Clear

I’ve been using Clearwire for six years (since 2009) and I’ve been very happy with their internet service. My service has a connection speed of 3mbps and that’s been fast enough for my general internet use, including watching videos and movies online.

Do you like paying too much for terrible internet? Then Clear is for you! Clicking along at a blazing (from a geological timeline standpoint) 1.5 Mbs/​second you too can have your internet cut out when other customers get home from work around 6pm, streaming video quality worse than your grandma’s old Zenith TV in her basement, and be completely unable to get through a 30 second YouTube video without buffering! And when you discover that your speeds are not up to what you were told when you signed up, the amazingly obtuse, unfriendly customer «service» will tell you that you’re stuck because «That’s what you signed up for,» even though they lied to you when you signed up by telling you that you were to get higher speeds. If you’re considering subscribing to Clear, go ahead and just jam a rusty spoon into your eye. It will make about the same amount of sense, and be roughly as painful as being a Clear customer.

Going out of business, closing stores and turning off towers.
DO NOT do it!
Stay AWAY!

We have had consistently bad service from CLEAR with speeds much lower than advertised (about 1 Mbps download at our home in central Seattle). We’ve called customer service many times. I called a few days ago to say «last chance — any other fixes before we cancel?» No help. Today when I called to cancel CLEAR said they would not refund what we had already prepaid for the rest of this month’s service. I protested and after some work received a refund for the remaining weeks of this month.

I called to cancel my account. First, I had to politely decline six separate offers to extend my service, one right after the other, all clearly scripted. She then asked to speak to the account holder. When I told her that the account is under my ex-girlfriend’s name, but that the phone number, email address, and credit card attached to the account are all verifiably mine, she insisted that only the account holder can cancel the account. This went on for like twenty minutes, each of us repeating our respective point, over and over.
I then started a live chat online. The fellow at the other end told me the same thing, but after some inane badgering on my part, during which I blatantly told him that I would just get a female friend to pretend to be my ex, he indirectly confirmed that their only means to verify it’s her would be to have her name my first pet over the phone. Even though we had started the chat with me correctly answering that very same security question.
(Incidentally, he also confirmed that if she had died, they would need to see her death certificate. And not just assume that whoever has access to the account would also be authorized to close it. Because the first thing any hacker will try to do is cancel your Internet service, obviously.)
So yeah, Clear’s business is transparently based on roping you in as a gullible customer, rather than respecting you as an individual. Also, as confirmed by several others here, the connection is lousy at best, pretty much always.

Please KEEP AWAY. I am one of the victims. Once I called Clear to terminate my service. They offered me half price service. I accepted. What is the CATCH/​TRICK?
They narrowed the band width of my internet. Well when I Skype I am not able to see my bodies because I get cut off! I cannot watch news because after a few seconds I get disconnected. I have called them litearlly 100 times and the evade. Please KEEP AWAY from Clearnet.

This review is not about the Seattle location as I have never went but I want to review the service in the Seattle area. It is WEAK. I can not wait for my contract to be over so I can switch to something else that is faster! I go to friends houses and see their internet and get jealous… I use internet at work and it is super fast! I wish I never decided to sign a contract with Clear :(

Clear has been awful to work with! We originally had purchased a modem and router combo. Well several days later we were notified that they were back ordered. We had to fight for them to send us a replacement while we wait for the back ordered equipment. Then a month later we called them again asking about the device and they said it still wasn’t available and we have to keep checking back to see when it becomes available. Are you kidding me!!! I have to keep hounding you to send me what I have already paid for.
Well we called one more time and it still wasn’t available. We just kept using the replacement that they sent. When we called clear to get our money back for the equipment they never sent they would only give us half because we apparently hadn’t made enough effort to get the equipment back.
Clear is a scam and they have the worst customer service ever. Do not use them!

Worst internet service ever. Salesperson promised speeds of 20Mbps. The BEST service I received was 1.2Mbps with typical speeds at 0.8 or less!
Even worse, technical support and account support are based out of India. You cannot cancel your service without talking to them and my repeated cancellation requests were disconnected (both phone and chat) until after the 15-​day trial period was over. So, no refund will be given — and NO SERVICE to speak of was received.
PLEASE DON’T USE CLEAR!!!

