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 Review by Dark Fiber 
UPDATED: 1.8 years ago
member for 4.8 years, 122 visits, last login: 59 days ago
 Boise,Ada,ID
 $43 per month (24 month contract)
 Qwest
 "Fast to set up, somewhat portable"
 "Incompetent tech support, clandestine contract renewal, shady business ethics"
 "If you can get cable, DSL or even cellphone broadband, don't waste your time or money."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
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High speed Internet access without wires...sounds great doesn't it. That is the only good part of their offering, if it works. Their tech support is incompetent. Their customer service droids are robotic and unfeeling and will support their employers unethical business practices to the end.
Clearwire has managed to double charge me for a static IP, lose my static IP, delete my personal webspace (which had strictly innocuous content, safe for the most conservative kindergartner:a single blog post about my lost cat, actually), and clandestinely enter me into a new contract term without my express consent.
What burns me the most is the unsolicited placement into a contract term without my express consent. It reminds me of date rape. If you ask for consent and get no answer, the answer is no. Opt-out is theft, pure and simple. Their utter refusal to reverse the unauthorized commitment without a punitive cancellation fee is disgraceful. Defending the ethically devoid technique with the stand-offish claim that it is perfectly legal and written into the fine print is an insult to their customers and an affront to decency.
I wouldn't wish Clearwire on my most hated enemies. Sprint's choice to back out of their joint venture with Clearwire was probably one of the smartest things they could have ever done. With as long as I have been a customer of Sprint, I have regrettably had my share of go rounds with them, but incompetent outsourced employees, as bad as they may be, definitely take second place to willful malice and greed.
If you can get cable, DSL, or even high speed access from a cellphone carrier, don't waste your time or money with Clearwire. They only care about separating you from your money, and you are sure to regret it.
Followup comments:  WarmCoke
join:2007-01-31
Boise, ID
 ·Clearwire Wireless
1 edit | No problems in Boise here.... Have been using Clearwire in my home in Boise for over a year now with consistent speeds and great, uninterrupted service. Doesn't sound like you had connectivity issues - at least you do not mention them. I completely understood the terms of the contract that I was signing when I signed it and am ok with the length of time.
If you are looking for reliable internet access - I recommend Clearwire every day of the week. And twice on Sundays! | |
| | | | | WarmCoke
join:2007-01-31
Boise, ID
·Clearwire Wireless
| Re: No problems in Boise here.... I'm always very clear as to the contracts that I am signing and what the terms are. Many of the "unethical business practices" that Clearwire supposedly has or the "multiple complaints about Clearwire" that you can find are in large part due to knuckleheaded customers not optimizing their service properly, giving up and then trying to get out of a contact they did not understand in the first place.
There is a lack of personal responsibility being shown by a lot of people more and more as each year goes by. | |
| |
Dark Fiber
Premium
join:2005-01-23
Boise, ID
 ·Clearwire
| WarmCoke, you have well established yourself very transparently as a Clearwire shill, and your opinions are weighted accordingly by all who read them.
I didn't mention connectivity problems, because the shoddy connectivity is not what I found despicable. Reneging on an agreement is inexcusable. My term was expressly for 24 months. After meeting my contractual obligation, the contract could have been placed into a month-to-month status, or a new agreement could have been offered. If a vendor wishes to entice me into another agreement via a discount, new hardware, or other incentives, there is nothing wrong with that. Slipping a punitive agreement in without my consent, is enough to guarantee that I will permanently discontinue use of such an provider. Trying to charge an early termination fee on an agreement I never authorized, is just bad business, and Clearwire has rightfully earned its ire.
The fact that shills like you feel the need make excuses and be abusive to wronged Clearwire customers by repeating your "should have read the contract better" mantra just further reinforces my position that Clearwire doesn't deserve customers. People grow weary of being exploited by service providers, and will actually pay more for a comparable product from a provider that actually appreciates their business. In a twist of irony, I actually pay Qwest less money for more bandwidth, more reliable connectivity and more static IPs than Clearwire can offer on their best day. Best of all, that comes without a contract, and amazingly without the abuse and incompetence that Clearwire insists upon.
