Author Topic: Any experience with Clearwire?  (Read 5949 times)

Peanut Butter

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Any experience with Clearwire?
« on: August 01, 2013, 11:42:12 AM »
I want to divorce Comcast - I moved in a hurry to take advantage of a job offer in a new city, and Comcast was the company that could get me internet fastest, but they're crazy expensive, and I don't use a landline, and never watch cable. *facepunch*

Any ways, in my area Clearwire seems to be the best, about $40 for just internet, but I can't find anyone IRL who has actually used them and can tell me how their experience went. I will fully admit, I'm an internet junky, and I watch a lot of Youtube and Netflix, so it has to be fast enough and reliable in heavy precipitation. Has anyone here had experience with Clearwire?

Daley

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Re: Any experience with Clearwire?
« Reply #1 on: August 01, 2013, 11:47:14 AM »
I'll tell you right now from personal experience and built off of further experience of people I know and love, Clearwire's WiMAX service is going to disappoint you.

Look into DSL if you have the option, and don't forget that you can strip Comcast service down to internet only, and even avoid Comcast's basic cable tax by possibly going through Earthlink instead.

Peanut Butter

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Re: Any experience with Clearwire?
« Reply #2 on: August 01, 2013, 11:54:51 AM »
LOL, Earthlink only has dial up available in my area. What fuck is this, the bronze age?

Daley

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Re: Any experience with Clearwire?
« Reply #3 on: August 01, 2013, 12:07:41 PM »
LOL, Earthlink only has dial up available in my area. What fuck is this, the bronze age?

Nope, just the United States.

secondcor521

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Re: Any experience with Clearwire?
« Reply #4 on: August 01, 2013, 01:15:40 PM »
I've used Clearwire at home for my internet service for a few years now.  I pay $30 / month for "(up to) 3Gbps" service which actually measures at ~1.2Gbps, but it's fine for basic web surfing.  I've never had to call for service, and never had any billing issues -- they auto-pull from my checking account.

The service is reliable in that it's always there, and the hardware works fine.  I think it's pricy for what I get, but the few times I've looked for something cheaper it's either more expensive, more complicated, bundled in with something else, or some combination of the three.

Peanut Butter

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Re: Any experience with Clearwire?
« Reply #5 on: August 01, 2013, 02:40:43 PM »
LOL, Earthlink only has dial up available in my area. What fuck is this, the bronze age?

Nope, just the United States.

More reasons to become FI so I can move to Norway.

MustSam

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Re: Any experience with Clearwire?
« Reply #6 on: August 02, 2013, 03:22:01 PM »
Yeah, I echo the above commenter.
Its ok service, good for browsing and some streaming but not sure if Netflix-level streaming would work.
I too feel like I'm over-paying but changing is hard because it seems like it would be more expensive long-term. Other companies either want to lock you in or only offer bundled services (I don't want home phone or cable) or give you a good deal for a year, then jack up the price. And they charge you for ridiculous stuff like installation or for their modem. (clearwire 'leases' its out at $5/month or they used to. I just bought it for$100 after the first year)

I did find that you can negotiate with clearwire every year or 2 for a discounted rate. I was paying $19.99 for 6 months last year. Its on my to-do list to call them again and see if I can get another special rate.

secondcor521

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Re: Any experience with Clearwire?
« Reply #7 on: August 02, 2013, 06:46:52 PM »
MustSam, what approach did you use with Clearwire to get the discount?

Rangifer

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Re: Any experience with Clearwire?
« Reply #8 on: August 02, 2013, 11:48:34 PM »
Whether clearwire works for you is going to depend on how close you are to the tower and how heavily used it is. I have one of the little hotspots and I've seen anywhere between 12mbps in downtown Portland with full bars to 1.5 in Cali with poor signal. You'll just have to try it out to see.

I'm paying $25/mo for the $49.99 unlimited plan. I just called them and said I was going to cancel because I wasn't happy with the speeds (it was only about 3mbps where I lived due to distance) and near the end of the conversation they offered the $25 rate to me.

MustSam

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Re: Any experience with Clearwire?
« Reply #9 on: August 03, 2013, 09:42:18 AM »
MustSam, what approach did you use with Clearwire to get the discount?

Called them. Said I've been a long-term member (it was about 3 years at the time).
Had a couple of ads from other competitors in front of me - I get them in the mail all the time, if not just check online.
Also, when I had asked, they were having a 'special' for new customers, that's really helpful.
Said that I liked their service and would like to stay with them but at the same time, didn't want to be paying so much compared to other services and so much compared to their 'new' customers. Is there any way they could give me a break.
At first they offered like $15off for that month which isn't bad for a 10 minute phone call but then they did verify this offer for new customers and said they could offer me that price for 6 months. I was paying $36.99, went to $19.99 for 6 months - now $100 for 15 minutes work is pretty sweet!

I'm Indian (though never lived in India) and apparently most Indians and Asians enjoy this kind of bartering but I was not one of them. Then I read this book by a Wharton professor: "Getting More" by Stuart Diamond. It's the most financially valuable book I've read. Basically it talks about being friendly, getting inside the mind of the person you are negotiating with and not being antagonistic. People are more likely to want to help you if you are nice to them (since most people who call customer service are raving lunatics, and I was one of these so I know). Works like a charm for phone companies and even car insurance. Try it!

secondcor521

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Re: Any experience with Clearwire?
« Reply #10 on: August 03, 2013, 01:14:12 PM »
@MustSam, thanks for the info!

fidgiegirl

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Re: Any experience with Clearwire?
« Reply #11 on: August 03, 2013, 03:35:24 PM »
We had it for a few months and did not like it.  I don't know if the coverage wasn't adequate in this area or what, but we ended up abandoning it for some economy plan with Comcast.  I was careful to not choose a promotional plan, and we've been paying $40 a month for Comcast internet for about a year and a half, and are satisfied.  I bought the modem/wireless router on CL for about $100.  It's the only service we have through Comcast, no bundles or anything like that, and it's fine.

Good luck!

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!