Is Clearwire throttling connections?

[xchpstang]

So I am getting throttled big time. I have a Clear Motorola home modem which slows down big time, down to 1.0 down, pretty much anytime during peak hours. I called Clear tech support and they were pretty useless on Tier 1. Tier 2 was more knowledgeable but refused to tell me if they were throttling my connection but just gave me the scripted "Clear does reserve the right to manage the network to ensure a quality connection for everyone." This kind of sucks but now I'm wondering if Sprint uses the same network management. My unscientific observation shows my Samsung Epic on 4G doesn't really slow down during peak hours. Does anyone know if Sprint is actively throttling connections on USB or home modems? I obviously know they use the same network but it's possible they manage their respective users differently. Does anyone have any insight on this?

[503ducati]

No variations on my EVO while tethered or otherwise. I do not have any modems with Clear anymore.

[sdsi]

Clear is definitely throttling. The reports can be seen on their own forums. I talked to numerous techs but when I called to cancel one of them told me what is happening. A little over a week ago they start using a program to "manage" the network. It goes off of your past usage. It is supposed to throttle you only during congested times and only by a very small amount. But they are having some crazy problems with it. It throttles most people throughout the entirety of the day and caps the speed as low as .25mbps down. She told me that it is nothing she can do about it as it is automated and they are still working on it. She said hopefully it would be fixed soon but she could not give me a date. I appreciate her giving me the info she did because she really didn't have to. She had the same script in front of her that has been repeated over and over on the clear forums but instead gave me all the info she knew. She also had me put on a special plan of $25 for unlimited down and 1mbps up!

[Scottish Skyedance]

Wow! I think I have to cancel the plan because it'll replace my landline internet.

[Protagonist]

Looks like Engadget is reporting this also: http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/29/c...e-wimax-users/

with source links

here: http://forums.clear.com/clearcom/top...ne_should_read

and here: http://forums.clear.com/clearcom/top...from_gsfn=true

Not good PR for Clear. They need to decide if their target customer is:

the 'tech savvy early adopter' who will easily be using 50+ GB a month between HD netflix/hulu/itunes, youtube, video chatting, streaming audio, torrents etc

or the:

'someones mom type user' who checks their email once a day, looks up a recipe and every now and then googles something they heard about on tv.


If they want the power users and early adopters then throttling is not going to be an option. The amount of bandwidth used is only going to increase from month to month and if clear cant handle it they need to reevaluate the kind of customer they are selling their service to. Because if Clear cant be a real replacement for a wired home internet connection then they are just a "3rd connection" over and above the home wired connection and the mobile data plan. And no one is going to pay for a "3rd internet connection".

[xchpstang]

Judging from my Epic and others' replies doesn't sound like Sprint is throttling. Going to buy a Sprint USB or home modem and see how that performs. If that goes well then going to ditch Clear. Not happy about being throttled since this is my home and primary internet connection. Anyway, about the only good thing is that my Clear account is contract free so should be easy to cancel.

[supa_truka]

they started throttling me only after one week. i had canceled comcast in order to try to do everything streaming . thought i would save some money but if it doesn't improve in a day or two I am canceling.they give that speech about high usage. well don't sell the service if you can't support it!

[shawnlg]

I wonder if Clear is throttling their mobile devices? I have an iSpot, and I've been testing it by watching netflix streaming on my iPhone. Probably too early to see if they throttle me. They'll probably wait until after the 14-day return period.

[acc6398]

Use Clear Modem on a business plan connected to 4 computers and 3 office phones running Voip and we dont see any issues with speed or caps.We run speed tests here and there and are always in the 5-7 Mbps down and around 1Mbps up. We are streaming video and sending/receiving large files during the day and all is well. We are in Baltimore are so maybe they are throttling in particular cities?

[supa_truka]

I complain nearly every day. I have the highest consumer plan. they have a tower 1 mile behind my house. haven't even been using internet for 15 minutes since I got home. turned on the roku, streaming veggie tales for my son. its already stopped and buffered itself 4 times in the last 15 minutes. the speed test above is the third attempt to get a speed, the first two would only give me a pingtest of like 149. simply put so far my judgement on clear is BS. they might have towers but they are capping download speeds. I wanted to kick cable to the curb, so far it looks like I may have to go back. yah comcast was more expensive but I never had streaming issues.

[supa_truka]

last two days have been good. no issues but today is point of no return....14th day so we shall see if the throttling returns.

[supa_truka]

throttling has returned
1.25download
.75Mbps up
SORRY *** ****

[kevinqian]

http://theclearblog.com/clearwire%E2...ork-management

Theres your answer

[offthegrid]

It's obvious that their statements about back haul capacity early on were greatly exaggerated. Based on their woeful coverage in the Providence area I'm not interested anyway but users that have signed a contract have to be steaming in areas where they are throttling.

[supa_truka]

my weapon is to post on every forum i can their speeds. till they get their **** together