify that you are getting a strong signal (3 bars or more on the wireless modem.) If you are getting fewer than 3 bars on your modem at any time, your signal strength is less than adequate and you can remedy this by moving the equipment.
With all this hype regarding VOiP, there are 2 things you can do so it works.
1) Call clearwire and inform them you need your ports open for 3rd party VOiP.
2) If you have Vonage, call them & tell them your ISP is Clearwire and they can make adjustments to improve compatibility.
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CWire
Since then my service started out much slower than advertised and has now slowed to under dial-up.
I have replaced their modem, my router, adjusted all of the windows settings [like they requested] and still my speed fluctuates from slow to almost stopped according to network useage.
Their contract also has another 1 year rollover if you don't cancel 2 months ahead of the anniversary [which I have].
JR in Jax fl.
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CWire
Since then my service started out much slower than advertised and has now slowed to under dial-up.
I have replaced their modem, my router, adjusted all of the windows settings [like they requested] and still my speed fluctuates from slow to almost stopped according to network useage.
Their contract also has another 1 year rollover if you don't cancel 2 months ahead of the anniversary [which I have].
JR in Jax fl.
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CWire
Since then my service started out much slower than advertised and has now slowed to under dial-up.
I have replaced their modem, my router, adjusted all of the windows settings [like they requested] and still my speed fluctuates from slow to almost stopped according to network useage.
Their contract also has another 1 year rollover if you don't cancel 2 months ahead of the anniversary [which I have].
JR in Jax fl.
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Re: CWire
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Clearwire too slow
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Complaint and response to clearwire
He lacked to tell me about how all these ports are blocked; I play Battlefield 2142 on a daily basis, but only for about 20 minutes since I'm disconnected so frequently.
Do NOT get the Clearwire service unless you're only on the internet for minor things, like looking at plain websites or checking your email. If you plan on doing anything that involves voice chat, watching videos on websites, playing games, or anything similar (which pretty much is what everyone does nowadays), go with someone else.
They weasel you into a contract that they charge a hefty fee if you try to break it; if you're fine with losing some money while breaking away, do it and leave as soon as possible. You'll probably save money avoiding the frustration of broken things and/or anger management classes when you finally leave.
From: Howard Feinstein
Date: Dec 22, 2006 11:53 PM
Subject: RE: unsatisfied with Clearwire service provided
To: Psilon Hierlore
I am sorry to hear you are having problems... I do not recognize your name from your email (Psilon Hielore?) so please forgive me for asking your name and phone number.
Have you contacted tech support to see if there is a problem with your modem?
Where did you get your service, did I install it for you? If so, I'll be happy to see if I can get a better signal for you...what is your address?
Youtube and myspace are notoriously slow on any service due to the overwhelming hits they take. Also, we get our service from GCI as they have the backbone to the lower 48. If you want to check your speed, go to
http://speedtest.gci.net or speakeasy.net You will see your download speed there accurately. If it's slow, then we can work on seeing why. If it's near 1.3-1.5 then it's the feed from the server that's not great and not due to
clearwire's part.
The Terms of service address ports blocking. You can see the Terms of Service on the bottom of the front page.
Thanks for sending me your contact info so I can talk with you about your problems. You are also welcome to call our office if you do not want to talk to me. The number is 550-7800.
A few questions...what speed is your computer? Is it a desktop or a laptop?
What games are you trying to play?
Thank you for the chance to deal with this. Hope to hear from you as soon as
tomorrow.
Regards,
Howard Feinstein
Sales Manager, High Frequency Wireless
907.360.7562
Bringing you Dish Network, Clearwire and Alaska Digitel with personal service unlike any other!
-----Original Message-----
From: Psilon Hierlore [mailto ***@gmail.com
Sent: Friday, December 22, 2006 10:43 PM
To: howard@highfrequencywireless.com
Subject: unsatisfied with clearwire service provided
I currently live in Eagle River, and I am having severe issues using the Clearwire service you have provided. For months I have tried to talk to family over various programs, trying to share video at speeds you claimed were fast, but I have many issues keeping a consistent connection, let alone the speeds were poor.
