ClearWire in ****e tonight?!

DamoVOTF

They phoned back to say they are still working on it.

Getting really pissed off now.

Cake Fiend

Lately I've noticed pings from the CLI have been pretty good, http access is acceptable, downloads are better (~130kb/s) but half of what we're paying for. Streaming video is terrible, taking minutes to buffer, but direct downloads of video files are fine. Lots of games (WoW, BF2) are not connecting at all. I'll be trying VoIP soon.

I have a DSL line ordered... :rolleyes:

Woody_FX

27hours later and games are still not connecting.

The only reason i have BB is for games. Will give them till tomorrow to fix or I'm going to ADSL.

Shougeki

My sentiments exactly.......

However i did get pokerstars running by mailing them and changing the port to 443....

that will keep me going short term.

DamoVOTF

It is simply a port question, I am sitting here thinking if I use socks cap and try routing the port through some other port would I get better service. Will try it now and see what happens.

Nah this doesnt work.

DamoVOTF

Now then reckon Monday.

Screw them then. If the software doesnt work, disable it.

Load of crap!

Oh and Monday is in no way definite, they have no clue what they have done or how to fix it.

Too anyone thinking about ClearWire, avoid at all costs. Get fixed line if you can.

RangeR

DamoVOTF wrote:

Too anyone thinking about ClearWire, avoid at all costs. Get fixed line if you can.

That's a bit of an un warrented, knee-jerk reaction.

Fine, some services for some of us aren't working. Streaming is patchy at the best of times, P2P is on it's way out [about time, imo], some on line games don't work and yes there are even some VoIP issues.

And I can't remember who likened them to IBB. They are no where near IBB's standards.

I, personally, didn't receive the "fax" tone. I've managed to get through to support each and every time. The CS Reps were always courtious. Yes, they didn't always have the answers and once or twice I was fobbed of on certain things. The news guys in there are learning. It may take a little time, but they will get there. The more senior guys know exactley what to look for and when. I have no complaints on that side of things.

I am not the happiest I have ever been with an internet provider but they are the best I have met in a long time, and I've had the displeasure of using a few of them. Their email and browsing speeds are not affected, so it's not a backhale issue.

I do suffer some of the symptoms stated above but as far as I am concernd, these are configuration issues that CW have to figure out, hopefully soon.

As I said before, I support CW 100% in attempting to weed out P2P traffic and am willing to hang on until they perfect it. I do NOT want to see them turn into another IBB and cripple their service.

Also, don't forget, if ANY provider has a sudden outtage, they will get inundated with a lot of calls in a very short amount of time. There is no way ANY company can cope with that sort of mass contact. Inevitably they won't get to everyone or have to divert there phone for a short while to give them time to remedy the situation.

Back to my original point, advising people to stay away from Clearwire is putting out the wrong message. They are nothing like IBB. Fine if you want P2P, obviously start looking for another provider but at some stage, they will all start blocking it.

Woody_FX

IrishTLR what do you mean weeding out P2P? They are stopping all the freaks downloading music and TV programs etc?

So all the people using Kazzaa & eDonkey or whatever wont be able to use them anymore?

That would be most excellent but cant see them wanting to upset there customers. Maybe that would easy the strain on the network and i can play games with a half decent ping.

Dont know what i am going to do unitl monday with no games. Any of you find a work around please let me know.

DamoVOTF

No IrishTLR I think it is acceptable.

A lot of us here pay for service, if you want to surf then it is ok. I am not going to do a comparison as it is not warranted.

But if you pay to play games, then it is unacceptable. I have gotten use to the 3 second lag spikes 3 times an hour and occasional periods of disconnecting.

And I am all for them doing the best to ensure network integrity, that goes with out saying. But my major gripe is that something was changed on Wednesday between 3am, and 2pm. This has disrupted my service.

I work for a finance company and we have outages, but if we make a change which affects the service, we roll back the change and figure out how to do it properly without disrupting service.

So why would I recommend Clearwire when they are obviously unable to fix the problem within a reasonable time frame?

