Review by ernliz 
UPDATED: 343 days ago
member for 6.7 years, 586 visits, last login: 13 days ago
 Abilene,Taylor,TX
 $30 per month (12 month contract)
 about 1 days
 AT&T
 "Inexpensive and simple to use"
 "A few blocked ports, deteriorating performance, clueless people..."
 "If you can get it, and nothing else is available, it's the way to go"
| Pre Sales Information:
Install process:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings above consensus)
|
Wireless ISPs in the Abilene, TX area are expensive and erratic. When Clearwire finally came to town, it was a dream come true. For $30/mo. I now get approx 800 kbps down, approx 225 up and it's steady. For $10/mo. more you can get 1.5 mbps down. Setup is extremely easy and the hardware footprint is only a few square inches. IP is dynamic, if you turn the modem off, which is OK. I live way out in the sticks and Clearwire told me I was out of luck; however, I tried anyways, and got top notch broadband. It's also very secure, operates on a licensed freq (2.5+ GHz...). The sales people in town are very customer-friendly and go out of their way to please. Bottom line: why would anyone use dial-up (or the expensive WISPs here) when there's Clearwire! No, I don't work for the company!
Minor update: I've only had the service for less than a month, so things may change. Other users who have had longer service are having no problems. I also haven't experienced the few problems other posters are having -- perhaps I'm just pleased I don't have to deal with the other local WISPs any more. More later, if anything changes.
SEP 2006......................
Major update: one year later, Clearwire is continuing to slide downhill here in Abilene, TX, in terms of performance. Lag times are horrible. When you click on a web link, wait 5 seconds before ANYTHING happens, then half the page will load, wait another 20 seconds, and the rest of the page "may" finish loading. And on and on...... The local people haven't a clue about their jobs nor about the technical aspects of Clearwire, but the Tech Support people at the 1-800 number are still quite good. Download speeds are not as advertised -- mostly due to the horrible stalling. And again, most annoying, there's NO ONE to talk to in the area who will listen or care! Oh well, it's better than dialup, and when nothing else is available, what else can many of us do!
Sep 2007.......
What a difference a year makes. Apparently Clearwire in Abilene, TX has made major improvements in reliability and overall service. I get very steady connections and haven't experienced a down day in many months. Perhaps the upgrade to VOIP has forced them to upgrade the HTTP Internet reliability somehow. In any case, all is well. And............ after reading many of the negative reviews by many, I just wonder if these people actually know how much they can do to improve their reliability and speeds. You ACTUALLY have to CALL tech support and tell them of your problem, work with them, work with the local folks, and "find" the best signal area in your home. It's not that hard to get it right!
Followup comments:  hopeforspeed
join:2005-11-30
Abilene, TX
| Service in Abilene, TX Have to agree with the poster about the continuing degradation of service in Abilene - I live south of town, between the airport and Potosi - have access to two towers, but I cannot tell any difference - both are barely better than dial-up! Within the past couple of weeks, I cannot access the internet at all in the evenings most of the time. I am paying for the higher speeds, but again, at times it is no better than dial-up. Am considering dropping it as soon as contract is up. Very expensive for what I'm (not) getting! Yes, I have spoken to tech support and the folks in the local office.
Clearwire - are you listening?  | |
| 
tobyjoe
@cox.net
| the deseption of clear wire isp service i was one of the original customers about 4 day in to abilene. i signed a 2 year contract with this company. gave them my credit card imformation and that was the beggining of the end. thy would charge my card not one time but as much as three time in a billing period after talk with my credit card company. thy block all charges from clearwire. this got there attention . anyone that thinks there great ether works for them are is being payed by them to say it. i drop them in 15 of my location and i am looking for the day the fcc closes thedown | |
|  | Geddy2112
join:2006-10-01
Albuquerque, NM
| Re: the deseption of clear wire isp service And you need to learn English!! I couldn't understand a thing you wrote...damn cable shill!
