| After 2 years.. Think I'm done with Clear.. First off, I didn't appreciate being pushed off ~$30 plan and onto more expensive ~$50 plan. But now, with 5 bar signal, RSSI -53dBm CNR 29 and I all I get is:
Enough is enough. Time for me to find a new ISP..
And, no, it's not my network or PC. Heavily certified IT network engineer, here. I'm not infallible.. but smart money don't bet against me.  |
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 SysOp
join:2001-04-18
Douglasville, GA | Throttled? Old router? |
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| reply to lvbeagle
I'm with you. I also stayed with them for over 2 years since they were "Booming" here in GA. I also had 4-5 bars with 20CINR and -38dBm and got
I'm switching to comcast's performance tier |
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| reply to SysOp
I'm pretty sure it's spectrum saturation.. just too many people sharing the wireless bandwidth. Wimax does a pretty good job of handling the contention, but in densely populated areas, it is possible to exhaust the bandwidth. I could rerun the test at 3am and probably get 3 or 4 megabits per second. It's just frustrating.. I'm tired of playing bandwidth roulette. Maybe my download will take a minute.. or maybe it will take half an hour. Won't know until I try.
I rerun the test, now (24hrs later), and I get:
Which isn't bad.. but 10 minutes from now it could it be .3 mbps
Paying half the price of Clear and just having a stupid 1.5 mbps DSL is sounding good to me. |
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| reply to schung000
Thanks.. Always nice to know I'm not the only one. |
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SysOp
join:2001-04-18
Douglasville, GA Reviews:
 ·voip.ms
 ·T-Mobile US
·Clear Wireless
 ·Comcast
| reply to lvbeagle
Low latency DSL is going to feel faster than that high latency WiMax for basic web even with multiple users.
I don't have a land line or cable tv and just need personal basic web so the $35 WiMax should meet my needs for now. Only reason I use Clear. |
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| reply to lvbeagle
Exactly right, It's because they oversell their service with such few towers. However paying only +$15 for 12/2mb with powerboost is too good a deal to pass. |
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| reply to lvbeagle
I'm now testing Centurylink DSL to replace Clear.
They were offering 1.5mb for $30 per month.
Wish reasonably priced cable was available at my location, but that's not happening. So DSL it is..
Here's the biggest differences between Clear and Centurylink, I've noticed, so far.
First off, DSL feels quicker due to lower ping (~40ms) vs 100+ on Clear. Second, the speed is consistent at all times. When I run a speedtest, it ramps to max speed and stays there. My speedtest on Clear show the average speed but the speed graph bounces up and down as more or less bits are available during the course of the test. It may not seem like a big deal, but having the speed bump up and down causes problems for video streaming optimization algorithms. I actually get better experience on youtube with 1.5mb DSL than with Clear. Which is sad.
Downsides I've noticed so far. First, DSL line stats at my location are less than stellar. Upstream stats look good but downstream attenuation is at 52db with noise margin of 10. Stats indicate a long loop. I doubt this line could be upgraded to 3mb. Still.., 1.5mb is better than what I get from Clear at times. And it cost half as much.
Second issue is poor upload speed. I know 256k up is typical for an 1.5mb DSL.. but dang.. what is this? 2002? I'll give Clear credit for having better upload speed.. (1mb at my location..)
Last issue is poor communication from Centurylink. I was told it would be $30 per month but they still haven't provided me with so much as an account number so I can log in their system and check that all is in line with what I'm expecting. I get concerned when vendors are vague and quiet. It's usually a prelude to them trying to pull a fast one. I hope they prove me wrong on that one.
Testing continues.. |
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