Newly-dubbed "Clear" WiMAX service hits Portland, Oregon
By Donald Melanson 
posted December 3rd 2008 5:37PM
posted December 3rd 2008 5:37PM
It just been a few short days since it finally closed the deal with Sprint, but Clearwire is already out there busily rebranding its newly-acquired WiMAX assets, with Portland, Oregon first to get the new "Clear" WiMAX service, which the company humbly describes as "like lightning, but faster." To get in on that, you'll have to fork over between $30 and $50 a month (for unlimited service), or ten bucks for a 24 hour pass, with Clear's own USB modem setting you back an extra $50 (a desktop modem is also available for $5 a month). Somewhat interestingly, the company is also promising to offer WiMAX-ready laptops "soon," but it unfortunately isn't providing any further details on those just yet. Hit up the link below to check the exact availability of the service, and look for it to hit Las Vegas, Atlanta, and Grand Rapids, Michigan in the not too distant future.
[Thanks, Stephen K.]
[Thanks, Stephen K.]
Yes- Lansing and Detroit... I know those are at the top of my 'places to visit' list.
It's all about SPECTRUM and where Sprint/Clearwire had it to start deploying the newtwork buildouts.
I was thinking more Chicago or New York but I agree with your point.
has any body tried this service in portland.. can you please share your experience..
A sampling of it, yes. It seems to perform reliably at at least 2M, with 4 a little less consistent, depending on signal (and I imagine load once people get on the service). Upload is consistently 384K. The latency is really good for wireless though (only slightly worse than land line, and that may have been partly due to routes on my test sites), so the effective performance is much, much better than EVDO. It "feels" just like a land service. Unless you need the added bandwidth, I see as a perfectly suitable substitute for Comcast. The added benefit of being able to use it around town may be enough to get me to switch.
If you're a Portlander, coverage is great in downtown/central Portland, but unfortunately there's nothing up at Washington Park so you can't head up there for a broadband picnic just yet. :(
98686 is a go. I could care less about roaming, this means no more being limited to comcast for my internet. I can't get FIOS, so this is a welcome addition. Down with Comcast!
Wake me up when iPhone and iPod touch are compatible.
Not gonna happen as AT&T has said they will be moving to LTE. Whenever that technology is actually coming out is another story.
When will winmax come to new york? I been waiting along time. Also Florida needs this badly. The cable co's is bad here.
What cable company are you using? I live in FL and have no issues with my cable...
so did anyone find an actual speed or is faster than lightning good for everyone?
I was quoted 6mpbs/512kbps for $40 a month plus $5 to rent the modem. The tech is coming to my house tonight to check the signal strength (N Vancouver, free check).
found the speed 4 mbps. I will keep cable internet and 3G mobile for right now. The Clear is just not cost effective for the speed in my mind.
What company in their right mind would invest a dime in Michigan?! It was just announced that Detroit lost more jobs than any other metro area (counting the top 374) in the US in 2008 and we know the rest of Michigan isn't rocking. People are moving out of the state by the thousands and for good reason!
Just a quick guess, but perhaps they wanted to also test marketing to a smaller market, in an area where they'd receive some tax breaks due to creating jobs in an area that sorely needs them.
I think Sprint is just trying to get as many wimax sites up as fast as it can, seeing as tmo, ATT, and VZW are all going with LTE and will be compatible with each other. Sprint sees it picked the wrong horse and wants to beat everyone else to the punch.
Oh well, people keep leaving sprint and soon it'll go bankrupt thankfully, and SNAP can fade into the deep black hole where horrible activation systems reside, as can MSLs and manual activations. And horrid Sanyo phones. And nextel. Wow, sprint is just like hell.
In today's world it's not always about what technology you pick but when you pick it and how you can market it. LTE and WiMAX have similar speeds, when 802.16m is ratified, and WiMax will have already been out for years and will have better coverage in more locations. That's why most people, today, are going with the Tel-comm's network over Clearwire service. It's not about speed but coverage. If you're advertising your service as wireless it better be able to travel where people want it to go. Clearwire (Clear) is growing faster than the cell networks did, and by the time LTE comes out WiMax should have competing coverage areas with current cell networks.
Plus companies like Intel, Comcast, Samsung, AT&T are in support of WiMAX, and the WiMAX Forum.
WiMAX is cheaper to produce than LTE, and with the chip manufacturer Intel onboard WiMAX will be in laptop computer's within a years time.
Just got Clear Faster Wimax today. 97213 zipcode. 4-5 lites (supposedly indicates a strong signal). $40/month+ 4.99 modem rental.
Using Cnet Bandwidth speed test:
908
1028
974 kbps
Using PC Pitstop speed test: Dallas server (LA down)
6625kbps down 461 up 126 latency
6541 down 439 up 132 latency
6041 down 495 up 136 latency
Plugged it in,connected the supplied ethernet cable and it worked. Windows XP. No drivers or configuration changes or installation. Less cost than Comcast cable internet without other services. I'm impressed so far.
The latency seems a little high in ms's. Where do you have the modem placed, i.e. in window or in an interior room. WiMAX is 2.5GHz that doesn't penetrate walls as well as the MHz spectrum waves do. If you do have it nearer to the exterior wall/window, have you tried any other locations. 4-5 lights is good but your re[porting 100+ms makes me think something is attenuating the signal back to the tower. just a thought....
