You know how in the future, every single piece of technology is connected to each other?  Like when your car talks to your refrigerator and reminds you to pick up milk on the way home, but to only get the cheap watered-down milk because it also talked to the bank and found out that you are too poor to buy the good stuff…

CLEAR isn’t like that.

For those not in the “know”, CLEAR internet is mobile, wireless internet access.  Basically, you plug your computer into one of their devices and BOOM!  Internet wherever you want.  Cars talking to fridges, etc.

I’ve been using it for a couple of weeks now.  I grabbed the Pick 2 bundle: home modem and USB dongle for $55/mo with a 2 year contract, or month-to-month if you pay for the hardware up front.  I went month-to-month:  I think the hardware was something like $130.  Unlimited bandwidth (no caps) and speeds advertised as 3-12 Mbit down/1-3 Mbit up.

I threw the home modem up at the office to share with my coworkers (who, despite rumors to the contrary, do NOT spend all day downloading provocative photos of giraffes) and I’ve been using the USB dongle in my madcap adventures around Austin.  And by “madcap adventures”, I mean trying to get work done at coffee shops who advertise wifi but, in fact, provide nigh-fi (*cough* BENNU*cough*).

I know what you’re thinking:

Mando, you’re a smart, handsome fella.  You know how these too-good-to-be-true things work, buddy.  There’s always some catch.  You’re too smart for this!  What’s going on?  Do you need a drink or something?  Maybe a hug?  Whatever you need, man:  I got your back.

First off, thanks for the compliments!  I’ve been working out, you know, and it’s good to see the hard work paying off.  Secondly, yeah, there’s a little bit of a catch: more like a catch-let.

The speeds aren’t as high as advertised.  I routinely see ~1-2 Mbit down/.5-.9 Mbit up, with ping times in the high 100s.  Don’t get me wrong:  it’s plenty fast and responsive, but it’s not what I’m technically paying for.

Also, we had a 30 min. outage earlier today right after lunch, which blew.  It’s been so long since my work internet connection went out that I kinda freaked.  I called the CLEAR reseller, and his response was “Well, if it’s still out in an hour, call me back and I’ll log a support ticket”.  Booooooooo.  Thankfully, the issue resolved itself.

Here’s what CLEAR reminds me of:  buying cell phone service back in the mid 90s.  Remember what that was like?  Sure, you could go to the main provider’s store and wait in line for HOURS, or you could go to an “authorized reseller”, which was usually setup in the back of a corner store and staffed by a dude who was also selling cable descramblers and modded XBoxes?

That’s kinda how CLEAR is right now.  And the service that Cingular and those guys used to provide is eerily similar to CLEAR’s service.

But, it’s wicked sweet to be able to crack open the laptop wherever I am and get some work done.  And it’s pretty cheap - in fact, it’s only about $10/mo more than my home internet access, so I’m essentially getting the USB done for $10/mo.  Which is hella-nice.

So I’m keeping it for now.  I’m not convinced that their network is going to scale well, and their nation-wide coverage BLOWS.  Fortunately, I rarely leave Austin so the coverage isn’t really an issue.  I’m much more concerned about their network, so I’d definitely recommend buying the hardware and going month-to-month.  Long term contracts are for suckers in this game, in my opinion.

And yes - a hug would be GREAT.