Oh and on the customer service note, they are very courteous. Sometimes they dont phone you back, but better than most. My problem is not the people, its the service I pay for. I also dont compare to any other services, I only have experience with DSL in the UK.

RangeR

Woody_FX wrote:

IrishTLR what do you mean weeding out P2P? They are stopping all the freaks downloading music and TV programs etc?

So all the people using Kazzaa & eDonkey or whatever wont be able to use them anymore?

That would be most excellent but cant see them wanting to upset there customers. Maybe that would easy the strain on the network and i can play games with a half decent ping.

Dont know what i am going to do unitl monday with no games. Any of you find a work around please let me know.

Clearwire have not once mentioned it to me and I have never directly asked them. But other here say that they have been told that CW are starting to block or shape P2P traffic. And yes I mean those that are downloading Music / Videos / TV Shows etc through the likes of eDonkey, Kazza, DC+ etc.

I don't think there is a workaround that we can do. It's upto CW to sort out their network. We are just leaves on the branches of their tree.

RangeR

DamoVOTF wrote:

A lot of us here pay for service, if you want to surf then it is ok.

Agreed

DamoVOTF wrote:

But if you pay to play games, then it is unacceptable. I have gotten use to the 3 second lag spikes 3 times an hour and occasional periods of disconnecting.

Agreed. I can't even get onto Steam via CW but can via BT

DamoVOTF wrote:

And I am all for them doing the best to ensure network integrity, that goes with out saying. But my major gripe is that something was changed on Wednesday between 3am, and 2pm. This has disrupted my service.

Agreed but it started well before Wednesday. I think it is more like 2 or 3 weeks ago, maybe more.

DamoVOTF wrote:

I work for a finance company and we have outages, but if we make a change which affects the service, we roll back the change and figure out how to do it properly without disrupting service.

Agreed.

DamoVOTF wrote:

So why would I recommend Clearwire when they are obviously unable to fix the problem within a reasonable time frame?

As you can see from my responses, I agree almost fully with you. The only thing I wanted to disagree with was your blanket statement to stay clear of ClearWire.

They are nowhere near as bad as people make them out to be. I have seen recently that peoples reaction is to shoot first and apologise later. I'm sure that CW are working hard to rectify the issue. I have heard one report that CW aren't sure where the problem lies. So if you are messing with configuration setting on a network as large as theirs, it's not that easy to roll back. It not just a case of un-installing a piece of software.

For example, there was a thread on here a week or so ago. During the whole debacle that is "CW attempting to shape P2P and making a temporary mess of their network". MSN Messenger went down and people couldn't connect. There was a whole thread dedicated to slating CW over this as some people were using their service. In reality, it was nothing to do with CW as MSN couldn't be logged into from various ISP's.

Again, Clearwire is not that bad. I do agree that if there are certain things you want to use the internet for, gaming VoIP etc, then hold off on CW for a while. But when they get their network in order I'm sure it will be back to pre launch days, albiet with P2P removed.

I'm sure not many of you would disagree that it's not a backhaul or over congestion issue as I, for one, have full speed up and download.

Shougeki

I think CW have the right idea, but their implementation is lacking.....

They call me today and even asked what WoW server i was on so they could try and test it. IK told them about pokerstars, and they looked for a workaround. They then forwarded me an email from PS, that showed how i could connect, while there was issues.

Never met friendlier front line, or techs.

Last time i was on the phone it was after i sent them a really nasty email. After a bit of to and fro i told them that if they kept me informed of wtf was going on i would be ok.....

Now WoW is down for over 24hrs. I hate that, but they aint in no way IBB. They seem to give a crap. Maybe they arent ready for the users and what we want to do but they do try. No other Tech support ( and i deal with various companies a lot) has ever called me on a sunday asking how things are going. And this was an engineer, not a CS rep.

They want to help. I reckon the engineers are being limited by management, and i also reckon at least one person on the Guiness mast is completely taking the piss. My connection went froma steady 52k for the last few days to between 1M and 3M.... Since ive signed up with them, the problems on this mast have limited me to under 900k or so.

