Over the last 18 months, I have had the enjoyable experience of using Clear Wireless internet as both my mobile and home internet provider. Last month, I bought a house located in just about the only dead zone in McKinney, Tx. While I was in a contract still with Clear, they waved the cancellation fee since the location I moved to does not have coverage. That was nice.
Since Clear didn’t work, I had to get something, so I got Road Runner Cable internet for $30/month. There are two other upgradeable options, but I chose the 10 Mb/s package because I do not download a large amount of huge files. When I ran the speed test, I was pleased to see that my connection speed was actually must faster than what they claimed. In fact, on a couple of trials, I ended up hitting nearly 18 Mb/s.
Having been on Clear for 18 month, I had forgotten how much faster Cable internet was. I could not play video games online with Clear because my ping put me at such a huge disadvantage. For those of you wondering, Clear is not fast enough for online gaming. With TWC/Road Runner, I had the best ping of anyone on several of the servers I played on, and I’m not even using the best package.
Another interesting thing I noticed was the upload speed was almost the same for both Clear and Cable internet. Unless you’re running a server, upload speed isn’t really a huge deal, but it is worth noting.
Cable Internet Is Clearly Better than Clear for Heavy Home Use
As much as I have been a fan of Clear, I just cannot move away from how much faster a hardline internet connection can be. Compared to DSL, I would still go with Clear. FIOS and U-Verse are both very fast, but you have to shell out some cash to get them. Cable internet is without a doubt the best value of speed vs. price. If you regularly download files that are 50 MB+, you play online games, or you like to stream movies and videos online, I strongly recommend considering Cable internet over Clear 4g Wireless internet.
Clear Is Excellent Mobile Internet and Still Beats DSL for Home Use
For home use, Clear is just as fast as most of the base packages for DSL. You’ve got to start spending more money on DSL to beat Clear’s speed, so Clear is both cost effective and mobile. From a mobile standpoint, the coverage for Clear seems to be growing. I’ve noticed less dead spots throughout DFW; although there are still plenty of places Clear doesn’t work (like my new house!). If you aren’t home a whole lot or you mostly just browse the internet (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, read a few blogs, etc..), then Clear 4g Internet is an excellent option.
Overall, I’ve been happy with my experience with Clear. The speed has been sufficient for my use and the cost has been extremely fair. Don’t be afraid to use Clear as your only home internet, but also realize that if you need some serious download speed, Clear isn’t the answer.
As always, if you have any questions or thoughts about Clear, leave a comment. I’ve had a bunch of questions e-mailed to me, and I’m sure a lot of people have those same questions.
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June 25th, 2011 at 4:06 PM
Excellent article. I actually worked for Time Warner for three years and agree with your assessment that cable internet is the “best value of speed vs. price”. I currently have Verizon FIOS, and although it’s faster than cable internet, it’s also more expensive. So far FIOS has been very reliable as well. I’m glad you compared 4G because I keep hearing how 4G is going to be faster than cable or FIOS? I’m starting to believe this is nothing but marketing hype.
July 29th, 2011 at 10:03 PM
I am so glad I ran across this article. I just put in an order for TW/Road Runner but had 2nd thoughts b/c I have never dealt with cable internet. I have been paying a lot of money for mobile service with Sprint and wanted to find something cheaper since I really use my phone more now. Sometimes I need my laptop for certain things inste
August 11th, 2011 at 2:35 PM
I live on the “outskirts” of Little Elm, and use AT&T dsl. It’s seriously flaky. But I have no other options out here. So I’m thinking Clear. Was the Little Elm area included in your North Dallas review? Thanks.
August 24th, 2011 at 10:12 PM
Certain parts of Little Elm have coverage, but for the most part, it isn’t well covered. You can check their website to see their coverage map. It is pretty accurate in my tests so far. http://www.clear.com/coverage/?intcmp=index_c_tpnav_c
August 31st, 2011 at 2:35 PM
“While I was in a contract still with Clear, they waved the cancellation fee since the location I moved to does not have coverage”
Really good to get great customer service like this. Here in the UK, several of the big companies just don’t seem to care about doing the right thing promptly. In Spain I recently got a years ‘Line-of-sight WIFI’ internet access for around $90 for the year! Great value.