Stay Clear of Clearwire!

Mark1

Hi
I hope you do not mind me throwing in my experiences
I moved in to some new flats over 2 years ago
Applied for a phone line, found out several months later that no one in the flats or the attached estate will get a line due to a dispute between Eircom, the developer and Dublin Council.
I order all my products pay invoices on the internet
Stage 1
Taking computer to friends/relatives houses each evening was not a long term solution.
Stage 2
Connected computer to mobile phone (O2) at €50 for 25megabit per month. Yes €2 a megabit this meant orders and invoices only, no surfing and email with pictures or emoticons etc. were not welcome.
stage 3
Ripwave, great always on very rarely went down completly but as we are at edge of range in a ground floor flat beside a main road the signal went up and down with the passing traffic. So now surfing (providing no audio or video) was not a problem and I could now do my own website. Games, Age of Empires, worked but slowly. Skype 'worked' but with lots of pops and squeeks so phoning a friend or relative was do able most of time (except evenings) but business calls were out of question..
Stage 4
Clearwire great always on good signal strength. occasionally disappears (signal there but can't log on) for an hour or 2 surfing no problems , down load audio in real time, Video at best about 1/3 speed needed (going by pauses while buffer fills up). Skype worked great for first week (thought now I can get rid of €250 a month O2 bill), could play AoE with my son. 2 months later no Skype thought is was Skypes latest up grade but not the case. No playing games have gone to slow except after 9pm. Connection resets every now and again, say 2 hours into a game (not happy). Using Blueface network tester down is not a problem 13.5K down packets lost 77, up is another story 11k up 8.5k packets lost. that is 77% lost mind boggles (worse than an Post)

My question is NTL or Icecoms any better.

browneire

Had similar experiences with Irish Broadband, they also started the direct debit 3 months before I was able to log on with working equipment. Had to threaten small claims to get the cash back. BEWARE!

DamoVOTF

Haha just had the best response ever from their support department about my continually sh*t connection to the World of Warcraft servers (I play in Europe as it is pretty difficult if not impossible for me to play in the US).

From Clearwire:

Thanks for contacting clearwire.

Third line technical support agents diagnosed your connection and they didn't
find any problem.

They suggested you to use European servers while paying games because they are

prioritised on our network.

If you any question in relation to this process please feel free to call us
back on 1890 882 777

What a waste of time, 6 weeks to reply with that, and it basically implies I am an idiot and I dont have a problem.

HERE IS SOME NEWS FOR YOU CLEARWIRE, YOUR SERVICE IS SH*T NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOUR TECH TEAM SAYS ITS GOOD.

Someone give me the mail address for Com Reg or whatever they are called.

Oh this is a bit like saying when choosing where to download a file from it is better to pick Ireland rather than Outer Mongolia or the Easter Islands.

RangeR

DamoVOTF wrote:

Someone give me the mail address for Com Reg or whatever they are called.

consumerservices@comreg.ie
tom.butler@comreg.ie

odarallo

Well I will have to toaly agree with every single one of you. Im ashamed to admit I applied for a job with them but now glad I didnt get it.

A month or so ago i canceld my subscription with them and also canceld my direct debit on my acc. But about 3 weeks ago i got a letter in the post from a debt collectors company. This is surley not legal the amount was for 165 euro or something outrageous like that.

What can i do bout this?

dub45

odarallo wrote:

Well I will have to toaly agree with every single one of you. Im ashamed to admit I applied for a job with them but now glad I didnt get it.

A month or so ago i canceld my subscription with them and also canceld my direct debit on my acc. But about 3 weeks ago i got a letter in the post from a debt collectors company. This is surley not legal the amount was for 165 euro or something outrageous like that.

What can i do bout this?

Did you notify Clearwire of your intention to terminate your contract? Have you completed your minimum contract period. Had you cleared all bills outstanding?

If you are in the clear on all those fronts then I would do the following

Contact the debt collections company and tell them that you have cancelled your contract with clearwire and that if there is any further contact from them that you will report the matter to the Gardai as harassment.

I would then contact IPSO they are the responsible body overall for the direct debit system and they should be aware of what is going on - you can have a look at their site www.ipso.ie and you will get contact details there (6636740) - I can private you a name there if you wish?

