Clearwire Corporation

[Konaguy]

Re: Clearwire: New player in the broadband market

Gecko Geek,
Here is much better and accurate speed test. Its physically located at
UH Manoa http://farnsworth.uhnet.net:7123/

[adrian]

Re: Clearwire: New player in the broadband market

I know that its the new player in the market, but I'm seeing it everywhere. I seen a wireless store just a few yards away from my workplace who's an authorized dealer. Now Circuit City is one, and Long's has been one for quite a while.

I know its cheap and all, but are they doing their research and looking at who is a dealer and where it needs to be sold, or are they just throwing darts for dealers?

[Miulang]

Re: Clearwire: New player in the broadband market

I know that its the new player in the market, but I'm seeing it everywhere. I seen a wireless store just a few yards away from my workplace who's an authorized dealer. Now Circuit City is one, and Long's has been one for quite a while.

I know its cheap and all, but are they doing their research and looking at who is a dealer and where it needs to be sold, or are they just throwing darts for dealers?

Craig McCaw (the CEO of Clearwire) is no dummy when it comes to wireless. He started Cellular One, which was bought out by ATT. I'm sure it's not costing him anything to have as many stores selling Clearwire as possible. He'll just let market forces level the playing field. I think the reason why there are so many resellers out there right now is because it's new technology (nobody has seriously entered the market to challenge Clearwire's WiMax yet). So to get market penetration, Clearwire is trying to get as many resellers right now to get the technology rolled out before Sprint comes knocking on the door.

With Clearwire, McCaw has moved on to Wi-Max. Wi-Max has big technical advantages over other fast pipes, particularly Wi-Fi. Unlike Wi-Fi, it operates on a licensed spectrum, making the service far more reliable. The range of Wi-Fi signals is measured in hundreds of feet; Wi-Max's range is measured in miles.

Clearwire already offers basic Wi-Max broadband service in Brussels, Dublin, and 27 U.S. metropolitan markets covering more than 200 cities and towns. Its network had 100,000 subscribers at the end of March. (The company won't say how many new subscribers it has added since then or disclose financial details.) Clearwire also has made the installation process, often a painful hassle for Wi-Fi users, consumer-friendly with Wi-Max. A customer plugs a paperback-size modem into a power source and into a computer (via Ethernet) and the network is good to go. "It's a very simple process for a consumer to get up and running," says Jupiter's Laszlo.

Clearwire has challengers, notably Sprint, which expects to spend as much as $3 billion in the next two years building a rival Wi-Max network and currently owns more spectrum than Clearwire. But Clearwire has powerful backers: In July, Intel and Motorola pumped $900 million into the company, a measure of their faith in McCaw's approach - and of their hunger to sell chips and other gear that make Wi-Max work if it becomes a mainstream service. Perhaps most important, Clearwire has McCaw. "Disruptive," says Rich Begert, CEO of Wireless Services and a former McCaw executive, "is the best way to describe Craig."

Miulang

BTW: To celebrate the city of Seattle's going with Clearwire, the company staged a laser light show last night from the Space Needle (Clearwire's corporate HQ is in the Seattle area).

[i-hungry]

Re: Clearwire: New player in the broadband market

I tried the clearwire for a project I worked on. I don't know how fast it can go but you can browse the Internet without a problem. Haven't tried downloads or watching video clips.

The big advantage is that its portable. You could probably power it through an inverter. Connect it to a laptop or PDA then you can surf the internet in your car.

[GeckoGeek]

Re: Clearwire: New player in the broadband market

Gecko Geek,
Here is much better and accurate speed test. Its physically located at
UH Manoa http://farnsworth.uhnet.net:7123/

In what ways do you consider it "much better and accurate" then the link I gave? I'm asking, not challenging. I didn't get a whole lot of difference. But I think I may need to work on my router as it seems slower then it should.

[Miulang]

Re: Clearwire: New player in the broadband market

Take a look at Clearwire's current pricing plan. As opposed to all other carriers, they restrict your bandwidth depending on how much you want to pay monthly.

I can't imagine anyone wanting the "cheapest" service for $19.95/mo because the downlink (768 Kbps) and uplink (256Kbps) speeds are really s-l-o-w for people who currently are used to 1.5 mbps down and up. The "premium" service right now also costs $19.95, but you're locked into a 2-year plan and you still only get 256Kbps uplink.

Miulang

[Miulang]

Re: Clearwire: New player in the broadband market

Take a look at Clearwire's current pricing plan. As opposed to all other carriers, they restrict your bandwidth depending on how much you want to pay monthly.

