Clearwire Question

Kiith

ok, i know, clearwire is supposed to suck, but since we cant get other broadband (thanks to the minimum contracts) we dont have a choice. so, my questions are...

1) Will we need to buy a wireless router, or is the one they give us able to handle multiple connections (3 different pc's).

2) Does anyone know if they are still blocking ports, more specifically, are they blocking the ports needed to play World of Warcraft.

RangeR

I don't think they supply a wireless router or router of any sort. But you can pick your own one up pretty much anywhere. If you don't want the hassle of sourcing and configuring a router, you could buy a few of their ClearPlugs [see their website]. These little babies just plug into your leccy sockets, then you Eathernet them to your computer. Not much use if you want mobility with a laptop, but should be fine for static desktops.

Clearwire don't "block" ports, I think. Rather, they limit/shape traffic. I can't report on WoW but they are taking their sweet time on Steam based games. I have sent them numerous emails and rang them a few times too but got no response. While on the phone, I was told that my request would be passed onto their network people and they would look into it. This is complete carp as I was not the only one to have this problem and it wasn't the first time they heard about it.

I usd to be one of the more vocal users, praising Clearwire. Wihle I don't think they suck or are a crap service, my willingness to support them is running thin.

Actually, I'm gonna ring them again now, see if they have an update on Steam.

eth0_

Kiith wrote:

ok, i know, clearwire is supposed to suck, but since we cant get other broadband (thanks to the minimum contracts) .

I thought Eircom and BT had 3 month minimum contracts?

Really, DON'T GET CLEARWIRE. They are ABYSMAL. You're honestly better off with dialup.

Blaster99

Eircom et al currently 6 months, soon to be 1 month.

RangeR

eth0_ wrote:

You're honestly better off with dialup.

Well, that's the sort of comment I don't agree with. There is absolutely no word of truth in it. Clearwire, for most uses, give you full speed.

I will agree that some ports do experience varying degrees of crappiness. Namely Games and P2P but there maybe more.

The likes of VPN and VoIP used to be an issue for me but not any more. Well, I won't mention my expieriences today or yesterday until I get a bit more info.

eth0_

IrishTLR wrote:

Well, that's the sort of comment I don't agree with. There is absolutely no word of truth in it. Clearwire, for most uses, give you full speed.

Well, that's how Clearwire was for me (in Portobello)for six weeks before I cancelled the contract. As slow as Dialup. And about as useful, considering they throttle and block so many ports. I couldn't even use my fscking nintendo DS on clearwire because they won't unblock the ports!!!

My boyfriend has clearwire in Harolds Cross and it's just as abysmal for him. We try to download small <100MB music files for editing, it will start off at maybe 100kb/s and then within half a minute starts degrading until it's slower than dialup. Because of their retarded throttling.

Clearwire is NOT BROADBAND. It's really only 'good' for surfing the web. VOIP worked for me for the first month and then intermittently and then not at all. Gaming, p2p, streaming radio/video are either blocked completely or throttled so much they are useless.

Wait until the DSL providers change their minimum contract to 1 month (if a 3 month contract is too long for you!!!). I wouldn't wish clearwire on anyone!

RangeR

eth0_ wrote:

Well, that's how Clearwire was for me (in Portobello)for six weeks before I cancelled the contract. As slow as Dialup.

My boyfriend has clearwire in Harolds Cross and it's just as abysmal for him.

Ok, I'll apologise for my comment then It is wholly possible that clearwire in Dublin would be different from my experience in Naas, just based on population and coverage. I'm sure there are no where as many users in Naas as in Dublin.

If this is true, it brings with it, a different issue. Can their infrastructure handle more than a handful of concurrent connections?

I sure hope so.

twentyfive

IrishTLR wrote:

Well, that's the sort of comment I don't agree with. There is absolutely no word of truth in it. Clearwire, for most uses, give you full speed.

I will agree that some ports do experience varying degrees of crappiness. Namely Games and P2P but there maybe more.

The likes of VPN and VoIP used to be an issue for me but not any more. Well, I won't mention my expieriences today or yesterday until I get a bit more info.

