Syl and I took a look a few different internet options aside from the usual: cable, DSL, or FIOS. The requirements were that the service would need to be a) temporary, b) able to be shared, c) free of obtrusive installations, and d) convenient – no long-term contract requirements. Two options immediately sprang to mind – EVDO access using a Sprint data card + Kyocera KR1 router or Clearwire.
Due to the fact that Sprint would require an actual long-term contract, we decided to check out Clearwire which offers month-to-month service. Clearwire launched with the intent of providing nationwide Wi-Max broadband access to the masses. Since 2004, Clearwire has added a handful of major metropolitan cities to its service coverage map.
The convenience of online shopping, right?
In todays internet age, I find it more convenient and efficient to utilize online resources to make purchases. Purchasing service through http://clearwire.com should be no different from completing an order through http://sprint.com, http://cingular.com, or http://comcast.com. Unfortunately, a recent scenario proved that shopping online can still feel very alien.
Welcome to clearwire.com
Immediately, we visit http://clearwire.com. We are greeted with a general landing page with a clear-cut navigation, an invitation to "Save up to $100 when you order online today" (Bingo!), three service option summaries, a quick "Get pricing and service availability", and an invitation for "Live chat".
How much and is it available in the neighborhood?
We’re both informed, we know what Clearwire is all about, and we understand that Wi-Max coverage is still being rolled out. Let’s fast forward, check coverage availability, and enter the address where service will be used. Visitors have a convenient form for entering a street address, zip code, and floor. Floor?
I know Clearwire means to convey a message along the lines of "How many floors are in the home or building where the service will be used? This is important because your connection quality relies heavily on the modems ability to acquire a strong signal. Physical structures may prevent the modem from receiving the strongest signal possible.", but how would the average Joe looking to leave Comcast interpret the option?
Let’s assume that everyone understands that the option refers to the number of floors in the building where service will be used. Let’s also assume that service at the address is available but that I live on the 2nd floor of a 4 floor complex. Would I enter option 2 since I live on the second floor? Or, do I enter 4 because I live in a complex with 4 floors? What If I lived on the ground floor of an 8 floor apartment? If this extensive of a preliminary inquiry is required, users might as well be asked to enter whether or not they live in a brick, all steal, concrete, or wood structure. There are no directions or hints explaining why "floor" is so important. [No reference in the FAQ] Sprint or Verizon don’t ask whether I’ll be sitting in a garage, lounging at home, or walking outside during service usage.
Experimenting with a number of different scenarios, the resulting page which expresses whether coverage is available mentions nothing about what affect the floor may have on your service.
Our first few attempts checking coverage availability resulted with the above image. Because of this initial hurdle, we were unable to find out how much the service would be on a month-to-month basis. As potential customers, it would be much easier to see a quick overview of the pricing tiers – for comparison with other services – before having to enter any type of personal information.
I’m having issues ordering, can I talk to a sales rep?
After realizing that little progress was going to be made as far as ordering service online was concerned, we resorted to contacting a sales or support representative. At the time of posting, the Live Chat graphical links redirected to an email form with the prompt that no representatives were available. With that in mind, we located a telephone number at the top right corner of the page next to Store Locater. The number reads 1-888-Clearwire – C-L-E-A-R-W-I-R-E = 9 characters which when added to 1-888 would equal 13. Your standard telephone number is comprised of 10 – this might throw a few people off.
1-888-Clearwire = 1-888-253-2794-73 which does not equal the 1-888-253-2794 shown in FAQ. Regardless, we dial and listen to the available prompts for opening new service. Calling from both a 206 & 425 area code numbers (which area clearly major metropolitan areas in Seattle / Bellevue), we both received the following (20 sec. recording). Not exactly the answer we’re looking for when the coverage map clearly covers our area(s).
Disclaimer
It is important to note that this entry was published after initial attempts of checking coverage availability and ordering service online failed. At the time, Clearwire coverage availability was reporting that the address entered was outside of the coverage area. Subsequent inquires later in the day oddly reported that the address was indeed within the service coverage area. The experience shopping online does not reflect the quality of the actual internet service – I am more than happy to and look forward to comparing Clearwire to Sprints solid EVDO network which I use daily with both a Novatel U720 (external USB) & Vaio VGN-TXN15P (bult-in)..