For a 1.5 MB connection, even at "3 dots" of reception on the recieving device, pages still take more than 30 seconds to load- and they are mostly text. Video from sites such as youtube.com and myspace will take over 10 minutes to load a 30 second clip. I have also done research, learning that Clearwire filters many ports, which you failed to advertise; I cannot properly use the bandwitdh that is provided for any of the games I play online.
I fail to remember reading or hearing of these issues when I signed the contract. Nowhere on Clearwire's website does it state such things either. I do not know how you will deal with such an issue, but henceforth I will be notifying anyone who also has this service of
what really is going on, unless the problem is fixed soon.
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Re: Complaint and response to clearwire
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Re: Complaint and response to clearwire
I offered to help you work out your issues and instead, you try to make me and Clearwire look stupid.
I take issue with you contacting me and posting my message to you on the internet, but you fail to tell me who you are. Why won't you be honest and post your real name and phone number here?
I am proud of what I do and I truly am sorry if the service is not what you expected. Regardless, I never lied to you or misrepresented the product. You also had 7 days try the service out and I never heard from you that you were upset.
Please do not post my information on the internet without my permission. I will be looking into this from a legal standpoint.
Howard F.
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Re: Re: Complaint and response to clearwire
I speak for the hundreds of other unsatisfied and angry customers that rue the day they ever signed up for this lousy and unreliable service.
(p.s. im not giving you my email or phone number, because as i already said you giving me so called "support" is worthless. already tried it, worthless.
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Re: Re: Complaint and response to clearwire
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Clearwire a hoax?
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Re: Clearwire a hoax?
customertestimonial@clearwire.com
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Re: Clearwire a hoax?
I have been a reasonably satisfied customer until I tried to redeem my companion tickets... Do not expect to get these tickets without a fight... I am into week two of calling and holding and am looking to end contract soon... any help out there in breaking contract due to promotional hoax?
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Getting worse and worse
12/1/06:
No connection possible starting from shortly after 12 AM until midnight.
12/26/06:
Connection speed very low (77kb/sec). Impossible to do picture or ftp-uploads.
12/8/06
Mail to Clearwire through their support Website:
"This is to inform you that we are very dissatisfied with our Clearwire Internet. Frequently, the speed is unacceptably low (less than 500kbit/s), at times, even slower than dial-up, in reality, it is unusable then. Usually on week-ends, performance and signal strength goes down, we get only 2 or 1 lights on the modem).
I just measured the speed (Friday afternoon), I got 403 kbit/s. This is not really the promised "high-speed" internet connection we are paying for. There are days the internet does not work at all (like last Friday Dec. 1 and other previous days). Usually, it is then when we need it the most; in several instances, we had to ask friends who have another ISP to help us out.
Looking on your coverage maps, I found out that we actually live in a spot that is not covered by Clearwire, it is right in between the dark green areas around ... and ..., so, in reality - acc. to this map - we are not "covered" by the transmitters. This might explain the unacceptably low quality of the service.
Brief: We feel we are paying for a service we actually do not have."
As usual, no reaction nor response from Clearwire.
12/22/2006
Today - again - extremely low speed. I just measured 77 kilobits (not kilobytes!) per sec. - it is getting worse and worse. This is dial-up phone-modem speed. Obviously, bec. many people were at home during the X-mas brake, Clearwire's towers were getting crammed. This is really annoying! We are paying for a service we actually do not have.
12/26/2006
yesterday again, nothing but Clearwire Internet connection problems. Right in the middle of upload-procedures, there occurred internet connection interruptions that caused faulty upload results. When pinging servers in the Internet (Clearwire and other servers, DNS etc.), there was no response. We had to re-initiate the upload several times until it was finally possible to get our uploads done. Steady Internet connections for uploads are only possible when running permanent pings to the Clearwire-Gateway and DNS servers, for otherwise, Clearwire will disconnect the connection right in the middle of an operation. All of this is absolutely deplorable and annoying.
1/5/07
Today again: VERY slow speed (less than 100 kilobits/sec.) and frequent interruptions.
Evening: No connection anymore, no ping possible.
