Clearwire: Good, Bad or Ugly?

film_gonzo

Wasn't sure whether to post in here or the 'Wireless' forum so hopefully this is the right place.

Just wondering what poeple think of Clearwire? Are they good/bad? Is their customer service good? etc... usual questions.

Thinking of getting broadband in but not sure I'm gonna stay in the place i'm renting for long more so don't wanna go through the hassle of getting wired internet in.

Any suggestions would be great.

zuma

They certainly block torrents and other P2P apps.

From what Ive read here they even block the downloading of *.torrent files!!!

Also that radio add with the American sends shivers up my spine!!!!

Basically if you want to browse the net and NOTHING else then Clearwire are a choice.

RangeR

If the options are good, bad or ugly I'd say Bad. They are nowhere near the best provider and definately not the worst.

They do block or throttle P2P, regardless what they tell you. They also block specific ports. For example, a mate of mine was trying to access one of his servers on a specific port, through Firefox. My Clearwire connection outright refused. My BT DSL connection allowed him to do it. And that was only a browser going to a different port.

In their throtteling, they also mess up other applications. Steam Games, World of Warcraft and others. VoIP can be patchy.

Browsing and EMail is great. Real time online gaming will frustrate you

film_gonzo

Not much of a gamer so that wouldn't bother me too much however blocking P2P would be quite annoying.

Just wondering so if Clearwire are not a good option. What is? (I'm looking at the Digiweb ad forinstance. Any good?)

As said previously, I want something pretty basic and easy and won't cause me hassle if I move house or cancel subscription.

RangeR

film_gonzo wrote:

Not much of a gamer so that wouldn't bother me too much however blocking P2P would be quite annoying.

Just wondering so if Clearwire are not a good option. What is? (I'm looking at the Digiweb ad forinstance. Any good?)

As said previously, I want something pretty basic and easy and won't cause me hassle if I move house or cancel subscription.

If you are thinking of moving house anytime soon, the least amount of contract time you will get is 6 months from various DSL providers [but not all of them]. You *may* have the option of getting IBB Ripwave. Seriously only consider this if you cannot get any other form of broadband AND can't get dialup. Actually, stay away from all of IBB's products.

If you are not thinking of moving house soon, if you are in their area, check out NTL or Chorus. Some seriously fast speeds there at the moment.

film_gonzo

Cool. Cheers for that.

Illkillya

Clearwire are ugly... but not bad. If you don't want the hassle of getting a phoneline in, and your landlord won't let you get fixed wireless or you can't commit to a year contract or whatever, then you might be down to clearwire and IBB ripwave - in which case there is no contest really. Clearwire are good for browsing, and http/ftp downloads, nice to have the convenience of broadband in a box. Jittery pings and high pl makes it dodgy for gaming and voip, and the blocking of p2p can also be an issue for some people.

RangeR

Illkillya wrote:

or you can't commit to a year contract or whatever, then you might be down to clearwire and IBB ripwave

Sorry to burst your bubble, mate, but Clearwire's minimum contract term is 12 months but they like to push the 24 month contract.

Illkillya

IrishTLR wrote:

Sorry to burst your bubble, mate, but Clearwire's minimum contract term is 12 months but they like to push the 24 month contract.

I don't have a bubble, and if I did then that certainly wouldn't be bursting it.

RangeR