So obviosly they have resolved part of the issue. Not all of it, but the turn around time has been better than anyone ive ever been with, INCLUDING uunet/worldcom in the last job i was in.

Im annoyedc, and VERY annoyed that WoW isnt working, but now i can use Webex so i dont have to travel to work in the middle of the night....

My €0.02

DamoVOTF

Ok, I agree with you I will re-state my prognosis:

Stay away from Clearwire, for anything else apart from browsing and direct downloads.

P.S. On the installation network thing, if they dont have a roll back strategy they shouldnt be doing it.

Oh and just out of interest what WoW server does everyone play on?

Shougeki

heh heh - completely off topic.....

Used to play on Earthen Ring (lvl 57 Alliance Mage)

Now my entire guild moved to The Venture Co. PVPRRP server. All troll guild mon......

stakey

aye... to put into effect any changes on a network that would cause this much problems for ppl during a) working hours and b) without telling anyone is very unprofessional. I work for a firm that has alot of people (thousands) depending on it's network uptime, any changes we would make have an immediate roll back in place. We don't go about making tweaks here and there because we have a theory it might work without first having something for our customers to fall back on.

The longest downtime I've seen on our side with a backup plan in place has been all but 10 minutes! And customers are told about this possibility before hand!

ITguy

hi,

I have their connection as well :mad:

- I send them movie showing them that they are blocking many outgoing connections and ports (do not know what they are doing)
- they provide the worst service and support I ever get
- they block Lineage 2 and Guild Wars, even WOW has problem working on their crap connection.
- P2P was working first few weeks probably as demo heh
- they are blocking Instand Messaging, streaming videos and a lot more
- I`m looking forward to find a way to cancel agreement with them, if anyone know what we can do just please PM me.
I send to them over 10 emails, now I`m sending every day to their nonexsisting support

IT GUY
MCSE, MCSA, MCDBA, CCSE, CCNA, CNA, A+

DamoVOTF

Ring them tell them you are leaving and you want refunded.

They told me I could have the freepost address and wouldnt be charged any leaving fee.

Ludo

On to them again now...well their wonderful weekend answering service who know nothing. No one is working on the problem as they dont know about it...ha ha ha.

Told him I will be cancelling first thing on Monday morning unless they call me back with a suitable explanation for the complete incompetence they are showing in managing a network.

This is gone beyond a joke at this stage!!!!

Shougeki

Last straw for me too. Calling to cancel now. Cant handle this anymore.

Yggr of Asgard

I think some people in that company know what they are doing but the frontline staff sometimes has the quality of a dell support center in you know where.

They fixed my VPN problem and tweaked my VOIP, at least now I can talk to people via my ATA. Softphone was still a mess (X-PRO with G729 quality) than I installed cfos (a traffic shaping tool) and now my softphone at least gives me some quality (good old radio quality) 90% of the times. With ping times to the sip server of over 250 ms no wonder.

If they now would at least allow streaming video from cnn or yahoo I would be happy. Foxnews does macromedia for videos and they run extremly fast, but cnn does wma and that just does not work.

I consider ClearWire a work in progress which was taken by surprise by stuff that any person with some industrie knowledge did know: Plan for P2P before you launch. I think they underestimated the amount of P2P/Stream/Game they will get.

Still for my VPN (main reason for this) since they tweaked it I have no problems, compared to the eircom route where it colapsed every 2 hours I'm better off.

Now sort of the rest and don't charge us until you do!

Mac daddy

ITguy wrote:

- I`m looking forward to find a way to cancel agreement with them, if anyone know what we can do just please PM me.
I send to them over 10 emails, now I`m sending every day to their nonexsisting support

Ring them and cancel tell them why, you won't have to pay any fees just send the modem back to the freepost address.

DamoVOTF

Everyone who rings to cancel, ask to speak to the manager, and then ask "Why was your Port Shaping program implemented without a roll back?"

And then when he replies it aint that easy:
"Ask why it hasnt been disabled yet then?"

Shougeki

I sent a mail saying i was cancelling. The chap Christian i was dealing with called me back straight away.....

