Why I’ve Canceled Clearwire

Why I’ve Canceled Clearwire

Dec 09

ISP Comparisons

If you have been following some of my blogging and social internet activity recently you have likely noticed that I had been testing the Clearwire internet service. This service offered a very attractive startup package with some decent incentives to try their service. I had been watching some of their promotion and was intrigued by the service, so I talked with a representative and signed up. He made it clear to me that I could try the service for seven days without penalty. I obviously did not cancel my current ISP (AT&T)

First Impressions

The first day I hooked up the Clearwire modem I was a bit concerned. I noticed through a direct connect that my local area connection was only 10.0 Mbps. I am used to seeing 100.0 Mbps on this connection, but I forgot that it changes when plugged into the router.

I followed directions for hooking up the wireless modem that they provide (Clearwire is not DSL or cable, they use radio towers to send signals to their modems). I “tuned” the modem by turning it to receive the best signal as indicated by the five lights on top of the modem. These show signal strength, much as a cell phone does. The best signal I could get was two lights (two bars?). I tried other rooms in the house and found a three-light signal upstairs in one of the bedrooms. This wasn’t going to be convenient, as I would have to rewire my cat5 lines and would have move the wireless router.

Attempting to connect

I decided to try to surf the web, so I hooked it up and found that I could, indeed, find web sites easily. There were some notable changes in download speeds. I was, of course, taxing the system with some sites that I knew would require heavy processing. The results were “adequate” but not “acceptable.” I attempted to upload some small files to my server and found very unacceptable upload speeds (60 kbps). I knew that this service was not going to meet my needs if this was the best it could provide. I do a lot of live audio and video streaming, so this was going to have to be improved if I was to keep the service. I contacted their tech department to see what we might be able to do.

Clearwire Tech Support

The gentleman that I talked to at Clearwire technical support was very helpful and very thorough. He explained to me that two lights showing on the modem was considered “excellent.” I still wasn’t completely convinced. He then asked me to go to Speedtest.net to check upload and download streams. This is the result on the first test:

Not very acceptable in my opinion. He then walked me through a few steps, including clearing dns cache and ipconfig. This is the result of the second test:

Again, I wasn’t very pleased. We rebooted the machine, did another sweep through the dns cache and here is the final result:

I truly felt that this still wasn’t good enough. The upload speeds were not consistent — and they were not reaching over 200kbps — which I knew would not support my streaming needs. I asked to cancel the account, knowing that it wasn’t going to suit my needs.

Give it a week

Obviously, the customer service and technical support folks at any company would not be doing their job if they didn’t ask the customers to continue the account. I was told to give it the full week to see if speeds might improve and to give it the full test just to be sure. I thought I would at least do that much. So, I agreed.

Through the week I was able to see a slight improvement on download speeds. I even found that if I moved the modem further away (about two feet) from the router that I could get more signal strength. This did, obviously, improve my upload and download speeds. However, they were not quite what I had hoped to gain. I even took the modem with me to work and found that the location there was even better with a stronger signal to/from the tower. Unfortunately, it still wasn’t enough.

Ultimate test

During the week I performed three live acoustic sets in Second Life. The first was simply a test set where I asked a few folks to join me on the stream to critique and point out any drops or issues in the stream continuity. They reported a fine stream for the hour that we tested.

I performed a full show Friday evening with no consequences in the stream, though I did see a jump or two in the Second Life client that concerned me. I thought that I was offline for a short time, but found I was only lagging a bit.

Saturday was the day of reckoning. This was the final day of my one week test. I performed a show at a brand new location in Second Life. I didn’t think there would be any concerns with the stream, as I had two successful tests through the week. However, the streaming client that I use (Simplecast) was not able to keep the stream flowing. It sent an error message several times throughout the show that it was “unable to stream fast enough” while it attempted to buffer. I apologized to the listening audience, rebooted my PC, reset the router to accept my other ISP settings and hooked up the DSL modem. I knew when the show as over that I would be calling Clearwire to cancel the account.

