Clear 4G "WiMax" Internet Service had it's much anticipated prelaunch this past Thursday, October 1. Will the service live up to its expectations of "super fast" speeds at low prices, while being able to freely roam about the entire Philly area? Of course any new service of this magnitude is going to have it's initial kinks, but after spending the weekend testing it throughout the city I'm going to give Clear a reserved 1.5 thumbs up.
We used an ASUS 1005HA netbook running the "RTM" version of Windows 7 and Clear Motorola USB Wimax adapter. We then went to speedtest.net and recorded a successful speedtest.
One interesting note about speedtest.net is that it detects Clear's IP addresses as being located in Kirkland, Washington (Clear's corporate headquarters) instead of Philadelphia, so it tested it to its Seattle test site by default.
As you can see from the below results, the quality service is fairly inconsistent around the region. In most cases, the speeds are directly proportional to the signal strength. If you live near an area near a strong signal, you should consider Clear as an inexpensive alternative to Cable/DSL in your home, in addition to its mobility.
The highest download speed was imprressive, 6.39 MBits/sec at U. Penn, and the lowest was an unusable .42 MBits/sec in Torresdale. The most encouraging thing about Clear is that, even at low signal strengths, the service was very usable. Web browsing was very snappy in almost all locations, the only difference being download rate. The service has been pre-launched with only 200+ of the 700+ planned towers in full service, so Clear 4G Wimax Internet looks like it has a great chance of being the real deal we have all been waiting for once the build-out is completed.
I am planning on testing the service in more locations, including the suburbs for future articles. If you live near an area with a strong signal and are interested in more information on Clear, or if you would like your location tested, please email me directly at louis@computerspeedway.com
Fishtown - (York St. & Almond St.) 
1/10 bars
N. Liberties (3rd St. & George St.) 
1/10 bars
Philadelphia International Airport 
3/10 bars
Sports Complex (Broad & Packer) 
10/10 bars
Geno's Steaks (9th & Passyunk) 
3/10 bars
Independence Hall (5th & Market) 
0/10 bars
Gayborhood (12th & Pine) 
10/10 bars
30th St. Station (30th & Market) 
10/10 bars
U. Penn (34th & Walnut) 
10/10 bars
Manayunk (Main & Green) 
10/10 bars
Chestnut Hill (Germantown) 
10/10 bars
Cheltenham Sq. Mall 
10/10 bars
Burholme (Cottman & Oxford) 
6/10 bars
Roosevelt Mall 
6/10 bars
Franklin Mills Mall 
3/10 bars
T-dale (Frankford & Academy) 
0/10 bars
Holmesburg (F'ford & Rhawn) 
8/10 bars
NE Tower (R'velt & Adams) 
2/10 bars
Temple Hosp (Broad & Tioga) 
3/10 bars
Temple U. (Broad & Cecil B.) 
6/10 bars
ES Penit. (Fairmount & 21st) 
3/10 bars
Comments
I agree. I picked up Clear at the Best Buy down the street and it works fine in my house.
download limits? I sometimes do tens of gigs.
Dan it's unlimited usage :D For every plan, I think.
Louis, great review. I found it useful as I was searching for recent download speeds here in Philly.
ps. check your "it's" and "its" usage!
Thanks! Very helpful!
Thanks for the review, very helpful. Getting it today then I'll put in my 2 cents!
My buddy got Clear for his home PC. It's great for web surfing but terrible for online gaming. The upgraded service plan can't keep up with simple games like counter-strike:source. He'll likely end up at comcast... so much for 4G. Maybe next time.
how is the home service for gaming I wanna hook it up to my Xbox360 tired of Comcast. I live near Saint Josephs campus
May I ask why you are doing your test using the Seattle,WA server ? If you are doing your test in PA why not use the Philadelphia server ?
For gaming: Any wireless connection has some latency. Your app needs to be configured for that, especially if reception is weak in your area. Even streaming HD video is not as fussy as gaming applications when it comes to networking. Gaming is not real computing anyway... stream a documentary or something :)
For speed: Why use a Seattle server? Because using a local server will always give an exaggerated speed rating. When you are online, you're not always reading or downloading resources from within your own city, are you?
When I use a local server the speed is reported as 14Mbps, when I use a coastal server, it is 2-3Mbps. We use servers located elsewhere to give a more accurate picture of point-to-point network speed.
Hey Louis
,
ur email louis@computerspeedway.com doesnt seem to be receiving stuff. I sent a message on it and it bounced back twice. any other email?
Joel
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