1/6/06
Slow speed (94 kbit/s.) Called Clearwire again, talked to a guy. Measured speed: 375 kbit/sec. Locating were we are, the guy admitted we are "at the edge - MAYBE outside - of coverage area." But he advised us that if we were going to quit the contract, we would be "penalized" ($300 modem fee), although - based on their own "coverage maps", Clearwire should never have sold us their product, knowing we are not covered. Re-opened a ticket which already was in the system for us from former calls, but which had been closed, although the issue had never been solved. Will contact local office, but told us to call there as well. We informed him we tried to contact someone over there countless times, without result so far.
This was but a brief excerpt of what really is going on. By now, we are convinced this Clearwire thing is a big hoax - getting people into "gag contracts", then slowly but surely stalling their service while threatening them with an exorbitant quitting fee.
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Clearwire is CRAP for all online games
***DONT EVEN THINK ABOUT SIGNING UP FOR THOSE BLOODSUCKING MONSTERS CALLED CLEARWIRE!!!!!!!!!!!!!***
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Why bother writing me?
Don't even bother contacting me. If you are unhappy, pay the $180 fee and cancel. I have hundreds of customers that are satisfied with their service. Attacking me is a waste of time, I assure you. I am not an employee of Clearwire and I do not sell the service to gamers.
Find someone else to complain to, and I'd start with the local office or customer service for Clearwire. Unless you bought from me, I can't help you.
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this is a SHITTY service and I would warn anyone away from it, period.
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clearwire works for what it's intended for
I had a week to test my servic e when i bought it and even though I dont' use it for gaming, where else can you take your internet out of your house for $40 bux a month?
I use it with XBOX live and have never had a problem.
If you are surfing, doing email, downloading patches and other stuff it works great.
Some of their salespeople may be stupid, but they told me not to use it for illegal file sharing (Ie kazaa etc) and high speed gaming and I'll be fine. You know what? It's true. It works fine for what it's intended.
I don' t need a home phone or cable tv which is what all the other services require. I just use my computer and it's fine.
GROW UP WHINERS!
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Clearwire sucks, my contract is over and I'm switching to optic line as soon as they're complete with it in my neighborhood....stray clear of this company....
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clearwire
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clearwire
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hmmm
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No problems here.
I also spend alot of time on youtube, and never have problems loading videos.
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Clearwire
It is true that Clearwire blocks port 80 but that is not hard to get around. I use Zoneedit for my DNS and I can do port forwarding. When looking at my websites, users never know, nor would they care, that they are not on port 80. I have been able to use Clearwire for everything that I want and am very happy with it. It is so much better than dial-up. I would hate to lose Clearwire.
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MurkyWire Because its not clear anymore
Then all of a sudden early january 2006 my connections goes to crap my speeds cut in half my P2P is zero, my pings spike to the point you cant even play games.
I would say clearwire is one peg above ISDN (very rare now days) which is one peg over dialup. It is without a doubt slower ping rates then any broadband service I have used.
Now Clearwire is a no other alternative service provider, as in do not waste time with clearwire if DSL or cable is an option and its not like its some highly mobile service anyway you still need a outlet to plug the modem in! I hate thier stupid ads that play on how mobile it is. but I did meet a contractor that loves it since he has a huge truck with 110 volt outlets in it. so for him its great he just needs to be able to check email and send invoices to people.
So what I am getting at after 20 months I have very little good to say about Clearwire. so this is the good stuff clearwire webmail has been a mess and changed twice since i signed up (very annoying) customer service is about as good as a hot poker in the eye. ohh here you go, go to clearwire.com and look for the link that takes you to the webmail! yeah keep looking, yeah its not there. go to any other ISP and its right on the front page!
I do not like giving my money to a company that thinks it okay to do such a drastic change to their service and still want to charge me 180 bucks to cancel. Service was fine when i signed up but it has changed so much that it is NOT CLEAR anymore.
So if you read that whole thing and still are going to get it I can only hope it gets better for you. As i would not recommend this service to my worst enemy.
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Inherently Incompatible
On the other hand, considering all limitations, if you are in decent range to the tower and don't want to use Clearwire for VOIP, then it could meet your needs just fine. I still hate them though.
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Customer Testimonial email address
customertestimonial@clearwire.com
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Tired of the run-around
However, in the past 6 months, the quality of our connection has deteriorated to one bar that is constantly resetting (searching for connection). We can't even load simple web pages most days.
