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They advertise unlimited usage but that does not mean they won't throttle you if you use "too much bandwidth", down to a speed that isn't usable or fast enough to load a simple webpage. Rather than provide enough bandwidth to service all customers adequately they throttle and oversubscribe. The modem also likes to randomly restart itself, but that doesn't happen very often. The service was pretty good at first but now it has just gone downhill. This ISP is perfect if you are elderly and just check email or the weather. They do not want you using a broadband connection as a broadband connection. The kind of speeds during the day are 0.25Mbps. I have to wait until very early in the morning to stream any video, or keep waiting for videos to buffer. We've had service for 2-3 months, and suspect that recently they have been throttling us. To .25Mbps. I can view my speed real-time in my router while trying to watch a video and it never goes above 256Kbps. As already mentioned that is not enough for more than one person to load webpages let alone stream videos. Three calls so far have been made and they do not give a straight answer as to what is going on, and give us the "restart your computer, oh it's your router, or cycle the modem". Standard stuff. We have three people who stream videos. A movie on Netflix is about the same if not more bandwidth intensive than downloading a DVD rip. I would maybe not complained if they throttled to 1Mbps. Atleast I could stream videos. But .25Mbps? You gotta be $*&%ing kidding me. Upgrade your damn network already and deliver what people are paying for. Clear only gets a 5 for install process, it was not hard at all. The hardest part is figuring out how to avoid ETFs for canceling a service they refuse to provide. member for 23.1 years, 12552 visits, last login: a few hours ago updated 13.3 years ago
They are really misleading people with the "unlimited bandwidth usage" advertisement. There are no monthly caps, but they WILL limit your speed based on network availability and your bandwidth usage as a ratio of everyone else's. I spent 80% of my time limited to 1 - 1.5Mbps, 10% at 3Mbps, and 10% at "unlimited" which ended up being 6-8Mbps. member for 15.1 years, 29 visits, last login: 13 years ago lodged 13.3 years ago
There are only two options in my neighborhood, Comcast and Clear. You'd think living in the middle of the city, I'd have more but broadband in this country is so broken. I'm paying for 6Mb down, 1Mb up... and rarely I get that but most often it's 0.5 down and 0.75 up. When I first installed in my living room, I was getting 4 out of 5 signal bars and getting 5Mb down. Then one day my bars went to 1 and the tech's solution... was to move my modem on to my porch. This was a good answer for them! The excuse they gave was that something was now blocking the signal. I was ticked off, but lived with it (because I hate Comcast). I always get 4 or 5 bars now, but that doesn't mean squat. It just measures signal strength, not bandwidth. I have 5 out of 5 bars right now, but can only download 0.5Mb/s. I spend a good amount of time rebooting my modem and router to see if it will help. Sometimes it works, most often it does not. When I called Support, they suggested that someone must be "Bit Torrenting" and hogging all the bandwidth. Blatant lie. The real problem is that their network can't handle the demand. In case you're wondering, 0.5Mb cannot support steaming so I can't watch netflix, VOIP, You Tube, Hulu, etc. Even when it's working 6Mb is barely enough for 720p. Forget about doing anything else if you're streaming. With the increase in popularity for streaming, Clear won't be able to support customer demand... even when it works. If you plan on using it to work from home, stream any type of video, or any typr of media you should look elsewhere. I'd love to have more than one land based option in my area. Comcast has such a stranglehold on the market ($70 for internet?), that people are forced to settle for service like this. EDIT 11/29/2010 - I just read that they are throttling customers who exceed download limits. It looks like I am being throttled because at exactly 1am, bandwidth jumped to 3-4Mb/s, coming back to check at 6am I'm back down to 0.5Mb/s. Upload speeds remain the same at 0.75Mb/s. Looks like I need to pick the lesser of two evils and go back to Comcast. Like I said, broadband in this country is broken. It's all about overcharging and not providing the service that was promised. member for 22.7 years, 2 visits, last login: 13.3 years ago updated 13.3 years ago
Initial speeds were around 4-5 Mbps. Capped at around 50k. No warning at all, found it in forums. Customer service is joke, a bad joke. Not on contract, may cancel soon. member for 19.6 years, 285 visits, last login: 6.5 years ago updated 13.4 years ago
I was a real fan of Clear at first.... Had D/L speeds of 7-8-9 Mbps.... Their phone service does everything my family desired.. If your near a tower, signal strength is fine, and setup was really simple.. Then they started their "network management" a month ago.. Tech Support, on several calls, was totally unaware of their "network management" practice.. Firmly denied they ever did it.. Then, thanks to commentary from Clear users in DSLReports, Clear finally admitted they did "manage".. Clear claims network management only applies to those who D/L torrents and such all day long.. I have never used a torrent, my network is secure, and I average 1.5 G or less per day of D/L.. No Netflix, no Hulu, etc.. Their commercials show folks watching a movie on their laptops and mobile devices.. False advertising as far as I can tell.. So, if your a "lite" user, go for it... But know your average download amount before you sign up, or plan on being at 540K for weeks on end like me.. I'm currently looking at alternatives.. Unless their "network management" changes very soon, I'm history.. But hey, they may actually want that to happen... member for 22.2 years, 141 visits, last login: 12.2 years ago lodged 13.4 years ago