Before i go on, i have to say he has been very helpful and honest when ive talked to him. He also advised me of two things.

#1 They arent allowed post here. They know of this forum and they look at it but theyre hands are tied in regards to posting here.

#2 They have an overflow call center. Hence some of the front line not having a clue. They dont even work for CW as far as i can see....

So i reckon if you have to call them, ask them are they actually clearwire or the overflow, and if they are the overflow, ring back.

Anyway, he asked me to wait till monday. I told him that if he just kept me informed, i wouldnt mind and all i wanted was info.

Advised that they do have people working on it today, and that they are trying to resolve it. He told me that if its not fixed by monday, then i could return everything. I did tell him that i understand they are starting off ect, and all i want is to be kept informed....

BTW for WoW im about to try this:
http://www.http-tunnel.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=827&

stakey

any notice how slow FTP traffic is? this seems to happen only when all of this port blocking nonsense begins....

DamoVOTF

Wouldnt bother with the HTTP Tunnel, service is unusable.

I tried it lots before ordering clearwire, using my colleges wireless network.

Just play EVE instead, or study like I should be doing.

Shougeki

Got it working with a latency of about 600. This is better than ive been getting from CW untill they fixed my line speed!

And this is on the free service of http-tunneling. Reckon thatll do me till monday if they get it fixed.

B

eth0_

IrishTLR wrote:

They are nowhere near as bad as people make them out to be. I have seen recently that peoples reaction is to shoot first and apologise later.

YES they are. They are abysmal. I have no idea why a minority of people have no problems and get <100ms pings, while everyone else gets pings over over 1000ms, unusable VOIP/VPN/p2p and can't even stream basic, lo-fi web radio, but CLEARWIRE SHOULD! They clearly don't have the expertise and knowledge to run an ISP, or they'd have fixed the latency issues at the very least.

IrishTLR wrote:

I'm sure that CW are working hard to rectify the issue. I have heard one report that CW aren't sure where the problem lies.

Again. Ineptitude and lack of knowledge on their part is not my fault, I don't care if they're "working hard", they've allegedly been "working hard" for three weeks now and their service is still woeful. I'm paying them 45 euro a month for an unstable, unusable connection. When have BT or Eircom or Smart or whoever ever had problems that have lasted THREE WEEKS? Never, that I can recall. Because they employ people who know what they're doing.

IrishTLR wrote:

So if you are messing with configuration setting on a network as large as theirs, it's not that easy to roll back. It not just a case of un-installing a piece of software.
.

Yes, it is. Believe me. If they were doing things properly, change requests would be submitted, they would have a test network to test configuration changes BEFORE rolling them out on their production servers/routers/switches etc - and they certainly wouldn't roll out changes in the middle of the day, with no warning to customers - everything would be documented so if something *did* go wrong, they *could* roll back the changes.

As for the people saying "Oh, but their tech support are so nice and friendly!" - yes it is nice to have courteous staff, but I would far prefer staff who are technical and who can FIX PROBLEMS.

Ludo

New problems I have noticed.

1. Cant send emaild via gmail using the Thunderbird client. Can receive them no problem. Nothing has changed on my end so I am assuming it is a ClearWire port issue?

2. Can't connect to Yahoo Groups chat rooms. Never had a problem with this before now.

Does anyone know if Clearwire actually have people working right now if I ring them again or will I just end up at some answering service in England again until Monday?

Ludo

Onto them AGAIN...feck sake.

Thery sorted the GMail problem. I now have to use mail.clearwire.ie as the out going SMTP server instead of gmail.com. Nice of them to tell people that they are blocking things like this.

Gaming will be restored by monday..yadda yadda yadda...heard it all before.
Escalating Yahoo Chat issue as they havent noticed it.

They will DEFINITELY ring me tomorrow with updates with these issues. Fourth/fifth time I have been told this and they never have.

If everything isn't working properly when I get home from work on Monday evening, the modem is being put in a box and returned immediately.

Blaster99

You'll be glad to know that mail.clearwire.ie is far from reliable. They had a half-day outage on it the other day.