"Unlimited" wireless data...

Fri Dec 3 23:47:27 UTC 2010

> This came up in another thread yesterday or today, and I just got the
> solicitation mailer for Clearwire's WiMAX service in Tampa Bay, which they
> call "4G", though the ITU disagrees.
> 
> The AUP is here: http://www.clear.com/legal/aup

I cannot strongly enough discourage you from using their service.  My experience with them has been consistently awful - and given that they're headquartered in my area, that's unacceptable.  I'm informed that my experience is not at all unique - either to the Seattle area or to their service at large.  Their Wikipedia article tells you pretty much everything you need to know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clearwire

Their definition of unlimited tends to be "barely acceptable throughput levels, until you start streaming youtube/netflix or doing a long-running download or using bittorrent to seed files to your work PC and laptop or using your VPN to retrieve a document, in which case, we won't turn you off, we'll just silently jail you into a 32-128kbps bandwidth profile.   Also, have some poorly implemented NAT on our ludicrously underpowered CPEs!"

I also understand that they've been having financial difficulties, so they're unlikely to address the issues their customers are faced with.

If I were you, I would keep your backpack offline until another option is available.  You're not going to be able to use VOIP on their service, anyways.

Nathan
(Speaking as an individual - not as the company I work for.)