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09-21-10, 21:35
4G service has been launched in Salt Lake City. I took a trip down to the clear Kiosk and picked up a modem with a 14 day no commitment return policy. Out the door, everything was like $51.
Keep it past 14 days and you get a two year contract, which will cost $40 to get out of if you hate the service. I had the option of buying or leasing the modem. Don't buy the modem. This technology is evolving fast and you don't want to get stuck with useless equipment. Leasing the modem will cost you $5 a month.
Install was brain dead stuff. Plug in power supply, connect network cable, and you're done. You might want to test the modem in different locations to see if you can get a better reception.
How does it perform? I signed up for a the 6 meg download, 1 meg upload, unlimited usage package. The coverage map said I was right between a couple of towers. In my home I get 3 out 5 bars max, never higher, sometimes lower.
This reception translates to an average download speed of 4-5 meg at peak times, and upload speed of 1 meg very consistently. Ping was as low as 65ms to a server in Denver CO. As far as NYC ping was 115ms
Email, youtube, Hulu, Limewire, and FTP all worked great. No drama at all. You'd be hard pressed not to think you were on DSL or Cable connection. It's very seemless, fast, and reliable.
VOIP over Google talk and Skype were perfect. I was concerned about possible latency, but nope, it was all good
Next I fired up Modern Warfare 2. My connection in game was always in the 3 bar range. The game flowed nicely. I didn't sense any lag on a regular basis. Every once in awhile, there was a slight amount of lag when using the 203. It was delayed firing by a fraction of second. Still, it was perfectly playable
Synopsis: The Clear 4G service is very good. Based upon my current experience, it can replace cable and DSL easily for the majority of users, including VOIP customers. If all you do is surf, watch porn, email and hang out on M4C, you are good to go.
The most demanding gamer used to 20-50ms ping will be well served, with a slight dip in performance compared to cable.
I am using the home service, but there is a portable package with a USB modem that will give you 4G service on the go. There is also a hotspot device where you can connect 5 devices on the go.
Note, Clearwire and Clear are not the same. Clearwire is an older service, and Clear is 4G. If this service interest you, make sure you are looking at 4G only
Here is the last speed test I did a few seconds ago
http://paidcontent.org/images/editorial/g_medium/clearwires-clear-4g-service-m.jpg
http://www.speedtest.net/result/962693449.png
Keep it past 14 days and you get a two year contract, which will cost $40 to get out of if you hate the service. I had the option of buying or leasing the modem. Don't buy the modem. This technology is evolving fast and you don't want to get stuck with useless equipment. Leasing the modem will cost you $5 a month.
Install was brain dead stuff. Plug in power supply, connect network cable, and you're done. You might want to test the modem in different locations to see if you can get a better reception.
How does it perform? I signed up for a the 6 meg download, 1 meg upload, unlimited usage package. The coverage map said I was right between a couple of towers. In my home I get 3 out 5 bars max, never higher, sometimes lower.
This reception translates to an average download speed of 4-5 meg at peak times, and upload speed of 1 meg very consistently. Ping was as low as 65ms to a server in Denver CO. As far as NYC ping was 115ms
Email, youtube, Hulu, Limewire, and FTP all worked great. No drama at all. You'd be hard pressed not to think you were on DSL or Cable connection. It's very seemless, fast, and reliable.
VOIP over Google talk and Skype were perfect. I was concerned about possible latency, but nope, it was all good
Next I fired up Modern Warfare 2. My connection in game was always in the 3 bar range. The game flowed nicely. I didn't sense any lag on a regular basis. Every once in awhile, there was a slight amount of lag when using the 203. It was delayed firing by a fraction of second. Still, it was perfectly playable
Synopsis: The Clear 4G service is very good. Based upon my current experience, it can replace cable and DSL easily for the majority of users, including VOIP customers. If all you do is surf, watch porn, email and hang out on M4C, you are good to go.
The most demanding gamer used to 20-50ms ping will be well served, with a slight dip in performance compared to cable.
I am using the home service, but there is a portable package with a USB modem that will give you 4G service on the go. There is also a hotspot device where you can connect 5 devices on the go.
Note, Clearwire and Clear are not the same. Clearwire is an older service, and Clear is 4G. If this service interest you, make sure you are looking at 4G only
Here is the last speed test I did a few seconds ago
http://paidcontent.org/images/editorial/g_medium/clearwires-clear-4g-service-m.jpg
http://www.speedtest.net/result/962693449.png