I've been a Clearwire customer for over a year & love having a constant speed all the time. I gave up on cable once I learned that my speed dropped to nil when everyone else on my block decided to get on all at once. | |
| dandm2003
join:2006-12-12
Everett, WA
|  Fraud - Beware of 7-Day Trial Period!!
In my instance, my trial began on 12/2, thus I had until 12/9 to cancel. After working with tech support for 3 days, I went into the corporate office on 12/8 to cancel. They refused to cancel my account. I contacted their customer service dept. Both sales and technical support informed me they could not cancel my account. According to everyone I spoke with, the only manner in which to cancel my account was to contact the "retention" department.
I firmly believe that the retention dept does NOT exist. I called on numerous occasions and waited on hold for over an hour during 4 separate occasions - never reaching anyone. Also, I reached someone on three occasions, only to be hung-up on immediately after the phone was picked up.
During one instance, I called a tech support individual (named Shelby) and asked her to wait on hold with me for a "retention" specialist. After waiting 40 min, she came back and said "it didn't work." She claimed a phone error blocked her ability to transfer the call. She refused to try again.
At one point, I had two cell phones all on hold (1 for retention and 1 for tech support) WHILE STANDING in the corporate office on 132nd street speaking with the manager. They were unwilling to work together to solve the issue. Instead, they asked me to leave. NOBODY would cancel my account and everyone claimed deniability. Also, after speaking with three managers, they all claimed they didn't have the ability to cancel the account.
Eventually, after threatening to gather individuals to protest on the property itself and/or call the police, I eventually convinced a manager to cancel my account. I asked him to send me an email confirmation. He said he did, however after I checked my PDA, I found out that he lied. He stated it must have been "an error" and he tried again. I then received the email confirmation of the cancellation, but I still believe I'll be charged somehow.
This company is baiting customers to sign up with false promises of a cancellation period. I encourage anyone else with similar issues to contact the Better Business Bureau. They are a member. | |
|
Dupes
@gci.net
| Clearwire service in General I at one time worked for clearwire as a CSR. I looked into the service and even used it myself. At first the company itself was great and the service we offered our customer good. Then I started to notice some thing. Clearwire is sales based, make sales at all cost. It's reps commonly sell the service outside of the coverage areas. Though, you may get 4-5 lights, the towers do gauge the distance and kick you off. The are several people out there that should of never been sold this service. Then the policy changes clearwire does at it's whim. I personally sat through 4 move policies, 2 cancellation policies, and a policy which basically told our service folks that they were screwed. The whole time, the customer was basically screwed. Clearwire also started shaping it traffic more aggressively, so basically unless you check your email or do minimal web surfing you risk getting shaped. This even affects legal programs such as Napster and Itunes. Though if asked clearwire won't acknowledge any shaping. They'll quote the response of, Clearwire monitors it's traffic to insure best performance. All in all it's a money machine. The founders are great at making money. The service at first had possibilities, but after looking over older markets and seeing them past compacity, and still push sales, knowing that the service they were giving was far below any standards. Getting hold of anyone in the company with any knowledge is near impossible, the 888 line is a mix of out sourced notebook techs and a new call center by clearwire in Las Vegas. The service has many issues. Maybe with time, and a company redirection things will get better. | |
|
Bad service
@clearwire-dns.net | Clearwire Poor Service I have had horrible service with clearwire | |
|
Gamer27
@clearwire-dns.net
| Clearwire Sevice I am very glad I stayed away from qwest. Clearwire i like about them is they are very portable. I live 1000 ft from their towers and had no issue. I wish tho they had a better manual for their modem. Cant find any online. I also am impressed on how well Clearwire is for certain games. | |
|
tgunn
@prognet.com
| Clearplugs I don't know how many posters here are single computer households, but I just installed Clearplugs to hook up my main computer downstairs and my son's computer upstairs to a single Clearwire modem, and it seems that it has increased my PCs performance. Pages are loading a whole lot faster, although service is still inconsistent - it varies between just fast enough to really smoking fast. I can't speak for my son's Mac, however. My question is (to whoever might be able to answer it) is whether using Clearplugs increases your antenna size through the wiring in your house. That's what it seems like it has done for me, anyway. | |
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