Every call to Clearwire has been the same. There's something wrong with our router, or our computer, or where we have the modem placed. After a call, service connection will pick up for a day or two, and then we're back to square one.
Last night, after getting dropped for the umpteenth time, I called Clearwire and insisted that someone come out to look at our setup - and the tech guy argued with me and tried to talk me out of it! They're supposed to contact us in a couple of days - we'll see.
In the meantime, in going back out to Clearwire's site, it appears that we no longer live in a coverage area. The maps they showed us when setting up the service clearly showed us in their area, but the maps online show us well outside their coverage area. WTH?
Thanks for the vent time!
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Re: Tired of the run-around
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My internet connection doesn't hold a connection in DX or open GL games. Watching streaming video is hored. The internet HTTP download speeds drops down to 60-70kps when trying to download a file (Didn't have this issue with my old ISP SBC WICH I LOVED COMAPRED TO THIS,and no I don't work for them there all a bunch of dumbshits like clearwire, thier product just works). If the file is over 20 megs its stalls and quits loading. Apperently I am stuck in this 2 year contract and this product doesn't work. I wish there was something I could do about this in taking legal auction.
STAY AWAY FROM CLEARWIRE OR GO TO DIAL-UP AND WTF IS THIS 40 BUCKS FOR 1.8meg connection even if it did work (WICH IT DOESN'T. I WANT TO KILL MYSELF, SERIOULY THOUGHT ABOUT AFTER I TAKE A SLUGE HAMMER TO THE MODEM) THIS WOULD BE A RIP OFF FOR THE PRICE.
Nobody has a good tech support.
CLEARWIRE SUCKS SO BAD!!
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Clearwire is garbage
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Re: Clearwire is garbage
After being put on hold and hungup on several times, I decided to go into the store to try to cancel. I notified the salesperson (Andy) that I was moving out of range and that I had a utility bill from the new location. He said he could do nothing and that Clearwire wouldn't let me out of the contract. When I told him that the sales person who sold me the service said that I could, he admitted that he knew who I was talking about and that the guy had been fired. I recorded that conversation as well and will be uploading the MP3 shortly for people to hear for themselves.
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ClearWire and VOIP
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Clearwire is not for everybody nor everything.
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Clearwire VOIP
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poor, poor performance & nasty company policies
It's absolutely terrible. Course being computer illiterate I thought it was my computer, too many windows open, etc.
I called clear wire one day to find out how much it costs, what speed it's supposed to be and other particulars such as installation, etc. I was horrified. I can't believe anyone would agree to sign a 2 year contract without any trial period or escape clause - particularly with the high initial cost of installation.
I thought this kind of thing happened initially with the phone/pager companies and that the state attorney generals insisted on 30 day trials and escape clauses!!! Why not for ISP'S?? Then to read that at the end of a contract it AUTOMATICALLY rolls over for another year!!! AND you have to be savvy enough to know you MUST CANCEL TWO MONTHS IN ADVANCE. It sounds like some sort of horror movie based on George Orwell's book.
The government needs to ban all automatic roll overs, credit card memberships, etc. Everything should be opt-in not opt-out!!!
And while we're act it - what the hell is going on with all the spam??? Why can't we just block ANY AND ALL ISP'S THAT have spammers sending out of their domain?? Bet this would stop it immediately.
I'm tired of feeling helpless and impotent in the face of spammers, ISP providers, magazine salesmen, credit card companies etc. What happened to personal integrity??
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Clearwire inconsistant
My signal goes from 3-5 bars and Im in a 3 tower area in Klamath Falls Or. They just got it in last yr. Well I play halo online quit a bit and I'm having serious lag issues.So much so I can hardly play because of the way high ping. I contacted tech like alot of you and theyd say yeah its fine.
Ive diddled with my comp,killed programs that might have caused it,help from experts ect,nothing helps. And now I find its all deception. Well I'm going to dump them in the trash where they belong and go to charter cable,they have issues too but nothing like this. I printed out this whole sting of complaints and I'm going to shove it in the salesmans face. To me this is out and out fraud and there should be a class action suit against them. Please E mail me if there is.
