Comments on: Clear Spot from Clear not so great http://retailgeek.com/2009/04/06/clear-spot-from-clear-not-so-great/ ramblings about retail customer experiences Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:35:20 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Lee in SA, TX http://retailgeek.com/2009/04/06/clear-spot-from-clear-not-so-great/comment-page-1/#comment-223 Lee in SA, TX Mon, 14 Dec 2009 11:50:28 +0000 http://retailgeek.com/2009/04/06/clear-spot-from-clear-not-so-great/#comment-223 Forgot to mention. I have tested this Cradlepoint PHS300 using my Sprint 3G Novatel Ovation U727 USB Modem. Works great. Same speed experienced with it in Cradlepoint as when it was plugged in direct to laptop. Still slower than 4G Wimax from Clear, but hey, at least I've now got the option when I'm outside of Clear's coverage area. Forgot to mention. I have tested this Cradlepoint PHS300 using my Sprint 3G Novatel Ovation U727 USB Modem. Works great. Same speed experienced with it in Cradlepoint as when it was plugged in direct to laptop. Still slower than 4G Wimax from Clear, but hey, at least I’ve now got the option when I’m outside of Clear’s coverage area.

]]> By: Lee in SA, TX http://retailgeek.com/2009/04/06/clear-spot-from-clear-not-so-great/comment-page-1/#comment-222 Lee in SA, TX Mon, 14 Dec 2009 11:48:30 +0000 http://retailgeek.com/2009/04/06/clear-spot-from-clear-not-so-great/#comment-222 Okay, heard from Cradlepoint tech support. They said "turn off traffic shaping option" which I did have turned on. Apparently was a default setting. No change in speed. Back to the drawing board. Still better speed than depending upon my 3G card, and it is flexible in allowing Blackberry, iPhone, iPod Touch, etc to connect at the same rate as my laptop. Just tested with a friend's Blackberry, was able to connect instantly, he was extremely pleased with the speed. We transferred a 5.6mb video file from my laptop to his Blackberry in less than 5 seconds. Wow! Okay, heard from Cradlepoint tech support. They said “turn off traffic shaping option” which I did have turned on. Apparently was a default setting. No change in speed. Back to the drawing board. Still better speed than depending upon my 3G card, and it is flexible in allowing Blackberry, iPhone, iPod Touch, etc to connect at the same rate as my laptop. Just tested with a friend’s Blackberry, was able to connect instantly, he was extremely pleased with the speed. We transferred a 5.6mb video file from my laptop to his Blackberry in less than 5 seconds. Wow!

]]> By: Lee in SA, TX http://retailgeek.com/2009/04/06/clear-spot-from-clear-not-so-great/comment-page-1/#comment-221 Lee in SA, TX Thu, 10 Dec 2009 05:56:51 +0000 http://retailgeek.com/2009/04/06/clear-spot-from-clear-not-so-great/#comment-221 I've been running Clear in San Antonio, TX since they soft launched on November 1st. I was one of the first couple of dozen activations. Yay me! Love the CLEAR 4G service and speed. I just bought a Cradlepoint PHS300 (not from Clear) and it worked great, straight out of the box. Just got it 3 days ago. Updated the firmware just because it (the router) prompted me to do so on that status page, plus updated the firmware on the CLEAR Motorola USB modem also. I bought the car power adapter just in case I needed to charge on the go. I've got those for all my cell phone, bluetooth and my laptop, cause I spend a lot of time going mobile. Anyway, my one pet peeve about this device, is speed. I can get twice the speed if I plug the USB modem direct into my laptop, as compared with plugging the USB modem into the Cradlepoint PHS300 and connecting the laptop to it wirelessly. Doesn't matter how far apart the two are during the test, nor the signal strength for CLEAR. I get 1/2 of whatever speed I could get, compared with going direct. Anyone else having this experience? I've contacted Cradlepoint tech support and am awaiting a response. I’ve been running Clear in San Antonio, TX since they soft launched on November 1st. I was one of the first couple of dozen activations. Yay me! Love the CLEAR 4G service and speed.

I just bought a Cradlepoint PHS300 (not from Clear) and it worked great, straight out of the box. Just got it 3 days ago. Updated the firmware just because it (the router) prompted me to do so on that status page, plus updated the firmware on the CLEAR Motorola USB modem also.

I bought the car power adapter just in case I needed to charge on the go. I’ve got those for all my cell phone, bluetooth and my laptop, cause I spend a lot of time going mobile.

Anyway, my one pet peeve about this device, is speed. I can get twice the speed if I plug the USB modem direct into my laptop, as compared with plugging the USB modem into the Cradlepoint PHS300 and connecting the laptop to it wirelessly. Doesn’t matter how far apart the two are during the test, nor the signal strength for CLEAR. I get 1/2 of whatever speed I could get, compared with going direct.