HI IrishTLR

Could you please tell me does following works for you
1. Skype Out
2. Voipbuster ( I don't know whether you use this one )
I mean perfectly, like mine I can Hear the other end but they can not hear me, and sometimes from other end I get echoed voice.

dub45

twentyfive wrote:

HI IrishTLR

Could you please tell me does following works for you
1. Skype Out
2. Voipbuster ( I don't know whether you use this one )
I mean perfectly, like mine I can Hear the other end but they can not hear me, and sometimes from other end I get echoed voice.

You are not looking for money off them by any chance?

RangeR

twentyfive wrote:

HI IrishTLR

Could you please tell me does following works for you
1. Skype Out
2. Voipbuster ( I don't know whether you use this one )
I mean perfectly, like mine I can Hear the other end but they can not hear me, and sometimes from other end I get echoed voice.

Nice one Dub

25, I have never used Skype or VoIPBuster but see no reason why they wouldn't work. One way audio is usually a problem with NAT. Check out the support section of the respective applications. You should fine more than useful info there.

Sorry I can't be of any help but I've never used either program, rather I have worked in the VoIP field for a couple of years.

Blaster99

I'm not actively using my Clearwire connection now, but Skype didn't work the last time I tried. It's a P2P app so it presumably gets clobbered along with all the other P2P stuff.

eth0_

Skype isn't p2p.

twentyfive

dub45 wrote:

You are not looking for money off them by any chance?

No, I'm Just making my way to cancel my Clearwire,anybody out there done this already, Please let me know how to cancel it without paying early termination fee.

Thank you

Blaster99

eth0_ wrote:

Skype isn't p2p.

I think you may want to learn a thing or two about Skype.

Ludo

twentyfive wrote:

No, I'm Just making my way to cancel my Clearwire,anybody out there done this already, Please let me know how to cancel it without paying early termination fee.

Thank you

I asked tech support about this last week as I said I would cancel unless they sort gaming asap as it hasn't worked in a month now. They said simply post back the box and a letter saying you wish to terminate and there would be no charge. You would want to clarify this obviouslyand I would also cancel any direct debit just in case they try to take more money anyway.

RangeR

Ludo wrote:

I asked tech support about this last week as I said I would cancel unless they sort gaming asap as it hasn't worked in a month now. They said simply post back the box and a letter saying you wish to terminate and there would be no charge. You would want to clarify this obviouslyand I would also cancel any direct debit just in case they try to take more money anyway.

They said WHAT???
Let me get this straight, instead of trying to sort the problem, they said to just return the modem?

Have they ANY intention of resolving this issue at all?

If not, they will be loosing a very disapointed customer from there testing period.

stakey

IrishTLR, clearwire having amazingly bad tech support. I spent about 45 minutes on the phone with them one night complaining about all aspects of there company and how there service just plain doesn't work* for what i'd imagine is most of those in Dublin using the damn thing. Anyway, to my main point, whilst laying down the law for 45 of my limited minutes (note i've made hundreds of these calls), i was responded to with and i quote, "Sir, would you like to leave our service? We can cancel your account now if you wish and you can send the modem back". I asked if i would be charged, the answer was no, she said they weren't charging for cancellations. I told her they had one month grace period then they could have it back! One month has nearly lapsed and in that period I had ordered DSL, nuff said about clearsh1te there!

* By the way, since October I have had the following:

Limited to no VOIP
Limited to no access to gameserver providers like Steam and Gamespy
(when access was obtained pings in the range of 780-999**)
Very limited download speeds
Limited to no steaming media
Limited net speeds (lowest of 3 kbps downstream last night)

** where CS:S stops counting in game (outside and through netgraph pings of 2900)

I've only still got it here because it took so long to organise bt/eircom on this bloody line!

eth0_

IrishTLR wrote:

They said WHAT???
Let me get this straight, instead of trying to sort the problem, they said to just return the modem?

Have they ANY intention of resolving this issue at all?

That's correct. It's not a 'problem' you see. They're within their rights to block and throttle ports, they just LIE to customers. Why can't they just admit what they're doing?