kapil
The Kapil
join:2000-04-26
Chicago, IL
1 edit | Clear/Clearwire/Sprint 4G/Comcast Mobile
Guess who's going to the Sprint launch party for 4G in Chicago 
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»www.VoIPTrunk.com |
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LineNoise
join:2006-06-25
Bolingbrook, IL | I'm envious :-( |
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whymeintrouble
Premium
join:2001-06-20
Woodridge, IL | reply to kapil
when is it suppose to be? |
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bshelly
Premium
join:2002-02-17
Schaumburg, IL
clubs:
 ·VOIPo
·AT&T CallVantage
| I believe it's October 6th which is also when it's supposed to officially launch in the Chicago area. My connection is still decent in Schaumburg on Xohm which will soon be rebranded to Clear. I hope it gets more reliable though as my connection does drop from time to time. |
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LineNoise
join:2006-06-25
Bolingbrook, IL | reply to kapil
I don't know what time this was at, but did you get any good info? My card still won't connect :-( I was anxiously awaiting this day hoping it would be live. |
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Warzau
Premium
join:2000-10-26
Naperville, IL
clubs:
| I know I might sound weird, but I've had it with AT&T I have a grandfathered plan a great one at that. They don't want to just add data, they said I need to migrate to a new plan which mean new contract. I am looking forward to this. Let us know..... |
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bshelly
Premium
join:2002-02-17
Schaumburg, IL
clubs:
·VOIPo
·AT&T CallVantage
| reply to LineNoise
LineNoise, you will need to download the latest Clear Connection Manager if you haven't already. (»www.clear.com/support/license/lo···ithmacro)
I cannot connect with my old Xohm Connection manager or the older Clear Connection Manager. Also, my home modem still does not work.
Some towers may not be ready just yet as there still has not been an official launch. I'm not sure where BBR got it's report that there was a launch event today, but I couldn't find news reports or releases about Clear launching in Chicago today. |
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kapil
The Kapil
join:2000-04-26
Chicago, IL
| reply to LineNoise
I was told that the launch was supposed to be today, but has been pushed back another month ...should launch in November.
Also, the footprint is supposed to be pretty large, covering the entire Chicago MSA...almost to Rockford, DeKalb etc.
The reason Xohm devices aren't working is because the old network in Chicago was built out by Xohm but the 'new' network was built, or the buildout was finished, by Clearwire....so the registration/authentication mechanism deployed by Clearwire doesn't recognize the old Xohm hardware. A clearwire device, or a Sprint combo 3G/4G device would work without any problems.
There's supposed to be some sort of a hardware-swap offer for Xohm customers but since Chicago was never an official Xohm market, they couldn't tell me how Clearwire will handle it.
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LineNoise
join:2006-06-25
Bolingbrook, IL
 ·AT&T Midwest
·AT&T Yahoo
| reply to kapil
I can confirm that there was no coverage in DeKalb last October. I haven't tried it out that way recently. I was expecting the coverage to be big, really big. I was hoping that some coverage maps would be leaked.
I also heard that about the hardware, I was told the USB devices from Xohm wouldn't have an issue and either expect a hardware swap or firmware upgrade for the express cards. I guess we shall see. |
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LineNoise
join:2006-06-25
Bolingbrook, IL
·AT&T Midwest
·AT&T Yahoo
| Man, it's already been a year. I didn't realize that when I posted. There may be coverage there now. I'm heading out to Malta this weekend and I will definitely take a look out for it on my way out there.
I saw a Clearwire tech today in his Chevy Colorado. I wish I could have flagged him down. |
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kapil
The Kapil
join:2000-04-26
Chicago, IL
| I tried signing up for Clear using the MAC addresses of my existing Xohm equipment. I thought maybe they don't allow devices to register on the network until an account has been setup with a proper MAC address.
I was able to create the account....the website even took my MAC addresses....but the devices are still not registering on the network. I've only tried the ZyXel home devices, not the USB ones yet.
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bshelly
Premium
join:2002-02-17
Schaumburg, IL
clubs:
·VOIPo
·AT&T CallVantage
| Kapil, I don't think Xohm customers are going to have to do anything to use Clear, except if our Zyxel Home modem firmware is not going to be compatible which would be a big bummer. My Xohm USB works fine in Schaumburg and it sees the signal in Aurora, but I don't believe the backhaul network is working for Clear just yet, so I'm out of luck there for now.
I hope they are still working hard to get the towers going. Some of the towers that had WiMAX from Xohm don't have it anymore, but I hope that is just temporary while they get the area launched.