I can't imagine anyone wanting the "cheapest" service for $19.95/mo because the downlink (768 Kbps) and uplink (256Kbps) speeds are really s-l-o-w for people who currently are used to 1.5 mbps down and up. You also don't get any email accounts. The "premium" service right now also costs $19.95, but you're locked into a 2-year plan and you still only get 256Kbps uplink. I did read somewhere that within a year or two Clearwire may eliminate the need to plug into a modem and just use a PCI card.

Miulang

[Hellbent]

Re: Clearwire: New player in the broadband market

the link you posted doesnt work. but i did browse around and from what I see, you get 3 email accounts at the lowest plan. you do not get a web account, which means a website. also the plans are $30/$37 but theres a $20 promo for the 1st 3 months. i dont like that you have to buy/lease the actual modem, you dont have that with RR or DSL.
also, contracts suck.

[Konaguy]

Re: Clearwire: New player in the broadband market

In what ways do you consider it "much better and accurate" then the link I gave? I'm asking, not challenging. I didn't get a whole lot of difference. But I think I may need to work on my router as it seems slower then it should.

Well for me, its more accurate since the server is physically located at UH Manoa. Versus testing your speed over a server on the West Coast.

[GeckoGeek]

Re: Clearwire: New player in the broadband market

For home use, DSL has the best bang for the buck. I don't think clearwire is all that great. But the portability may outweigh everything else for some people. You can go to a meeting and setup a Internet connection. It's worth it for some.

Another downside is that they are disclaiming the use of it for VOIP. If it works, great, but don't plan on it.

Oh, and don't stand too close to it when it's operating. It uses cell phone frequencies (well, technically PCS), but it has a lot more power then those handheld phones.

[GeckoGeek]

Re: Clearwire: New player in the broadband market

Well for me, its more accurate since the server is physically located at UH Manoa. Versus testing your speed over a server on the West Coast.

Aloha.net is on the mainland? It might be. But I think the quality of the network connection is more important then physical location. I assume there's a reason that HT pointed me to the aloha.net for checking my line. They aren't going to steer me to something that's going to make them look bad.

At the moment, both sites are giving me about the same speed results. uhnet.net network seems to be 2 hops closer then aloha,net, but hard telling what the circuits and utilization are like.

When I go to my mother's place, I'll have to check RR and see how it does. I'm curious about the claim made about upload speeds.

[Beachboy]

Re: Clearwire: New player in the broadband market

I would consider myself to be a part of the latter. 1.5Mbps simply does not
cut it. When I cancelled Road Runner in 2004, Verizon only had 1.5Mbps/128K
(upgraded to 1.5Mbps/384K).I have no intention to ever going back to such a slow speed. Especially after you've used Road Runner or HawTel DSL.

I too use Road Runner. I wish we could take them all to court for false advertisment! How often doing you even hit Road Runner's listed speeds for any length of time?

Clearwire pretty good too. But I won't be signing on as long as I have Road Runner & 'FreeWire'. "FreeWire', is limited to local residents on my street who have the ability access one of the many "Hotspots" coming from Kapahulu Ave.

[Konaguy]

Re: Clearwire: New player in the broadband market

Aloha.net is on the mainland? It might be. But I think the quality of the network connection is more important then physical location. I assume there's a reason that HT pointed me to the aloha.net for checking my line. They aren't going to steer me to something that's going to make them look bad.

At the moment, both sites are giving me about the same speed results. uhnet.net network seems to be 2 hops closer then aloha,net, but hard telling what the circuits and utilization are like.

When I go to my mother's place, I'll have to check RR and see how it does. I'm curious about the claim made about upload speeds.

aloha.net is Pacific LightNet/Hawaii Online. They are located in Honolulu also. Hawaiian Telcom, PLNI (aloha.net), University of Hawaii etc all peer at Hawaii Internet Exchange (HIX). Hence why that UH speed test server is so close.

As for bandwidth connecting to that server:

"Located at the Hawaii GigaPoP, Honolulu - HI; 100 Mbps (Fast Ethernet) network connection Given that this machine is connected at 100 Mbps, tests will show ~95 Mbps throughput at the very most. The fastest links into the Hawaii GigaPoP are currently STM-1 (155 Mbps). As we upgrade connectivity, this server will also be upgraded. "

[Konaguy]

Re: Clearwire: New player in the broadband market

I too use Road Runner. I wish we could take them all to court for false advertisment! How often doing you even hit Road Runner's listed speeds for any length of time?

Even though his claim was denied by the court, someone I know attempted to sue Oceanic through small claims court.
link

[Hellbent]

Re: Clearwire: New player in the broadband market

someone i know wants me to sell clearwire for them. the commission blows but if anyones interested, let me know. i might be able to arrange a test drive.
im testing out myself, posting from my in-laws internet-less place. 5 bars in kukui gardens. sadly, i get 1 bar or less at home.
testing continues...