Moving there in 09 Wewt!
Grand Rapids is on the west coast... of Michigan. Just 3 hrs. E. Chicago/30 min. from the sugar sand beaches of Lake Michigan. GR is the 2nd largest city in MI. The population is just under 200,000 and growing. The metro area exceeds 1 million.
Grand Rapids enjoys one of the most successful sports and entertainment arenas in the country, a state-of-the-art convention center that connects to world-class hotels by an elevated skywalk, a new “green” art museum and transit center, a brand new JW Marriott hotel and more than 1,500 new units of downtown housing. If you’re into sports there are the White Caps, the Griiffins, & the Rampage.
Grand Rapids was recently named the Greenest City in America. GR is one of America’s Top 100 Places to live. We are #1 in the U.S. for homeownership (77.8%), one of the top 20 Best Cities for Teleworking (Intel), home to 10 -- 4 year universities with a new MSU med school currently under construction. Construction on Mich. Ave, - fondly known as the Medical Mile, equates to nearly 2 billion investment alone.
The city has walkable neighborhoods & top-quality public and private schools along with a vibrant downtown nightlife and dining. These all contribute to make GR a tightly-knit urban neighborhood.
In spite of Michigan’s economic downturn, Grand Rapids and West MI are STRONG and a wise place for Clearwire to debut!
on the 3Mb home plan i get 4545kbps down and 386kbps upload. Right now. I am downtown on the 11th floor. that was with speakeasy. not too shabby!
with speedtest.net i get 4629kbps / 337 and 78ms ping
with dslreports speedtest i get 1829kbps down 356 up with 68ms latency
I have 5 bars here at work.
Please list the number of lit LED's with you speed checks.
(SE PDX/Mt. Tabor) Getting about 3MB with 3 LED's lit (6MB Home plan). 400-600K up. Called Clear to ask where the transmitter was and they said 1/2 mi due east. Will tinker with the placement tonight.
Oh, and you do sign up, won't you please use my username toddeddie as a refferer? Thanks! :-)
I'm excited for wimax, but why in gods name does a plan with a USB modem cost an arm and a leg more than one with a home modem? Aren't they using the same technology? I'll jump on this like a fly on sh*t as soon as they stop using jacked 3g prices to justify ripping mobile users off.
Why do laptops with the embedded Intel WiMax card not work with Clear service in Portland but they work with XOHM in Baltimore? For example, the Lenovo T400 is a valid option for WiMax service under the XOHM brand in Baltimore. Also, XOHM pricing is much better than Clear ($50 for both home and mobile with unlimited data) so I wonder if people are signing up for XOHM to lock in better pricing!
I signed up (97214 - 3 miles from downtown) and it didn;t work out of the box. Was on the phone with a technition who had me move the modem all over the house. He also explained they had a power outage during the winter storm that brought their network offline in portland. I wanted to run a couple of little web sites, and was told thier network could not reliably support this.
So needless to say after this experience I decided to cancel within the fee trial period and return my modem. While speaking to customer support who asked if I might know someone else I could sell the modem to and earn a $25 referral to recover some of my costs...
After I counted to 5 and took a breath, then had to ask him to please let me speak for a moment, I explained to please give me an RMA to send the modem back and I expected a full refund for the clear service that did not work from me 2 miles from downtown Portland.
I'll follow-up and let everyone know how the refund goes. I'm a little concerned after the tone and attitude of the 'customer service' representative.
So is Clear wimax a lot of hype where the marketing is way out in front of the reality. In my experience - proabably.
i will bring my laptop to any ones residence in preposed coverage area and if there is ample signal we will enter the order and leave you a modem (plug and play)
if anyone has questions or wants to stop by 3311 ne 44th st suite a vancouver washington 98663 we have a showroom with dish direct and clear. I have sales reps in all areas with laptops willing to stop by and check the signal at your residence. the address verification tool is not always correct i have hooked up several customers in different area that have sufficient signal strength. 360 or 877 576 7100
Why did you give us a fax machine number and not tell us that is what it is?
rollover line robert1234 sorry someone plugged it into the fax. we were on the phone. call 877.576.7100 give it another try or goto www.clearwimax.me you can always stop by and see us in the showroom at 3311 ne 44th st suite a vancouver washington 98663
Hey guys, does Clear (both the home internet and phone) work alright in Gresham, OR? Has anyone subscribed to their service in Gresham, yet? Please let me know if you like it. Thanks!
Clear offers a voice package with their home plans I'm not sure of the price, but it's called Clear Voice. I have the mobile service and live in SE Portland. I've been using the service since it was in Beta. I have used the service successfully in Rockwood, Troutdale and Fairview. I hope this helps
Don't use this service if you need fast internet because the even the company engineers, using new branded company equipment, can not get more than 3MBPS that on the 6MPS service.
I have been a customer since January. I was getting poor speeds and I suspected my equipment. A recent spending spree replaced every component my end. But I saw no improvement - 3MBPS on WIFI.
So I went to the store and used their equipment. I saw the same result. I called the engineers and challenged them to set up the store equipement to get something close to the advertised speed. They were unable to do this. I think they knew it would not work.
I called the accounts department and explained that it was clear that Clear can not deliver the advertised speed when used with WIFI. They would not agree despite the written capitulation of the engineer. I want out of my contract because I can not work on 3MBPS. They want me to pay exit fees. Seem fair to you? Clearly not.