Clearwire, the operator we love to tease, has just formally launched their WiMAX service in the city of Sacramento, California, giving the roughly 1.2 million people living there access to the internet over what is falsely labeled a 4G network. Users who signup using the clear.com/sacramento website can get 50% off their bill for the first two months, free overnight shipping of their USB modem, and the activation is waived. This all looks good on paper, especially if you’re a mobile warrior, but there are several things you need to consider.
First off, T-Mobile has a 3G network that covers more people and has a theoretical maximum download speed of 21 Mbps. In real world tests, T-Mobile’s HSPA+ is often faster than anything Sprint/Clearwire offers. Second, if you want a WiMAX enabled phone, then your choice of handsets is limited, and just about every Android phone coming out in 2011 will be able to take advantage of T-Mobile’s HSPA+. Third, Verizon is soon going to launch their LTE network and it will cover 38 cities right out the gate. Their network will not only have more coverage than Clearwire, but it’ll also be faster, and the ping times are reportedly much lower, giving you an overall snappier web browsing experience.
And finally, Clearwire has done testing with LTE equipment, indicating that they’re considering either switching the wireless technology that powers their current network, or are going to offer dual mode modems in the future. With LTE they got speeds of roughly 90 Mbps, or 9x faster than what they promise today. That’s a huge upgrade, and you should wait a bit as to not be stuck with outdated technology.
Do we have any WiMAX users in here who are satisfied with their service? I always ask this, and the amount of people who report issues far outweigh the number who are please. Then again, it’s the internet. The best medium invented to bitch, moan, and complain.