I signed up for Clear after hearing some good things from a neighbor (who I found out heard the good things from a friend of his). I called the account setup line with some questions (I have a background in computers and wanted to know some technical details before signing up)… what I got was a high-​pressure sale from someone with little to no technical knowledge, so I hung up. I called back hoping to get someone else, which I did, who turned out to be a nice young man who lied to me about the speed, non-​sale price and contract (the last two by omission). Why I signed up, I’m still not sure, but I did.
I was promised 12+Mbps down and 1+ up. The ‘+’ is important here… I was guaranteed ’12+’, not ‘up to 12 under ideal circumstances’. What I get is anywhere from 0 to 11Mbps, depending on the time of day.
I regularly call Clear’s customer service and request a reset and a refund for the lack of service (¹⁄₃₀^th of my bill) They did this no problem (after a 30 minute call) the first couple times, then they started arguing about terms of service before refunding the $ 1.67 (that’s all I ask for each time I have to stop what I’m doing and spend a ½ hour asking to actually receive what I’m paying for). Now they’ve moved on to denying the refund unless service has been out for 24 or more consecutive hours. I don’t know about you, but I generally only use my connection for a few hours a day (if that) and if dinner and a movie turns into dinner and a… loading… bar, my internet enjoyment for the night is pretty much ruined.
TL;DR version:
Sales dept: low-​tech, high-​pressure
Service: more throttling than the Hillside Strangler
Customer Service: scripted like the automated service
Management: don’t care, under contract, read the terms
Conclusion: Your service is bad and you should feel bad.

Horrific customer service.
Device malfunctions must be taken to the very few service centers, very inconveniently located (none in the city). Staticy sounding customer service reps. No replacement devices while yours is inspected.
My laptop stopped acknowledging my device while using it. Had to unplug it frequently to reestablish a connection. I was told to take it to a customer service center, where they told me that they’d look at it, but they’d need to keep it and that there are no loners. Unacceptable. I’m a student and need reliable service.
Switched to Centurylink. While the connection is just as bad, their customer service has been excellent.

Live on Queen Anne. My brother who lives in Magnolia has 4 bars and a solid internet connection through Clear, so I thought I’d give them a try. However, we only ever got 2 bars, even after repositioning the modem.
WARNING: THEY WILL NOT PRORATE YOU AFTER CANCELING! I cancelled it two days after a billing assignment and they would not prorate me. The internet wasn’t fast enough to VPN into work. So it basically didn’t work!!! This is a ridiculous policy!

what can i say about clear that all of yous havent heard. awful bad slow overpriced bad customer service bad bad bad.
go with comcast stay away

Is 0 stars not an option? The internet service is worse than dial up (.01 mb upload speed, .8 mb download speed) AND they charged me $ 110 to cancel my account after providing me with 2 months of horrid service. Also, they didn’t mention that I was under a contract with this.
Run away now!

Like so many others, I too was a victim of their shoddy service. They state «unlimited, no preset speed cap». And while it is in the contract, no salesperson is going to offer up the info that if you use your Internet like any normal person (I.e. Netflix) that your speeds will get dropped to dial-​up speed.
I was informed that we were «way over typical usage” — what with us being home only 2 nights a week to watch/​use it. Apparently streaming anything causes «everyone else’s Internet to slow, so we equalize it». But, never fear, it will go back up if you just «turn off your modem for 48 HOURS».
So, if all you do is check your email, go for it. But if you actually want to use the Internet like people in 2011, you’re gonna pay 60 bucks a month for dial-​up speed.

I got really terrible service from this company. I bought the modem and signed up at a nearby dealer, maybe 2 blocks from my apartment. Later, when I had to call (frequently) about the complete lack of signal coming in they eventually admitted I was not in a service area (that was after a few hours of them seriously suggesting I adjust the position of my modem by ¼″ increments). What! I live smack dab in the middle of Capitol Hill. Allegedly, I was in a freakish little zone that did not get service, despite being surrounded by 6 towers.
Whatever, I cancelled and moved to Broadstripe and have been WAY happier. I would not recommend them. at. all.

