Review by lemouton 
UPDATED: 65 days ago
member for 65 days, 0 visits, last login: 65 days ago
 Snohomish,Snohomish,WA
 $50 per month (24 month contract)
 "Works where I live, even though I'm technically out of the service area"
 "Connection is flaky and varies randomly. Upload speed not fantastic."
 "It works fine if you don't have an alternative service like myself. I'm satisfied with it."
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(ratings above consensus)
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I chose Clearwire almost as soon as I heard about it because it was the ONLY service that was available in my area, and I believe it still is. Where I live is sort of an anomaly as far as broadband internet goes. Verizon provides ADSL just up the road from us and Comcast provides cable down the road the other way. I have just contacted Comcast and they say that they actually do provide service, but our cable company is Broadstripe (formerly Millennium Digital Media which bought out Lk. Roesiger Cable) and I just got an e-mail from Broadstripe saying cable is available, but I am taking their work with a grain of salt.
We are technically out of the service area for Clearwire so we had to sign a contract that said we know that we are out of the service area. The service works just fine with one or two bars, but sometimes the signal is flaky and does not come through very well, and therefore we don't get a good connection. This doesn't happen too often though and as long as we put the modem in the right part of the house (in front of an open window) we get a decent connection and a signal of 3 of 5 bars.
We initially purchased the Clear Premium package (1.5 Mbps / 256 Kbps) and then when they came out with Clear Premium Plus (2.0 Mbps / 256 Kbps) we upgraded to that. We noticed some increase in the speed, but not all the time. So, I would recommend just getting the Clear Premium plan especially if you're out of the technical service area. The Clear Premium plan costs $39.95/month with a modem rental fee of $4.99/month and tax. Clear Premium Plus costs $44.99/month with the same rental fee.
The install process was relatively painless. We already had a home network set up with a wireless router and with a house wired for networking with CAT5 cable; we were just lacking the broadband internet service. We placed the modem where it would get the best signal and ran a cable to the nearest wall jack (Clearwire provides devices call ClearPlugs which can transfer the signal to a wall power outlet and then out at another outlet closer to the router if they are not near each other and the house is not wired like ours is. The plugs are a bit spendy though). After fiddling with the wires, the modem was plug and play and we were instantly online. The process was relatively painless, as I said. The sales rep that came out to our house with the modem to test the service had us fill out the paperwork and handed us the modem and we were set to go. Not a big hassle at all.
The modem is about 6" x 10" and only one side of the modem is used as the antenna, so orientation of the modem matters significantly. So if you get Clearwire, it's best to make sure when you find the best signal that you make sure it doesn't get moved because that could affect your signal and potentially your speed and connectivity.
Clearwire is rarely "down" as in the service doesn't work properly on their end. We have had issues because of our location and in the past there were overloading issues on the tower that we were connecting to, so there were terrible speed issues. These were resolved relatively quickly though. As long as you get a good signal though, your connection is decent and very comparable to ADSL. I don't have too many gripes about them. I know that my location is hard to reach, so I'm pleased with what I have. It's a LOT faster than 56k, that's for sure.
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