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.
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
@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.
@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…
@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.
@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… ;)
@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.
@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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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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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?
07/22/09
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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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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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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