Why I am staying with my current ISP for now

I have been using the ATT account for many years. It has been a reliable, stable account. I rarely run into outages and rarely have complaints about connection speeds. The only conflict I have is that it is on a separate phone line in my home. This phone line used to serve as my business line, but with the advent of services such as Skype, Grand Central, and others, I’ve found this phone line has become obsolete. I would like to cancel it and save a few dollars each month. So I am shopping for cost effective options, including moving my DSL to my other phone line or getting cable internet. Whichever gives me the best speeds at the best price will win.

However, the reason I am keeping this ISP for now — and why I canceled Clearwire is just this:

This is the first test I’ve run since reconnecting the ATT modem. As you can see, the speeds are considerably improved over the Clearwire results. One Clearwire test during the week even showed an upstream speed of only 60kbps. I just can’t accept this inconsistency. And note the difference in latency on the different tests. Ping rates over 100ms on Clearwire; 55ms on ATT.

It might be okay for you

Overall, though, I have to say that I was extremely impressed by the Clearwire crew that I worked with over the week. Customer service personnel were top-notch. Their mannerisms, patience, and education methods were very professional and friendly. The support technician was a pro at handling my questions, working with me without being condescending, and at helping me to understand different options and potential for their service.

If you are simply surfing the web, with occasional file downloads such as software, music files, etc. this might be a fine service. Their startup incentives are very good and their monthly rates are very competitive with other services. If you are a power user, there are likely better options. However, the Clearwire supervisor that spoke to me on the phone noted that there are some technology improvements getting ready to launch. This will bring them to comparable speeds with higher-end DSL services. It is something I will look at again in the future.

Posted by in Editorial, Technology 4

  • me

    i hate clearwire. unfortunately, i'm stuck with it.

  • me

    i hate clearwire. unfortunately, i'm stuck with it.

  • Chris

    I have been a Clearwire customer since 2007 and like it very much. My needs are not as high tech as yours. What I like about Clearwire is I was able to “fire” my Time Warner cable AND my rarely used AT&T landline. I was becoming annoyed at paying Bell South or Time Warner, – just to be able to get Internet Service.
    I love that Clear is wireless. Also like that it is transportable. This is a BIG benefit. Just unplug the Modem from the wall electrical socket and move it to any other room. Or, stick it in my travel bag and use a laptop in a motel. No rewiring needed. No additional Internet package for the laptop. Clearwire works anywhere (in their service areas) where there is electricity and an outlet.
    Clearwire allows me to be unshackled to pre-installed cables and phone lines.
    I first had it set up where I got 4 green lights out of 5. My new move to another room gives me 5 out of 5 lights all the time. During last weeks snow storm it went down to 4, with no noticeable change in access. I haven't checked the download speed, but it's a whole lot faster than the old Bell South high speed I had. And, a whole lot cheaper considering I'm not paying for a phone service just to get Internet. My friends who use the local cable company for Internet say their service slows considerably when the usage is high. For the ordinary user, Clearwire (now Clear) is excellent.

  • GIA

    02/24/2010. 04:29 AM PST.

    I seriously HATE THEM.

    I signed up February 2009. Since then, I have had NOTHING but problems. When I say problems, this is what I mean: No signal, poor signal, horrible signal, signal outage, no internet, slow internet, REALLY slow internet, lagging, HORRIBLY slow upload/download speeds, connection problems.