A company that feels it must resort to holding it's customers captive should have no customers. That single aspect of their anti-customer behavior is what changed my mind as to whether I could even recommend Clearwire under very limited circumstances. There are no longer any situations where I could ever recommend Clearwire, and they brought it upon themselves with their own incompetence, disrespect, and I would daresay, evilness. | |
| | | WarmCoke
join:2007-01-31
Boise, ID
·Clearwire Wireless
| Re: No problems in Boise here.... So any satisfied customer with a service that you have an almost scary dislike for - is a shill? Just so that we are clear.
Sites like this more than anything get the "squeaky wheels" that are upset about something. Clearwire has thousands and thousands of completely satisfied customers, and I happen to be one of them. Most of these people never come to a "review site" like this one and let people know how smooth everything is going. I am different in that respect.
I understand my contracts, I understand my fees and I understand my monthly bill. I have consistent and reliable broadband - and that is what I pay them for. | |
| ernliz
join:2001-11-25
Abilene, TX
·Clearwire Wireless
| ..... or here! I agree with WarmCoke. I have fine connectivity with Clearwire and that's the ONLY thing that interests me! I can deal with any "contractual" issues, support (if needed) and whatever else -- you just have to know how and whom to deal with. But reliable and consistent broadband is a must for me, and Clearwire delivers.
Abilene, TX | |
| 
Prineville Blues
@clearwire-dns.net
| Clearwire problems in Oregon I support and concur with all the problems listed above. Clearwire is an EXCEEDINGLY shady business and I, too, wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. In fact, they offered to let us out of our contract if we could find someone else to take it over...and my significant other pointed out to the "Customer Service Rep" (although, she was not servicing us) that we LIKE our friends and would like to keep them! Our problem? New windows! Yup, true story. Because we have new-double paned- windows in our home the Clearwire signal can not get out of the house. Where is the proviso in our contract stipulating the need for old and shoddy windows??? Non-existent.
Upon calling to complain and attempting to terminate our contract, a technician was deployed to our house and got one whole bar on his technical doodad machine...and deemed us as receiving a signal, and wouldn't cancel our service. I'm sorry but my computer can't even open web-pages because the signal is so slow it times itself out. The technician made us rearrange our guest bedroom so that the signal modem could face out the only window that received any sort of signal.
We have repeatedly just wished ourselves OUT OF THE CONTRACT...something, the company will happily do IF we pay $150...or find someone else to take over our contract.
We are in the process of contacting the Better Business Bureau but would like to warn off any potential Clearwire victims before it is too late for you too! | |
| |
lind
@charter.com
|  Re: Clearwire problems in Oregon
After our contract was up. They made us pay $180 to get out of it because they automatically renewed for 2 more years.
You must cancel your contract in exact window after your runs out and they auto renew.
These customers that say it is our fault we didn't follow the terms just have not tried to end their contract. And I am glad they are happy with their service.
There time will come and then they will be complaining with us how they got ripped off by Clearwire when and if they move to a different service. | |
| Mark J
join:2008-02-16
Los Banos, CA
| Clearwire? I've had Clearwire for about a year now and have had no problems until about 2 weeks ago. I noticed that the service had come to a crawl and went through my entire home network thinking the problem was on my end. When I called their Tech support I was informed that they had cut my service back and explained I was using to much Bandwith and for me t make sure I didn't have someone else taping into my network. I told them that 1.I had a 128bit security on my wireless router and that I live out of city limits with no houses around me. Thats when I found out about their NAZI BANDWIDTH RULES!!!
Today they did it again and told me to back off my use or they would cut me back for good. I build and repair computers all the time and need alot of downloads. I pay for the premium service. I also love not being tied to dialup as I had been for 15 years. Living out in the country I have no other service to access.
What upsets me is I find no mention of limits in any of the information that came with the modem.
I don't like the being told what to be doing with a costly service that I pay them every month.
Mark J. | |
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Re: No problems in Boise here....