When Clear came to Atlanta, I was excited. Being on an unreliable 3mbps DSL with no alternatives, I jumped on the 6mbps+ connection with no caps Clear advertised and was one of the first users in Atlanta. I happily suggested it to friends (3 of who signed up as a result) and defended it on DSLR and other places online. Things were great. Recently, however, things went south. Speeds started dropping below their previous 6mbps speeds (or usually, around 10mbps) to 3 or 4mbps during peak times (6pm-12am). This was understandable, I guess, given the quick growth of Clear and Sprint users. I figured they would increase capacity soon and things would go back to normal. This isn't what happened. Instead, Clear implemented a network management system that sent speeds dropping down to near-dialup levels for everyone but their lightest users. The shadiness comes in here: When I signed up in 5/09, the clear.com site had a much different tone than it does today. Then, the site boasted about how the service was unlimited and, since this was shortly after Comcast implemented their 250gb/mo cap, that they will never implement caps like those "other guys". I based my purchase and subsequent contract signing on this claim. Today, the site is much different. There is little info about the service, but instead every single claim about their service is asterisked with a note referencing their AUP. Essentially, they tell you they offer a service on the product page, then say they don't on the legal page. Despite the lack of service and the change in policies during my contract period, they still change an ETF. If anything, I should charge them. member for 22.7 years, 1097 visits, last login: 9.9 years ago lodged 13.4 years ago
I was an original a Xohm user when they first arrived in Baltimore. Service with Xohm was great. Excellent tech support and pretty reliable service. Unfortunately Xohm was bought up by Clear and I became a Clear customer overnight. I read some awful things about Clear but decided to stick with them for the time being. They replaced my Xohm modem with a Clear modem at no cost and gave me my old Xohm monthly rate of $35. I only have the home service and not the on-the-go service. Service has been fine for months since the switch. I live in the Fell's Point area of Baltimore. Generally good speeds of between 6-12Mbps most of the time. I'd say I'd average around 10Mbps. Upstream speeds are capped at 1Mbps. Pretty good uptime. Latency is always an issue on any wireless ISP (Correction: Latency seems to be an issue with Clear). My ping times are about 100-200ms which makes online gaming a little laggy. But I was willing to forgive latency for generally good bandwidth. Setup is fairly easy although admittedly I'm work in IT, so you may think differently. One thing people always seem to be confused on. Although Clear is a wireless ISP, the standard home modem they provide does NOT have WiFi built-in. In otherwords, the signal from the tower to the modem is wireless, but you need to use the provided Ethernet cable to connect the modem to your desktop or to your own WiFi router. Now, to the HUGE flaw that is becoming apparent to Clear users as of this week. During this past weekend, 9/25/2010, I noticed that during the evening my connection was dropping from 12Mbps down to 0.25Mbps right around 6:00PM. This was odd I thought. I tried resetting the modem, then I reset my wireless router, I tried from different computers in my household, using different browsers and different OSes. No difference, I was stuck at 0.25Mbps, only slightly faster than dialup. I knew I was being throttled. What was my crime? Apparently watching Netflix, Hulu, downloading games on PSN and Steam. Just using my connection just like Clear said I could made me an abuser of the system. Directly from Clear's webpage: "Is data usage really unlimited? Are there any additional charges? Usage is unlimited believe it. You can upload, download, and surf as much as you want for one low price with any of the CLEAR Internet plans. We dont slow down your connection the way some Internet providers do if we think you are using too much bandwidth. CLEAR Internet is just fast no matter how much you use your Internet with no additional usage charges." This is NOT true. Being an IT person I can understand the need to throttle a connection to ensure adequate performance for all users. However, 0.25Mbps is beyond unreasonable. It's effectively useless in today's internet age. The new terms of service indicate that Clear will attempt to contact you if you are using too much bandwidth. This is not true. I was never contacted. Trying to talk to tech support is useless. They obviously know the problem yet insist they take you through the typical troubleshooting and waste everyone's time. Trying to find out what the rules are regarding bandwidth throttling is an exercise in futility. I couldn't get anything out of tech support. I resorted to Googling to find my answers. I'd like to play by the rules but only if I know what the rules are! From what I've gather on the web, 7GB-10GB (WTF, seriously!) a month is considered acceptable. Once you're over that monthly limit you will start to be throttled. 9/30/2010 I have already order my DSL package and as soon as it is installed I will be cutting off my Clear service. Luckily I am in a month-to-month plan. I feed bad for all those people under 2 year contracts that will have to pay a $250 early termination fee. So long Clear. member for 15 years, 18 visits, last login: 13.4 years ago updated 13.4 years ago