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Clearwire: Deceptive Marketing Strategy
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. I am wondering if you people know of any class action law suit is going on against thiscompany, which I can participate as well to share my experience as a victim of them?
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Re: Clearwire: Deceptive Marketing Strategy
You sign a contract thats says you get the internet at 1.5 mbps at most but never do for some reason (kind of like buying the 100 gig HD and only getting 93.3). its rarely at half that which would be fine but then no p2p are you serious!? I thought I would get the INTERNET! Last I checked p2p is part of the internet.
E-MAIL ME WE'LL TAKE THESE BASTARDS DOWN!
P.S. Don't take guff from these swine.
maybe thats something to pitch to comcast or dsl. That they don't block p2p.
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Clearwire Legal Action
We have a small business and a business account for our website on RR, which has great speed and service but costs $300.00/month. ClearWire, at $49.00/Month seemed a cheaper option. After the salesperson stated clearly that my website could be moved from a cable account to ClearWire, we signed up. The modem arrived quickly and I attached my laptop to it for a week to verify connection, reliability and speed. Not great, but OK.
I then scheduled IT to switch our website to clearwire. After several attempts over three months, no luck. It seems that ClearWire does not support websites, despite continuing sales claims that they do.
I then had an interesting encounter with ClearWire when I requested a refund. I called ClearWire requesting a refund and was told that websites were not supported and we should not have expected them to be. I tend to record telephone transactions, so I mentioned that I have a recording from their sales person that clearly stated that websites were supported. Further, I had explained in detail my current setup with RR and what I wanted to switch it unchanged to ClearWire. I had been assured that there were no technical limitations and that my specific needs were no problem.
Upon hearing that I had a recording, I was asked if the current conversation was being recorded. I said it was, She replied she could not continue if the conversation was being recorded. I reminded her that ClearWire’s announcement stated that the conversation was being recorded. To paraphrase, she said that ClearWire’s recording was OK, but she could not continue if the customer was recording. I did shut off the recording as per her request. However, she just repeated her offer of a $180.00 fee to discontinue service.
We are considering legal action against ClearWire to recoup fees, IT expenses and other costs. We are soliciting input from anyone interested in joining a legal action against ClearWire email: “Clearwire.Action@gmail.com”.
Lee Dilley
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Xbox live lags, but the internet is great
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Clearwire for over 2 years now
Customer service is clueless but they try to help unless you want to cancel etc...then its a long 10 min hold. Must work cause I am still a customer.
Blocking port 80 is a no-brainer as per the contract. To get around other port throttling you have to encrypt the data.
Nice service for the price and mobility. You won't have any killer downstream and the upstream is noticebly slow. You can still watch a Netflix movie online bit youtube etc seem throttled or the servers are slow themselves.
It has been very reliable.
However consistent connection is not as good as dialup. With dialup and broadband/narrowband you are more firmly connected at the transport level and is noticeable.
Speed is better than dialup generally but can't compare to a cable/DSL/T1. I would take it anyday over a 256K ISDN line although the upspeed is unpredictable.
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Dont give up on wireless
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Cry Babies
You have to remember that Clearwire is a startup and still pretty new and they still may be working out all the bugs. Hell, I remember launching the second RR system in the US when working for Time Warner and all the issues we had for the first few years and there are still issues with the service.
There is no perfect service and there never will be. If you have an unlimited amount of money, then go get a wide open fiber connection.
Quit your crying.
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Dropped emails
Looking for other ISP options.
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Howard Feinstein
I don't use VOIP, or host a website, or play Counter Strike online so it is perfectly suited for me.
I'll be renewing my contract because I have gotten good value for my money. If I had dial-up I would be wasting and losing money. My sister and I had 5 machines surfing at top speed with Clearwire over the summer, I was Ebaying stuff for her and she was buying sailboat equipment. The hours we saved was worth every penny.
Please read those contracts people. Do your homework and due diligence. The contract is what matters not what someone says. Simple, If it's not in writing don't sign it.
Hope everyone gets their problems solved.
Thanks again Howard for the Wireless Experience!!!
