Seek Nuance

(Read parts I, II, and III.)

Yesterday, I did another speed test with CLEAR‘s level 1 tech support. (I.e., the reps you get by dialing 1-888-888-3113.)

CLEAR’s support rep said they had done no work on my ticket, but they wanted to do another speed test anyway. Hrm. No work at all? None.

The results: My bandwidth is now about 5Mbit down, 1Mbit up. I no longer have a basis for a complaint, so I asked them to close my problem ticket.

Why is it now 5Mb/1MB, when three weeks ago it was 1/10^th that? There’s no explanation. CLEAR claims they did no repairs that would have affected my connection. And I didn’t do anything here to affect it. Yet it’s much faster. It’s a mystery of God’s creation.

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The next installment in my continuing saga…

CLEAR contacted me. There’s no new information about my problem, and they didn’t say they fixed anything. But they want to do another speed test.

I’ve scheduled it for tomorrow evening.

My first installment described CLEAR‘s Terms of Service horror show. My fun continued when I finished my account activation and got on the net.

Uh-oh

I quickly noticed a time lag in my surfing. Speedtest confirmed that the bandwidth was not what CLEAR had advertised.

CLEAR had promised me 7Mb/1.2Mb when I signed up. I was seeing 650Kb/30Kb, at best. I’d have faster bandwidth by etching bits onto rocks and throwing them at passing cars.

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I’ve been quite satisfied with my Qwest 7Mb/894Kb DSL service. It had occasional bandwidth hiccups, but none were major. Their customer service was great and the service reliability was rock solid.

A man may choose to tinker with something that’s not broken, and look for “better” alternatives. I’ve done that to my Internet access. Woe is me.

I’ve occasionally thought about switching to home WiMAX. The reasons include mobility, if we add on mobile service; fewer phone cords in the house; more latitude in configuring our home offices; and maintaining our Internet access if we move. And so last week, I made the switch: I cancelled Qwest, went to the CLEAR website, and signed up for their “Home Internet” premium service. It’s $40/month, and promised 7Mbit down (or 6Mbit, depending on the sales document) and 1Mbit up. All the stock image photos had smiling faces. What could go wrong?

My experience with it has been terrible. So much has gone wrong that I’ll have to spread the bad news across multiple posts.

Let’s talk about signing up, setting up, and the Terms of Service.
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