Also you should contact your bank immediately and tell them of Clearwires behaviour ask them to make a formal complaint to Clearwire's sponsoring bank in accordance with the direct debit scheme.

http://www.ipso.ie/frames/documents/PayersGuide.pdf

I would also make a complaint to Comreg about Clearwire's behaviour.

But as I mentioned above make sure you have covered yourself in respect of any commitments to Clearwire.

odarallo

I notified clearwire that i was not paying them any further. And informed them I would be canceling my direct debit. They never requested the box back or requested that I sent it on. I dont feel it is fair to hand it to a debt collection company without sending me anything in the post saying what is going on.

Sponge Bob

also contact the odca , www.odca.ie , they have a considerable current interest in Clearwire and its activities I hear.

dub45

odarallo wrote:

I notified clearwire that i was not paying them any further. And informed them I would be canceling my direct debit. They never requested the box back or requested that I sent it on. I dont feel it is fair to hand it to a debt collection company without sending me anything in the post saying what is going on.

Irrespective of whether it is fair or not they have done it and it is up to you do deal with the matter as soon as possible and not let it go any further.

Get cracking tomorrow and protect yourself.

Other potential Clearwire customers be warned!!!

odarallo

so am i in right or in the wrong?

dub45

odarallo wrote:

so am i in right or in the wrong?

Firstly you have not told us enough about your position with Clearwire. No matter who the isp is you cannot just cancel your contract unless you have fulfilled your minimum contract term and even then you usually have to give a month's notice.

You have not told us what your financial position was with Clearwire at the time of cancellation. You are not going to get solace on here or your problems resolved by people on here who have not got a clue about those questions telling you what you want to hear which is presumably is that ''you are in the right'' - that is not going to resolve your problem for you.

You have got some advice on here now get cracking and get this sorted out.

odarallo

well they double billed me one month so took out all the funds in my account, I was not happy with the level of service which they were giving. Also I did not sign a contract nor did i verbaly agree to any term with them. I rang them told them i was terminating my service with them and told my bank that I would wish to end the debit.

Now i got this debt from the agency saying I owe 160 euro

dub45

odarallo wrote:

well they double billed me one month so took out all the funds in my account, I was not happy with the level of service which they were giving. Also I did not sign a contract nor did i verbaly agree to any term with them. I rang them told them i was terminating my service with them and told my bank that I would wish to end the debit.

Now i got this debt from the agency saying I owe 160 euro

All the posts in the world on here are not going to help you - you have to tackle the situation you are in

And all the posts in the world will not take away the fact that Clearwire have terms and conditions which you accept when you sign up.

Stop posting here and get on with solving your problem with the debt collectors.

Rozie

They "Shouldn't" be able to do the things that people have said are well within their rights. Honestly, if they are doing those things, it's just making your connection not a very pleasant one. It shouldn't be "Limited" like that. Comreg need to crack down on this bull****.

Sponge Bob

Rozie wrote:

They "Shouldn't" be able to do the things that people have said are well within their rights. Honestly, if they are doing those things, it's just making your connection not a very pleasant one. It shouldn't be "Limited" like that. Comreg need to crack down on this bull****.

Like I say, contact the ODCA, the contracts are possibly invalid

1. clearwire have no customer service department (we will call you back ?? who will ??)
2. clearwire have no accounts department (we will call you back ?? who will ??)
3. clearwire have no escalation and disputes procedures for their customer , except to say they will call back which they never do.

Clearwire makes more money from gouging people for no service than they do by honestly providing a service . They rely on piss weak regulation by comreg and odca to enforce these unfair contracts.

Their terms and conditions are a copy and paste from the states and are invalid here as they take no account of irish law.

Puddles

Sponge Bob wrote:

Like I say, contact the ODCA, the contracts are possibly invalid

1. clearwire have no customer service department (we will call you back ?? who will ??)
2. clearwire have no accounts department (we will call you back ?? who will ??)
3. clearwire have no escalation and disputes procedures for their customer , except to say they will call back which they never do.

Clearwire makes more money from gouging people for no service than they do by honestly providing a service . They rely on piss weak regulation by comreg and odca to enforce these unfair contracts.

Their terms and conditions are a copy and paste from the states and are invalid here as they take no account of irish law.