Ed
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has gotten better
Money wise, clearwire works for me because I don[t want cable TV - which seems to be a requirement to cable internet, and clearwire is more reliable and faster than my local phone company's land line. I use only a cell phone now, and pay 8 bucks a month for an internet fax number, so I facx via email.
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Clearwire obviously bit off more than they can chew
From 5pm-1am I'm plagued by internet speeds ranging from 200-700 KB/s. The majority of the time its 200-400 KB/s (I'm currently suppost to be receiving 2MB/s download speeds). Thats roughly 1/5th to 1/10th of the service I'm paying for. Sound fair? Clearwire support even says that its unacceptable for a customer to not be receiving at least 75% of the service they pay for.
Sound fair?
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Clearwire is subpar, not worth it.
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No thanks
I don't do anything illegal.
I'm in the center of Seattle near a tower.
It doesn't matter how many bars I have I rarely get over 500kbps download. Can't watch most basic videos. Can't even build my Wordpress website. $40/ month and it takes an hour to upload a standard photo.
Clearwire sucks, plain and simple. It's obvious from the majority of negative instances here.
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UGH Clearwire is a PAIN
Unfortunately, they forced me into a contract because I needed it. now I'm stuck.
Blech.
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clearwire
SuPeRDavE
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Clearwire contracts
If you're hoping to just stick out your service until it ends (like most customers probably do when you're bound by contract)- don't just forget about it. Make sure you END the contract within 60 days, or they will simply renew your contract for another 12 months.
Its easy to forget about this when you have a busy schedule, but ensure you do, or you'll be stuck like chuck, for another full year. I learned this the hard way, unfortunately.
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not-wireless, slow as death clearwire
It seems it is always the customers fault that they have not placed the non-wireless(advertised)modem in the (maybe it exists)sweet spot.
My average speeds are 200 kbs down, and 120 kbs up, and well, this is less than a third of the "up to" speeds promised (but never delivered). I even have with speedtest, because it states the average speeds are much greater than have ever been achieved. Routinely I can not even stream music, because of the burps and farts, and lost signal.
The Customer Service and Tech help is a joke, as they repeatedly try to explain to me "How" the internet works, (as if I do not know) and stress that the contract states "speeds up to" and that a tech must be dispatched inside my home to "better place" the modem (good luck with that 4 ft. cord they provided).
Bottom line is> CLEARWIRE SUCKS" and will be going bankrupt soon due to loss of customers, and I will be one of them!
It is a shame that most of the "Positive" posts are obviously contractors/employees of CW, and either have a preferential connection, or have not a clue of what the public uses or expects of their ISP. If your service will not support VIOP, STREAMING AUDIO & VIDEO, P2P, and GAMING,
then it will be left by the wayside of failed business models that were "great>if it had only...". Those of them that limit bandwidth, lock out ports, restrict service apps, and in general give crappy service, are leaving the door wide open for others to take their customers by the wide bandwidth download.
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CW>CRAP PS:
MS...Keep your greedy hands off my YAHOO!
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Single upstream on Clearwire
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The clearwire saga....
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Worst ISP ever
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I was excited to buy Clear to get the WiMax fast internet. I bought everything: the home modem., USB mobile, and Clear Spot (mobile wireless).
When I got home (Lake Oswego near downtown), the Home modem and mobile wireless did not work. The signal was too weak to connect. I called support and they had me check the modem throughout the inside of the house. Nothing. So I got a long extensions cord and checked outside the house in all directions. Nothing.
So I drove around Portland from Tigard to Vancouver on I-5 and also drove east to west. In my car I had the home modem and mobile USB on. I found huge coverage issues. Sometimes from block to block I would lose signal.
Downtown when I was outside, I got coverage. But then I walked into a number of building - no coverage. I need this mobile internet to do presentations. There is no way it is reliable enough - not even close. So I returned everything within 6 days (which was a hassle and required a one hour phone call).
I have to say when I could get a connection it was very fast (6 MB down).
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Portland Oregon Poor Coverage
I was excited to buy Clear to get the WiMax fast internet. I bought everything: the home modem., USB mobile, and Clear Spot (mobile wireless).
When I got home (Lake Oswego near downtown), the Home modem and mobile wireless did not work. The signal was too weak to connect. I called support and they had me check the modem throughout the inside of the house. Nothing. So I got a long extensions cord and checked outside the house in all directions. Nothing.
