clear
Clear WiMax Internet Service
Sep 20 2009 12:14 PM Filed in: Personal
I switched internet service providers when I moved
into my new loft. It wasn't something I set out to
do, but in the end I am glad I did it.
I've been using Comcast for my ISP for the past 3 years. I never had any issues, the service was usually always there, maybe dying during a storm; and the speeds were great. I never had a bad word to say about them, but I think that has to do with the fact that I never had to deal with their customer service.
When I moved to my new place, I had it set up so that in the morning, my old service would be shut off; and in the evening, my new service would be turned on. A technician showed up in the morning at my old place, and shut off the service. That evening a technician showed up at my new place to turn on the new service. I used my old cable modem, and the technician had everything hooked up; but I was not authenticating in their system. Of course the technician did his job, now it came time for me to sit on the phone with customer service trying to get my service hooked up. Long story short, I went back and forth between customer service telling me there had to be something wrong on my side; and technicians saying everything was fine on my side (which it was, I was hitting the internet fine, just couldn't authenticate so that I could use the service). After a couple weeks of this I said screw it.
I had heard of a new service in Atlanta called Clear. Unlike your usual options of DSL, FIOS or Cable, clear uses WiMax. The best way to think of this is to compare it to cellular phone service. Clear is sending out their signal, and my WiMax modem is picking it up. I signed up for the 6MB service, and so far any time I run a speed test I am getting up in the 5+ MB speed range. Clear also offers a mobile service, where you can plug in a USB modem to your laptop and have their internet service on the go, but I'm just not that big a geek. I can't think of any time I would need that, so I opted not to do it.
I'll admit that it's not as super fast as my cable modem service, but it's fast enough that I can surf, stream and upload photos with no problem. So far I am very happy with the service, and hopefully it continues.
I've been using Comcast for my ISP for the past 3 years. I never had any issues, the service was usually always there, maybe dying during a storm; and the speeds were great. I never had a bad word to say about them, but I think that has to do with the fact that I never had to deal with their customer service.
When I moved to my new place, I had it set up so that in the morning, my old service would be shut off; and in the evening, my new service would be turned on. A technician showed up in the morning at my old place, and shut off the service. That evening a technician showed up at my new place to turn on the new service. I used my old cable modem, and the technician had everything hooked up; but I was not authenticating in their system. Of course the technician did his job, now it came time for me to sit on the phone with customer service trying to get my service hooked up. Long story short, I went back and forth between customer service telling me there had to be something wrong on my side; and technicians saying everything was fine on my side (which it was, I was hitting the internet fine, just couldn't authenticate so that I could use the service). After a couple weeks of this I said screw it.
I had heard of a new service in Atlanta called Clear. Unlike your usual options of DSL, FIOS or Cable, clear uses WiMax. The best way to think of this is to compare it to cellular phone service. Clear is sending out their signal, and my WiMax modem is picking it up. I signed up for the 6MB service, and so far any time I run a speed test I am getting up in the 5+ MB speed range. Clear also offers a mobile service, where you can plug in a USB modem to your laptop and have their internet service on the go, but I'm just not that big a geek. I can't think of any time I would need that, so I opted not to do it.
I'll admit that it's not as super fast as my cable modem service, but it's fast enough that I can surf, stream and upload photos with no problem. So far I am very happy with the service, and hopefully it continues.
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