Well I'm really glad I read this. I rang them yesterday just to price a package deal and they gave me two quotes. One for 50 euro and one for 40 euro. Some new deal for newbies of 25 euro pm for fiirst three months blah blah. He told me that there was no limit to downloads and made a big deal about not needing installer/technician. (Which I don't need anyway as my husband is electrician). Anyway, we've decided on BT BB.

daithimac

people have mentioned the download limit. what figure is this. I can't find anything on there site that mentions this. its not been a bad service so far. i wouldn't even consider gaming on it though.

dub45

daithimac wrote:

people have mentioned the download limit. what figure is this. I can't find anything on there site that mentions this. its not been a bad service so far. i wouldn't even consider gaming on it though.

Seek and you shall find!:

http://www.clearwire.ie/cwi/index.php?cPath=1143

daithimac

is there a financial penalty for breaking that limit

schnider_17

I'm glad that I've found this thread.. I did even sign up for an account on this site just to express my anger towards clearwire.. Super slow speeds, poor signal, and frequent disconnection are only some.. and also you can't download torrent files..

Well I can't just leave clearwire because of the 12-month contract.(Disgusting)

Yes I exceeded the 10GB monthly usage, but why the hell they make my connection uber slow as in slower than the slowest dial-up connection ever! I emailed them and they said that the normal speed would be restored on this date(which is 2 months from the day we got the super slow dial-up-like connection).

Why the hell would they do that? It's so disgusting.. Or maybe I have exceeded the usage for 2 months(which is 20GB I suppose). Does it work that way? So if you've reached 50GB in a span of just a month does that mean that you would have to suffer 5 long months surfing the net and waiting for an hour for bebo or whatever to download? :mad: (because of the slow connection)

And to make things worst the slowest internet connection ever has been regularly disconnected everytime.. And to think that we've been paying monthly for their poor service:mad:

I thought clearwire was good, but like others were saying, **************.
:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

philstar

oh bye the way......"have a nice day"

dyslexixboy

haha just seen this thread, just finished with digiweb and got a mates clearwire modem for a few days omg how can these cowboys get away with this crap, port blocking ****ty connection. I certainly wont be signing up with clearcrap I have managed to get around their port blocking using tunneling but the connection is crap constanly going up and down. haha clearwire can kiss my arse.

Xennon

"Broadband the American way!"

Yip...just like their foreign policy from what I've seen.

Tiesto

clearwire..
more like Whataloada****Wire

Sven123

I was here at Clearwire Belgium, and I can tell you there is something about them they don't tell you. They are actively blocking VoIP ports only so customers don't use it because else they would figure out their service is unreliable.

Skype does work, but since there is lag every now and then, I had to ask my phone partner againg and again to repeat what she had said.

Oh, and if you are into internet gaming, make sure it is a very SLOW game. Because in games like WoW or ego-shooters you might notice the lag that occurs sometimes.

As for the contract, make sure they don't rip you off if you should ever cancel the contract. They might not tell you that they keep charging invoices as long as you have the modem, no matter whether you actively cancelled the contract or not. One of their "rules" is that their customer support does not even know they certainly can shutdown your connection. So the support people keep telling you that as long as you have the modem, they keep billing you, no matter whether you cancelled the contract or not.

A 2 MBit/s contract here is 38.99 €. No webspace. 10 GB volume.
Compare that to a 29.99 € DSL provider with 6 MBit/s and 100MB webspace (and 5 emails etc.), and 20 GB volume.
I personally regret I ever chose Clearwire. Do yourselves a favour and choose a good local ISP.

sudzs

Since yesterday morning I'm getting fab-a-lus download speeds from Clearly****e Wire of around 52 kb/s and upload is 92kb/s.

"Customer Care" (LOL) advised me that there must be some "interference from somewhere" and to try slowly rotating my modem or move it to another window. :eek:

foggy_lad

TEST_DATE,IP_ADDRESS,DOWNLOAD_SPEED,UPLOAD_SPEED,LATENCY,SERVER_NAME,DISTANCE
"9/8/2007 8:49 AM GMT","85.134.139.105","1168 kb/s","100 kb/s","113 ms","Dublin","< 50 mi"
"9/8/2007 10:58 PM GMT","85.134.139.105","105 kb/s","42 kb/s","493 ms","Dublin","< 50 mi"
"9/9/2007 10:46 PM GMT","85.134.139.105","306 kb/s","89 kb/s","59 ms","Dublin","< 50 mi"
"9/9/2007 10:47 PM GMT","85.134.139.105","378 kb/s","96 kb/s","67 ms","Dublin","< 50 mi"
"9/9/2007 10:49 PM GMT","85.134.139.105","202 kb/s","70 kb/s","463 ms","Dublin","< 50 mi"
"10/18/2007 5:03 PM GMT","85.134.139.105","15971 kb/s","105 kb/s","478 ms","Dublin","< 50 mi"
"10/18/2007 5:07 PM GMT","85.134.139.105","63902 kb/s","86 kb/s","372 ms","Dublin","< 50 mi"
"10/18/2007 5:11 PM GMT","85.134.139.105","719 kb/s","117 kb/s","496 ms","Dublin","< 50 mi"
"10/18/2007 5:12 PM GMT","85.134.139.105","376 kb/s","107 kb/s","400 ms","Dublin","< 50 mi"
"10/18/2007 5:15 PM GMT","85.134.139.105","454 kb/s","117 kb/s","321 ms","Dublin","< 50 mi"
"10/19/2007 4:10 PM GMT","85.134.139.105","181 kb/s","86 kb/s","891 ms","Dublin","< 50 mi"
"10/19/2007 4:11 PM GMT","85.134.139.105","124 kb/s","52 kb/s","807 ms","Dublin","< 50 mi"
"10/19/2007 4:12 PM GMT","85.134.139.105","154 kb/s","102 kb/s","833 ms","Dublin","< 50 mi"
"10/19/2007 4:14 PM GMT","85.134.139.105","23536 kb/s","99 kb/s","478 ms","Dublin","< 50 mi"
just an example of their poor and unreliable wavering speeds.

foggy_lad

today my speed tests showing 700kbps download speeds but am downloading a file at moment and it says only 16kb/sec so what is wrong clearwire??

MrVestek

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

Looks like Clearwire is the new IBB...

That's not fair! Customer service in IBB used to be dire indeed but in the past year or so they've sorted themselves out. I personally have heard of alot of people very happy with their customer service of late.

headphone

Will_hendrix wrote: »

Anyone considering getting Clearwire Broadband, STAY AWAY!

Trottleing, packet shaping, port blocking and to top it all of....
If they dont like the number of Peers Connecting to your computer or the upload rate you use (i.e. torrents) they will ristrict your connection to "Dial-Up" Speeds

At Clearwire they consider anyone using torrents to have 'Server' statas as of the number of connections and traffic. They suggest limiting or blocking uploads aswells as limiting the number of Global Connections to under "10". At that rate anything you try to download will take weeks and it will be noticed that constantly more will be uploaded than downloaded, useless with public torrents, and privite ones are out of the question.

Clearwire has a 7 day trial period, within this time you can change your mind and cancell free of charge, even if you took a year or 2 contract. But it seems apparent with all new customers as if they got "Preimium Use" of there Server.

For the first week you will enjoy a 160k - 240k download rate (from http servers only), However after the trial period you will be luckey if you top 60k in the middle of the night when you would expect lass traffic, 10k/s during the day and little or no use of torrents/ P2P networks

Here's what tops it off, after the trial period is up any decision to cancell will cost you """€180""" ill let you make your own mind up about that!!!

I may as well conclude by saying, all you current Clearwire Customers know what im saying

Stay Clear of Clearwire, Dont pay for poor Quaility, Stay AWAY!!!

I am also a clearwire customer and agree with all you said thought i would add something to it tho, i found this on wikipedia - cleaarwire
Criticism
Clearwire's road to ISP-hood has not been without its potholes. Some critics find fault with Clearwire's use of private, licensed radio frequencies for the transmission of data.[7]

Unlike most other broadband providers in US, Clearwire requires customers to sign up for yearly contract (one or two year) with $185 termination fee. This contract also automatically renews itself. Which means the customer has to cancel the contract exactly on the date it expires or will be locked into another contract. Also, the company forces all of its customers to keep a credit card or checking account on file, which is the automatically debited by the company, rather than billing its customers in a more traditional manner. In order to put a card on file, an authorization hold of $45 is placed on the card by Clearwire, no matter how much the monthly bill will be. Such terms and conditions on the fine prints of the contract are almost never verbally notified to the customer by the Clearwire reseller agents.