    I have two accounts. The one that I signed up in February 2009 was for me && my husband. Then I signed up for another account for my in-laws I believe in March 2009. Now, over here in Seattle, they have been busy switching Clearwire over to Clear. For free. Promising faster upload && download speeds, better connectivity, etc. So, I got an e-mail for MY account, saying that in order to receive my upgrade, I needed to fill out a form on their website, because if I didn't, my internet wouldn't work. So I filled out the form, then they said they would be sending me a new modem. I got the new modem a couple days later, (This was back in October or November 2009 btw) && plugged it in. NOTHING. I didn't even bother calling, because I've called before, && they happen to have some of the SHITTIEST customer service that ever was, so I just didn't see a point, plus my Clearwire modem still worked, so I figured they hadn't switched over yet. Then, a few weeks ago, my internet totally just stopped working. I couldn't figure it out for hours, until I remembered about the new Clear modem. So I plugged that in, voila, internet again. I find it interesting that I didn't get any sort of e-mail or phone call or even just a mailer saying they were going to switch over, or what date, etc. Then my father in-law tells me that he hasn't had internet for like three weeks. WTF?? So I call Clearwire to figure it out. Then some jackass proceeds to tell me it's MY fault that they don;t have any internet, because I didn't do the process right. He said that I filled out a form, && got the back legwork of switching over completed, but I didn't finish filling out the form to get the new modem. He says that it looked like someone on my end didn't complete everything, or else a new modem would have been sent out. So, he tells me to call Clearwire, that they're open from 6 AM PST – 8 PM PST. So I call. Tells me they are closed. He tells me to call back, try different extensions. I again tell him it's not working. He tells me that I guess I'll just have to wait until 9 AM to call. I am now late to work, as it is 8:45 AM. I spend 30 minutes waiting for a damn rep, then spent 30 mins talking to a rep who didn't know his ass from his face. So when I get to work, I call Clearwire. The new rep I am now talking with, tells me THAT IT IS NOT MY FAULT, that it is CLEARWIRE'S fault I never received a new modem. HA! I ask for a credit. He says he will see what he can do. I end up getting a $20 credit.

    So, about an hour && a half ago, my internet goes out again. For like the 4938573947523947549574th times since I've had the piece of shit. So I hop onto someone else's UNsecured wireless network in our apartment building, so that I can speak with another idiot who thinks he is a CUSTOMER SERVICE rep. – eye roll.

    Here's the conversation:

    Hello Gia. Please wait while we find a CLEAR specialist to help you.
    Your question was: My internet is NOT working. This happens to me about 3 or 4 times a month, always between the times of 1 am – 5 am PST. My internet will usually be gone from anywhere to 2 – 4 hours. This is when I work, && it really pisses me off. I am not paying you to NOT have internet service for any period of time.
    You have been connected to Michael Jordan.
    Michael Jordan: Hi Jinna! I'll be happy to help you today!
    Gia: Michael Jordan?
    Michael Jordan: The reason this is, is because the towers are having mandatory updates applied to them which disconnects the service.
    Gia: Ok, well I think I should get a credit on my account every time this happens.
    Gia: && I was NEVER told this when I signed up.
    Michael Jordan: We only give credits if it lasts for more than 24 hours at a time.
    Gia: That's bullshit.
    Gia: I'm supposed to be working right now.
    Gia: But guess what?
    Gia: I CAN'T.
    Gia: I'm using someone ELSE'S unsecured wireless network to talk to you right now.
    Michael Jordan: I apologize for the inconvenience.
    Gia: && I can't cancel, because I have a stupid 2 year contract with you.
    Gia: You can say that you're sorry all you want, but how does that fix MY problem Michael Jordan?
    Gia: Do you have ANY idea, how much this interferes with my work schedule?
    Michael Jordan: I would advise that you speak with tech support from 9am to 10pm for further assistance at 888-888-3113.
    Gia: You bet I'm going to. AGAIN. This isn't the first problem I've had with Clearwire, && I'm willing to bet my life, it won't be the last.
    Your session has ended. You may now close this window.

    Wasn't he helpful? NOT. I am SO pissed off right now. My husband works graveyard, so I do all my work then as well, so we can keep the same sleeping schedule. Right now, I can't work. I CANNOT use UNsecured internet for my work…

    So, don't get Clearwire. It's not worth it. The hassle, the fight. Ridiculous. Yes, they are cheap… FOR A REASON. I will be heading back to Comcast when my contract is up, && I will also, be blogging, e-mailing, anyone, && everyone I possibly can, that will listen, all the reasons to NEVER get Clearwire, && why they suck ass.

    - GIA. Seattle, WA.