Anyone else having this experience? I’ve contacted Cradlepoint tech support and am awaiting a response.

]]> By: David Park http://retailgeek.com/2009/04/06/clear-spot-from-clear-not-so-great/comment-page-1/#comment-216 David Park Wed, 14 Oct 2009 21:58:28 +0000 http://retailgeek.com/2009/04/06/clear-spot-from-clear-not-so-great/#comment-216 Yes, this seems to follow the cellular model here in the U.S.: Your cellphone is locked to the provider (unlike how it works in Europe, where phones are unlocked) so that they can make back the difference (if any) between what they paid for the device and what you paid. The same thing is happening with MiFi on 3G networks right now. The MiFi seems to be cooler than the ClearSpot because it has the 3G receiver built into it as opposed to having to plug the receiver into it like it seems that you have to do with the ClearSpot. One piece of circuitry would probably use power more efficiently as well. But the current configuration probably works best until WiMax becomes ubiquitous or until the devices have automatic 3G/4G switching technology! :-) Yes, this seems to follow the cellular model here in the U.S.: Your cellphone is locked to the provider (unlike how it works in Europe, where phones are unlocked) so that they can make back the difference (if any) between what they paid for the device and what you paid. The same thing is happening with MiFi on 3G networks right now.

The MiFi seems to be cooler than the ClearSpot because it has the 3G receiver built into it as opposed to having to plug the receiver into it like it seems that you have to do with the ClearSpot. One piece of circuitry would probably use power more efficiently as well. But the current configuration probably works best until WiMax becomes ubiquitous or until the devices have automatic 3G/4G switching technology! :-)

]]> By: JimmyzATL http://retailgeek.com/2009/04/06/clear-spot-from-clear-not-so-great/comment-page-1/#comment-214 JimmyzATL Sun, 20 Sep 2009 07:20:43 +0000 http://retailgeek.com/2009/04/06/clear-spot-from-clear-not-so-great/#comment-214 Clear is all the rage here in Atlanta. We had some bumps early on, but as of Sept 18 2009, things are amazing! Clear is all the rage here in Atlanta. We had some bumps early on, but as of Sept 18 2009, things are amazing!

]]> By: kmr http://retailgeek.com/2009/04/06/clear-spot-from-clear-not-so-great/comment-page-1/#comment-213 kmr Sat, 25 Jul 2009 13:56:05 +0000 http://retailgeek.com/2009/04/06/clear-spot-from-clear-not-so-great/#comment-213 I am in India, is there any way to make the local USB modems to work with PHS300. Who should be contacted to make a request to add the local Inidan USB modems compatibility. Their support team does not seem to be interested to listen it appears? Is there a way? I am in India, is there any way to make the local USB modems to work with PHS300.

Who should be contacted to make a request to add the local Inidan USB modems compatibility.

Their support team does not seem to be interested to listen it appears?

Is there a way?

]]> By: Durel http://retailgeek.com/2009/04/06/clear-spot-from-clear-not-so-great/comment-page-1/#comment-206 Durel Thu, 28 May 2009 22:05:08 +0000 http://retailgeek.com/2009/04/06/clear-spot-from-clear-not-so-great/#comment-206 First of all, your retarded. Clear is in many cities now and not just Portland. I am in Atlanta and this thing works great. Second of all, your complaining about the charger? If your worried about not being able to charge the router via USB, you LAPTOP is going to die before the router battery. Why does this matter? I see your point about not being able to use ATT cards on the router though. But then again, why would clear allow that? First of all, your retarded. Clear is in many cities now and not just Portland. I am in Atlanta and this thing works great. Second of all, your complaining about the charger? If your worried about not being able to charge the router via USB, you LAPTOP is going to die before the router battery. Why does this matter?

I see your point about not being able to use ATT cards on the router though. But then again, why would clear allow that?

]]> By: Patty Edwards http://retailgeek.com/2009/04/06/clear-spot-from-clear-not-so-great/comment-page-1/#comment-199 Patty Edwards Thu, 30 Apr 2009 03:36:08 +0000 http://retailgeek.com/2009/04/06/clear-spot-from-clear-not-so-great/#comment-199 Jason - I don't know what's happening in Portland, but Clear Wire has recently vacated their space in the Bellevue Square Mall up here in the Seattle area. I'm not sure if they've taken up residence elsewhere in the area to reduce rent, but I haven't seen them. Jason – I don’t know what’s happening in Portland, but Clear Wire has recently vacated their space in the Bellevue Square Mall up here in the Seattle area. I’m not sure if they’ve taken up residence elsewhere in the area to reduce rent, but I haven’t seen them.

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