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Clearwire Opens 4G Wireless in Three New Cities, Only 77 to Go
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GageBarracuda
07/22/09

In reply to Clearwire Opens 4G Wireless in Three New Cities, Only 77 to Go
I'm on Clear in Portland (needed some temporary Internet at a temporary living location, so the lack of a contract and not having to install anything was huge). Besides the terrible ping for gaming (300-400ms range) which is to be expected with wireless, it's actually quite good. I'm paying $40/mo for 3mbit/0.5mbit at home. For $50/mo it's 6mbit/0.5mbit. Not exactly cheap or a bargin compared to say cable, but no contract and no caps is nice.

Really though it's more for the people who need Internet on go than for people at home if you ask me. Cable/DSL/FiOS is a much better $/mbit option.
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Identity (Metric)
07/22/09

In reply to Clearwire Opens 4G Wireless in Three New Cities, Only 77 to Go
4G. Now with more ketchup.
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almondrickrossroca
07/22/09

In reply to Clearwire Opens 4G Wireless in Three New Cities, Only 77 to Go
Have you guys looked at plans on Clearwater's website?

GO here: www.clearwire.com and look at these plans. They're a f*in joke.

I typed in a fake address to see the prices for Stockton, CA. (I'm in Sacramento which is up the road 40 miles...

49.00 per month for, get this, "UP TO 1.5 Mbs download".

Plus a $50 activation fee
Plus $260 for a card
Plus 1 year contract.

Why is this service good and who is stupid enough to go for it?
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Andre Ondre
07/22/09

@almondrickrossroca:

Big rip off

T-mobile broadband over here in the UK (England) it costs £10 - £15 ($15 - $23) a month to surf the web UNLIMITED with no mager restrictions, with speeds upto 3.6Mbs download and 1.5Mbs upload and thats pay as you (NO CONTRACT)

So yeah looking at prices in the USA look like a massive rip off
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UnderLoK
07/22/09

@almondrickrossroca: It's obviously not available where you are yet (that sounds like 3g). If you sign up with sprint you don't pay for the card, but do have to sign a contract.
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UnderLoK
07/22/09

@Andre Ondre: Unlimited? That would be sweet, but 3.5mbs is not 10mbs.
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Digitallysick
07/22/09

In reply to Clearwire Opens 4G Wireless in Three New Cities, Only 77 to Go
Its too bad its a horrible company and all the big businesses will bail on it , this is how sprint works for sure. Invest in a company, then bail out
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UnderLoK
07/22/09

@Digitallysick: You know there are way more companies involved than just Sprint right? I don't see all of them bailing out unless there is some catastrophic failure that kills the ability to provide the service…
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AmphetamineCrown
07/22/09

@UnderLoK: Aye, but Sprint's in control. There are others involved, like Intel and Google, but they've collectively endowed the company with only like $2B... That is peanuts for a nationwide roll-out. Not exactly a huge vote of confidence from the deep pockets.
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UnderLoK
07/22/09

@AmphetamineCrown: Actually, Intel did 2B, Comcast did 1.5B, and I'm sure the others are on par with those number.
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Edited by UnderLoK at 07/22/09 9:41 AM UnderLoK was starred UnderLoK was unstarred

AmphetamineCrown
07/22/09

@UnderLoK: Not according to the filing they made at the FCC... the total nut was $2B. Was there a follow on of some kind?
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UnderLoK
07/22/09

@AmphetamineCrown: I'm not sure what is in the FCC filing, but last I knew, Sprint, Intel, Comcast, Google, Time Warner, and Brighthouse were the investors during that last round of funding in that order (dollar wise). The FCC info might just be how much money they have sunk into the network rather than their monetary stake in the company?

No offense, but I don’t care enough to look it up, you could be right for all I know as the memory isn’t what it used to be… ;)
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Ghettoshark
07/22/09

In reply to Clearwire Opens 4G Wireless in Three New Cities, Only 77 to Go
WiMax might be coming now, but LTE is the future. It'll have seamless transition between GSM, CDMA, as well as backing by most major carriers here.
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draiko
07/22/09

@Ghettoshark: but WiMax will always have better coverage and pricing since it launched earlier, the plans are awesome, and the hardware is cheaper.
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Edited by draiko at 07/22/09 1:00 AM draiko was starred draiko was unstarred

Ghettoshark
07/22/09

@draiko: Not really true. You have to take into consideration the fact that WiMax is considerably more expensive for carriers to roll out, and will soon be surpassed by LTE, which builds directly off of both existing GSM and CDMA networks. Verizon and AT&T, the largest carriers in the US, have already announced plans to commit to and roll out LTE as the 4G network of the future.
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draiko
07/22/09

@Ghettoshark: LTE MAY win the battle 10 years from now, but WiMax will DEFINITELY win in the short term.

Until there is a mass demand for a wireless internet connection with throughput of more than 70 mbps, LTE is just useless.

Here's what 2012 is going to look like...

People will be used to a 30-80 mbps data connection...

WiMax at 70 mbps for $30 per month with no contract needed, no roaming, more coverage, etc...

-OR-

LTE at 100 mbps for $100 per month + roaming fees + hidden surcharges (all other telecoms want to treat LTE as another wireless standard)
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tok3ninja
07/22/09

In reply to Clearwire Opens 4G Wireless in Three New Cities, Only 77 to Go
Come to Hartford, now. For real. I'm looking to dump Comcast ASAP. Despite their speed increases, I tend to compare them to Walt Disney.
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UnderLoK
07/22/09

@tok3ninja; is the best non-star commenter: You will have to suffer through with Verizon or ATT wireless I guess man. Comcast is part of Wimax.
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tok3ninja
07/22/09

@UnderLoK: I'm aware they invest in it. I'd rather have an envelope that says "Sprint" or "Clearwire" instead of Comcast in my mailbox. I get enough smut in my mailbox as it is.
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