reason to NOT use CLEAR internet
UPDATE (December 2010):
I am still using CLEAR (but soon plan to switch to Time Warner). Service has been very poor (sometimes good and sometimes so poor that sites such as Pandora could not obtain the bandwidth needed to operate).
According to what I read on the CLEAR blogs, the service has been oversold in many areas, to include Austin Texas. At high use times they are intentionally limiting service to many users, yet instead of admitting this, they put users through the wasteful drill of disconnecting their router and re-booting their equipment, to troubleshoot the speed issues.
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I recently decided I would try out Clear Internet.
I liked the idea of being able to buy it and get it all set up, and then move it from my apartment to my new house.
For this particular area it had decent reviews (although in some areas it has very poor reviews).
I purchased a modem, paid a sign up charge, and paid for the first month.
At this point I was into my commitment to try Clear for about $150.
Then came time to connect.
It seems that they are just not going to let me use the service, that I am paying a premium price for without agreeing to the following statement:
By providing this telephone number (whether wired or wireless) as part of our established business relationship, and regardless of whether this number is listed on the federal Do-Not-Call-Registry, you consent to being contacted by Clearwire (and/or its designated agents) at this number, for any purpose (including sales, marketing, and promotional offers) and by any means,including autodialed or prerecorded voice calls and text messages. You specifically acknowledge that you may incur, and will be sole responsibility for, charges relating to these incoming calls or messages.
I have seen sites that make every effort to get people to agree, even to go so far as to automatically default the choice to an X each time the user is returned to the page due to some omission.
However, this is the first time, I have ever seen a company, selling me a service at a premium price (with no discount over competing vendors), FORCE such an agreement on the customer.
I am still using CLEAR (but soon plan to switch to Time Warner). Service has been very poor (sometimes good and sometimes so poor that sites such as Pandora could not obtain the bandwidth needed to operate).
According to what I read on the CLEAR blogs, the service has been oversold in many areas, to include Austin Texas. At high use times they are intentionally limiting service to many users, yet instead of admitting this, they put users through the wasteful drill of disconnecting their router and re-booting their equipment, to troubleshoot the speed issues.
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I recently decided I would try out Clear Internet.
I liked the idea of being able to buy it and get it all set up, and then move it from my apartment to my new house.
For this particular area it had decent reviews (although in some areas it has very poor reviews).
I purchased a modem, paid a sign up charge, and paid for the first month.
At this point I was into my commitment to try Clear for about $150.
Then came time to connect.
It seems that they are just not going to let me use the service, that I am paying a premium price for without agreeing to the following statement:
By providing this telephone number (whether wired or wireless) as part of our established business relationship, and regardless of whether this number is listed on the federal Do-Not-Call-Registry, you consent to being contacted by Clearwire (and/or its designated agents) at this number, for any purpose (including sales, marketing, and promotional offers) and by any means,including autodialed or prerecorded voice calls and text messages. You specifically acknowledge that you may incur, and will be sole responsibility for, charges relating to these incoming calls or messages.
I have seen sites that make every effort to get people to agree, even to go so far as to automatically default the choice to an X each time the user is returned to the page due to some omission.
However, this is the first time, I have ever seen a company, selling me a service at a premium price (with no discount over competing vendors), FORCE such an agreement on the customer.