Chicago should be their showcase market. They need to make it work well here to prove that they can deploy to other large markets successfully. If it flops here, that will be a very bad sign of things to come for Clear. |
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LineNoise
join:2006-06-25
Bolingbrook, IL
·AT&T Midwest
·AT&T Yahoo
| reply to kapil
I spoke with a sales guy Friday and he assured me that everything that's built-out is up an running.
He had no clue as to the xohm devices and his clear equipment is working fine. bshelly you must be an exception to the rule.
kapil: I had the same results when I activated my expresscard.
They're doing pre-sales just so they know how much equipment to bring in. The pre-launch is November 1st and they're shooting for December 1st for the actual launch. I begged and pleaded for a device now but it just wasn't possible.
I would order a device out of market (if it's possible) like we all did with the xohm, but it's 3 weeks and I just don't really feel like shelling out another $60. |
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kapil
The Kapil
join:2000-04-26
Chicago, IL
2 edits | Sprint is selling their combo 3g/4g USB devices to "business" customers....but I hear ya', not spending good money for yet more hardware that may or may not work.
Also found out that Xohm/Clearwire/Clear customer service, billing support, tech support and sales were merged several months ago and clearwire has been handling all customer facing support.
I don't know why clearwire has such a rotten reputation....everyone I've talked to has bent over backwards to help me and all promises for off-line action were kept and completed ahead of promised deadlines.
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LineNoise
join:2006-06-25
Bolingbrook, IL
·AT&T Midwest
·AT&T Yahoo
| I found that out when I canceled back in July. I was surprised, but that happened pretty quickly. Supposedly to my understand they will be merging billing systems as well. I only bring that up because I recall that being an issue before when they wanted to launch Baltimore.
There's all kinds of bad PR about them out there. From what I could gather it was all on their pre-wimax network when they would lock people into contracts with bad service and the people couldn't get out of it. IMO those people all brought them on themselves, like people who keep cellphones past 30 days and bitch that they don't work in their house. You had 30 days to figure this out and they gave you an out for free.....you have no one to blame but yourself. (Unless it worked and something else happend, but I digress) |
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kapil
The Kapil
join:2000-04-26
Chicago, IL | reply to kapil
Clearwire just swapped out my Xohm hardware and is shipping me new Clear-branded hardware. No charge.
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bshelly
Premium
join:2002-02-17
Schaumburg, IL
clubs:
1 edit | Kapil, who did you talk to? Can you please PM me the info if you are not comfortable posting it publicly? I would love to get my Xohm equipment swapped for some for Clear branded stuff.
Thanks! |
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LineNoise
join:2006-06-25
Bolingbrook, IL | Yeah, seriously.... details please!! |
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kapil
The Kapil
join:2000-04-26
Chicago, IL
| reply to kapil
I called the customer service number listed on clear.com....spoke to a very pleasant woman. She sounded like a person I've spoken to in the past about Xohm, but she said she wasn't on the Xohm team, so who knows.
Anyway, I explained my situation...that I had signed up using an out-of-area address and that my Xohm equipment wasn't working.
I was on the phone for an hour, and she put me on hold about a dozen times but was very good about coming back every couple of minutes to tell me what she was doing.
She did have, available to her, the Chicago coverage map...or "overlay" as she called it. This is new because every time I've talked to Xohm in the past they've claimed no knowledge of coverage in Chicago.
She said, based on the map, I was about a mile outside of the coverage area and about three miles away from the nearest tower. But the map was old and she's swapped out my equipment anyway.
She had to change my "market area" from Atlanta to Chicago. It wasn't available to her as a "drop down" so she had to work with someone else to do that.
Once the market area was changed, she had to change me from "customer provided equipment" to "leased equipment".
Once that was done, she was able to send me out a home modem and a USB mobile device. Shipped overnight, free of charge.
She had to email a supervisor in the inventory department to explain the situation so the order could be processed manually.
I asked why she changed me to "lease" and if I'd have to pay a recurring charge for it...she said that once I get the equipment and can verify that it's working, I could call back and explain the situation...and they would change me back to "customer provided" and have me ship the leased equipment back...but that I would actually ship back the Xohm equipment so that I'm left with the Clear stuff.
The call was made towards the end of the day and I'm not sure where they are located so it might not have been shipped yesterday, but who knows...I may be surprised with a package today. If not, I should have it by tomorrow. I'll keep you posted....
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LineNoise
join:2006-06-25
Bolingbrook, IL
·AT&T Midwest
·AT&T Yahoo
| reply to kapil
Trying to get time to do this today, but we're slammed at work. I tried the chat and that failed miserably. I'll try calling from the truck on my way home.
I don't have the MAC though, the label wore off the bottom I hope they can look it up. Otherwise I'll have to wait til I grab the box from home. |
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