About a year ago I signed for Clear’s «service». I got a Series G Modem for the home and a 4G Mobile USB. For a long while, I was all smiles. I was telling everybody I knew how cool Clear was. For around $ 60 a month I was getting unlimited 4G internet I could take with me. Wow!
Wow started to turn to Whoa! As I started to watch more movies via Netflix streaming and using the webcams to keep watch on stuff, the service started to grind to a halt. Apparently I was now being «monitored» for my heavy use of the service, the «unlimited» «high speed» service. When you bring this to their attention they are super fast, unlike their service, to advise you of the fine print and legally what you are paying for. They tell you this throttling practice is so other people in your area are not suffering from you usage. What? It is not like I am keeping my neighbors up while I try to learn to play guitar. However, I almost feel guilty for slowing down everybody else’s internet. Wait, they are trying to guilt me for what they are unable to provide?
I pay taxes like everybody else. Some of that money goes towards roads. When the roads start to get overly congested, new roads are built or the current ones are widened. I pay Clear every month to use their «road» on the internet. Some of that money should go to providing me a better service. The congestion is no fault of mine. They are selling more and more people on their service. A service they are unable to maintain. I still want to like Clear, but I can’t. I have asked several of their people over the phone and through chat, when there would be improvements. I was told they felt sorry for how I felt. Well, fix it and I’ll feel happy. That way I am way less likely to write less than favorable reviews, using my internet gold Clear service.
I was actually told to use the service at low traffic times. Now, I am going to have to schedule my life around my ISP, as if work and life itself were not enough.
If you call, the first question they’ll ask is if you have used
. So do that and have the numbers along with your mac address. Also, figure out where the closest towers are and let them know you have positioned your unit to obtain as many green LEDs as possible. That way you can breeze through the litany of programmed questions they are going to ask you.
There are several reviews here and many more stories and information posted online. It seems as though their service is unable to keep up with higher usage they did not anticipate. Really? They thought people were going to use the internet less as time went on.
Writing this, probably cost me movie time. Stuck in the contract for a few more months. Trying to weigh out the old money versus headache. What a great deal it is. They cannot provide a service that you are contractually obligated to. You cancel the said service and pay the price for them not being able to provide it. I think I should try this business model. I’ll have people sign a contract with me to cut their lawns, I hate cutting lawns. Then when they realize this, through my great performance and want me to quit, then they’ll have to buy out the remainder of their contract.
That is a great idea!
Before all the words up top
displayed .60 Mb/​s. Like Christmas!

We started using Clear service a few months ago so we could entirely cut Comcast from our lives. Felt soooooo good to do that. Clear was working really well as a replacement for Comcast internet, until just recently.
Having been burned by mega-​corp providers for cell phones, internet and whatever else, I decided to save the entire series of conversations with the Clear reps, even prior to signing up. Specifically, I asked if streaming services like Hulu+/Netflix while downloading files and surfing the net (all non-​business related) was acceptable usage per their terms. I was told the «only time» they would limit service is if user are «spamming other customers» and they informed me that my particular type of usage was «perfectly acceptable.»
So we signed up! Even had a friend who was working at the Clear Headquarters who put me on his friends-​and-​family list. So we got high-​speed internet for $ 30/​month. SCORE! (he’s since been laid-​off)
There were some minimal interruptions in service. All very acceptable for a high-​speed, wireless provider. Even when the CSR’s reported the occasional «heavy-​traffic time» for slow speeds we were understanding to a point.
Note: All-​the while we still get a full-​strength, 5-​light connection too.
Fast-​forward to this week… I’ve had to to call several times in the past five days and go through the ENTIRE reset, modem direct-​connecting procedures (every time). The CSR’s then say «hold on please», when they return they tell me «don’t use your service for 3 hours so that the connection and data-​volumes are reset in the tower.»
Like a typical couple, we come home from work and have ~5 hours of time to surf the net, watch steaming-​TV and shop online…
I’ve now (after day-​5) started asking for a manager so that we can get our $ refunded for every day we are without the reasonable service discussed in the initial conversation (since the Tier-​1 CSRs are not able to help). Meanwhile, we debate… do we go back to Comcast-​Hell? Find something else… ugh. Just be advised.
As a follow-​up… 2 months and they still keep saying the same things. I’ve filed a complaint with the BBB CASE#: 22 308 964
http://http://alaskaoregonwesternwashington.bbb.org/
Follow-​up Part 2: Now when we come home from work (just until we move in ~1.5 months) we’re tethering to a 4G mobile phone and getting a solid 5.0 Mbps. Cancelled Clear Internet. Clear = FAIL

I wish I could rate this internet worse than ONE STAR. DO NOT BUY THIS SERVICE!!! IT IS HORRIBLE. :(#FAIL

A couple of days ago, my Clear USB device quit working. I cannot function without internet connectivity, which is why I have the mobile web.
I called Clear’s customer service line, and MAN, what a total jerk I got. TWICE! Yeah I actually called back and tried to get someone nicer, but NOPE. Man on the phone? Jerk. Woman on the phone? Jerk.
So I tried to call the Clear kiosk in Westlake, where I bought my device, and accidentally called the 3^rd Avenue store. Thank god for real humans vs. call center anonymity. The gentleman who received my call was the store manager, Jesse. He was super friendly and told me that I should just come down there and we’ll take a look at it and see what we can do. I walked down from Capitol Hill and was there in about 15 –20 minutes.
As soon as I walked in, I was greeted with a smile and he immediately got on the phone and got me sorted out and problem solved without having to do any annoying shipping of the broken device before getting the new one. Within 10 minutes I was outta there, happy and satisfied, mentally flipping off those call center people quite smugly. Thanks!