I was just thinking about going to Clearwie.I’m sure glad that I have read some of these comments first.I’m going to wait a while and see if they can get these problems fixed and stop screwing people,before I ever subscribe to that service,etc.
Thanks,
P.Lawson
Clearwire has violated several laws under both the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The organization has, in a pre-meditated manner, deceived the public during its Initial Public Offering (IPO) in that it knew that its coverage topology and backhaul scheme would not result in their being able to comply with the QoS portion of their standard Service Level Agreement (SLA). They knew this would result in rampant complaints because they knew that the number one issue would that of not being able to achieve the bandwidth level/throughput speed promised, yet they went on to (1). raise money via the IPO process and (2). the private investment capital process.
Essentially, Time-Warner, Sprint (in being suckered to give up their 3.5GHz frequencies, Comcast, Intel and other have been nothing short of being serious duped buy gross misrepresentations of the system’s ultimate speed. They were warned multiple times by experts, analyst and internal personnel but favored to “hide” their system design flaws in favor of receiving large capital infusions from the misguided public and private investors.
I’d encourage those with knowledge of this deception to contact the investigations section of the SEC and FTC. Clearwire is proportedly attempting to raise an additional $2.3billion dollars on top of the $3.3 billion already raised plus the public funds garnered from the IPO. The public continues to purchase their stock believing they are deploying systems in a manner consistent with engineering prudence and basic fundamental algorithms which predict reliable radio frequency (RF) coverage and throughput.
They have squandered way over $5.6 billion dollars and have had multiple opportunities to emplace their Wimax system correctly. They elected not to.
If $5.6billion in waste and deception urks you (nevermind Clearwire’s theft of your money by insisting they should garner about $220 in early service withdrawal fees from those terminating their flawed service despite their failure to produce promised service levels), then do something about it. The money they have effectively taken from private and public money sources ($5.6billion) represents 10% of the money Bernie Madeoff stole from its investors. Where there is premeditation, their is crime.
Make that call to the SEC and FTC and don’t tolerate these sorts of sophisticated white-collar crime schemes.
Thank you
CLEARWIRE IS GARBAGE! I am at my house right now on clearwire, and I’ve got to say, it is the worst internet I have ever seen. I live in Medford, Oregon, and I have been to many friends houses who have been tricked into getting clearwire as well, and they all think it blows. They only time i can get any service at all is in the middle of the night, when i would assume there isnt many people using the bandwidth it works somewhat. But during the day it is total garbage. I just tried to play COD: WaW on my Xbox 360 and constantly dropped from games with red (poor) connection. not to mention i tried downloading the new map pack, what i a fool I am for trying. after 5 minutes of a 450 mb download i was still at 0%. It is so frustrating i have many times considered vandalizing the clearwire office here in Medford. Do yourself a favor, if your reading this and considering getting clearwire, stab yourself and save yourself from the pain of their lies, and horrible service. Im guessing that this D-Bag Rick is an employee of Clearwire, because nobody who tries to use clearwire for anything that they advertise it being good for, is ever happy with it. I remember when going to the office the salesman told me that it would work great for gaming and downloading, but then when you call Tech Support about how crappy it is, they tell you that the service should not be used for gaming, streaming, or downloading. What do people use the internet for nowadays? most people don’t just check email anymore, we want You-tube, Limewire, and First Person Shooters. I seriously hope that everyone affiliated with clearwire dies.
Well, I couldn’t agree with you more, we are in Virginia and it is sooooooo sad signs everywhere clearwire 14.99 amonth. I don’t pay that little I thought paying more meant faster service, not a chance. Personally I would have loved to have kept comcast but they made my husband so made with cable he took it all out of the house. I like utube, I used to download video to it, can’t with clearwire start at 8am finish 12midnite-no joke one video 10 min at that and it takes all day and night, called clearwire they pretended to work on tower and etc. my internet speed was so slow wasn’t even funny. I was told it is normal and now we are stuck for a year with this service. JUST SAY NO………GO ANYWHERE BUT CLEARWIRE.