I first got clear back in feb 2010 and service was awesome! I could get 16mbps down and 5mbps up, which for my area in Charlotte NC those speeds were unheard of, let alone service was cheaper than TWC service limited to 7mbps down and 357kbps up... ping was around 40ms A few months into service speeds were cut back to match those of TWC at 7mbps down and still provide a faster upload then cable and 1mbps up....ping shot up to 75ms Fast-forward to mid September 2010 and CLEAR rolls out their sandvine "network management" system and my speeds have been limited to 0.21mbps down and .30mbps up....ping now 150ms Tech support after 15 calls and numerous online chats told me after a week of having my connection crippled that I could "deal with service, or come back in january".... They play dumb and make you do the same trouble shooting before they end up telling you "there is nothing more we can do for you right now" CLEAR went from best deal in town, to the worst thing to ever come to the Charlotte area thanks to their choice to use "network management" THEY CHANGE THEIR TERMS ALL THE TIME, AND NEVER TELL YOU! I AM GLAD I DID NOT SIGN A CONTRACT!!!! member for 13.9 years, 159 visits, last login: 6.1 years ago updated 13.4 years ago
The advertising push Clear utilized was very effective. Maybe too effective. I signed up as quickly as I could and was extremely satisfied with the 10-12 Mbps speed I was getting the first month or so. It was almost 10 times as fast as my DSL, which I cancelled after a week of receiving Clear service. That was the high point of my business relationship with Clear. But I digress.. I signed up for the 6 Mbps down/1 Mbps up unlimited plan for $30 a month. I bought the modem for around $80, received it 4 days after ordering. Setup was a breeze, just positioning the modem at a window and turning it until the diagnostics showed the best signal. The speeds were very fast, over 10 Mbps consistently for the first week. The service was everything I wanted, fast and unlimited, unlike the cable company which has a download limit I would go over after streaming just a few movies off Netflix. After the first month, the service started getting inconsistent, which I attributed to the rainy weather we were getting, although the ping and upload speed stayed consistent. The weather improved but the download speed seemed to vary greatly, going from 15 Mbps down to .25 Mbps in the course of a few minutes. I did some research and it seems that Clear issued a new TOS and AUP, which outlined their right to limit our unlimited/uncapped service to protect their "average" users from the excessive bandwidth users. They "manage" excessive users by limiting their speeds down to dial-up speed. So far it has been impossible for me to determine what constitutes excessive use, it's just a general "more than average", but no specific on how much more than average use it takes to get throttled. Based on this, I would only recommend Clear to someone that doesn't like to surf the net, stream Netflix movies, or play online games. Oh, and if you like to listen to internet radio, this might not be the choice for you either. And don't even THINK about checking your email. member for 21.1 years, 697 visits, last login: 4.7 years ago updated 13.4 years ago
After years of bad experience with Clear, my 2 year contract finally ended. I almost cried tears of joy as I walked down to the local Cable One office to get cable wired up to my home. Clear has been the worst ISP I have ever had. The horror stories are true. The service goes down if it rains, or if winds get above 15 mph, and I live less than half a mile from the tower. Tech support that lies to you, and hangs up when you catch them lying. "Unlimited" service, which is less than 1 GB before they throttle you down to 0.25 Mbps. Cable One is the only other game in town here, but at least they were honest with me about their capping policy. 9GB a day I can deal with I suppose, as i haven't been throttled yet. And then there was the cancellation. I called them to get a refund for the last month and to cancel. I was informed that i can't get any refund until after they have the modem. I told them that is unacceptable as their service had not even been working for the past 2 weeks, and when it has, it was only after one in the morning. So the manager finally agreed to refund me for the last month. I never received my refund. The account was then "suspended". Then she told me she would email me a shipping label. I told her no, what am I supposed to use to check my email with? After insisting I go to the library or download and print it at work, she finally agreed to mail me a label. Fast forward to 2 weeks later. No label. So I called Clear. They said they had emailed me the label. After explaining to the drone on the line that I no longer had internet (again) she reluctantly said she would mail out a label. It is now October 2nd. It's been 5 days since then, and if it doesn't come in the mail on Monday, they aren't going to be getting their modem. And if they charge me for it, I'm going to go to the BBB. Bottom line: If you want internet, can't get wires to the home, don't mind 250+ ping time, 50% uptime (that's both the internet uptime and tech support uptime), don't watch movies, don't listen to music, don't play games, don't browse the web or check your email, then the service might work for you. Just don't use it and they won't cap you. member for 14.6 years, 32 visits, last login: 13.4 years ago updated 13.4 years ago |