So I drove around Portland from Tigard to Vancouver on I-5 and also drove east to west. In my car I had the home modem and mobile USB on. I found huge coverage issues. Sometimes from block to block I would lose signal.
Downtown when I was outside, I got coverage. But then I walked into a number of building - no coverage. I need this mobile internet to do presentations. There is no way it is reliable enough - not even close. So I returned everything within 6 days (which was a hassle and required a one hour phone call).
I have to say when I could get a connection it was very fast (6 MB down).
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Re: Portland Oregon Poor Coverage
On top of it all, I live in a small town of 27,000 people. Go figure.
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Poor for my games. Inconsistent Speeds.
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Clearwire
As for getting out of the contract, I did. I called Clearwire to ask what would happen when I cancel my service. I explained that I know my 2-year contract is up. I asked what would happen if I canceled my service, they told me that I would be o.k. because the 2 years were up. When I signed up, there was a 2-year contract which stated that after 2 years I would be on a month to month contract basis, of course at a higher rate. When I called to cancel my service they told me that that everything was o.k., just return the modem and all is well. This did not happen. My bank account was hit with a $180.00 cancellation fee. I immediately called Clearwire CS. I informed the "customer no-service" person that I did not agree to another 2 years. They told me that my original contract stated such. Well I informed them that it DID NOT. I still had the original contract. I informed the CS guy that a contract is between two parties, if either party changes their terms, the contract is void. That is the entire point of any contract! You can't be obligated to something which is "subject to change" and then be bound to endless changes, otherwise why use a contract in the first place? In other words I DID NOT authorize the a debit withdraw.
After talking with their "customer no-service" people for about 2 hours, I finally got someone who could give me a refund. Then they told me that I HAD TO return the modem through the mail. I was told that I could not return the modem to the local Clearwire store, where I had picked up a replacement modem before, and returned the old one there. I asked them how this made any sense, why can't I just return it to the store? They told me that they had issues getting the modems returned through the stores. They actually said that they can't trust the people in the stores to return the modems! So I said, "Why the hell should I trust them with my credit card number then!" I couldn't believe how ridiculous all of this was!
So I finally convinced the store to take back the modem. They were trying to bill me for another month after I canceled the service. I DIDN'T USE the service after the first time I called them, because I was already using my new ISP. They said that they would charge as long as the modem was not returned. I told them that I was about ready to get a lawyer. My wife's place of business offers a law service for a monthly fee, we have it. Anyway I told them that they can look at their network and see that my modem has NOT been online since the date where I canceled the service, and that they were NOT going to charge me when I'm NOT on their network!
After all of this I finally got my refund, but they still tried to charge me for that one month of NO SERVICE! Then one year later, I see a Clearwire transaction in my account. I was about to go ape man! Then I see that they refunded me the last $33.20 I was owed.
My suggestion is to stay away from Clearwire. I brought them 4 customers back when they were worthwhile. Now it seems that they are trying to scam everyone. I know that people need to read their contracts, but they tried to change the contract on me in the middle of the game. I only received a refund because I had my original contract, and knew what it stated, otherwise they would have taken me for the $180.00 and the $33.20!
Since, they have changed their service. If you are behind a router you will notice that your connection seems to be inactive. Then when you plug the modem straight into a computer, it will take you to a website which tells you that your contract has ended. Then it lists a bunch of changes in the contract, and requires you to click on the agreement. Just hope your kid doesn't do it while you're not at home, because after that, you're bound to another contract... Ha Ha Ha!
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Gaming
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As of recent, I get this 'home.clearwire.com' crap at night where it interrupts myconnectiom, and I am unable to do much else but shout profanity at this hindrance. If anyone can help with this, I'd appreciate it.
(p.s. I'm on mobile since Clearwire has become a dud to me at the moment.)
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As of recent, I get this 'home.clearwire.com' crap at night where it interrupts myconnectiom, and I am unable to do much else but shout profanity at this hindrance. If anyone can help with this, I'd appreciate it.
(p.s. I'm on mobile since Clearwire has become a dud to me at the moment.)
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