Another wireless offering

[Tom]

I saw this mentioned online somewhere else and thought I'd take a peek at it: http://www.clearwire.com/index.html

I can't figure out how this might be any different than any of the various wireless options other than it uses an external "wireless modem" (their term) for RX/TX to/from the a tower rather than an air card or cell phone. As we saw in a recent topic here, some air card services are reaching high speeds.

 

[Ned]

It's not clear what part of the radio spectrum ClearWire is using, but I don't believe it's WiFi.  Only available in 11 states for now too.  Interesting in that their order page is a broken link   Certainly not suitable for travellers.

 

[Karl]

Tom,

It's nothing more or less than a radio transmitter/receiver, similar to a WAP or WI-FI setup. Interestingly, the link to the "chech availablility for your area" is broken Also, their claim of "Always secure" is somewhat misleading; anyone can pick up a radio signal.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

It's cellular - one of the "new" services cropping up that re-sells cellular data using one of the big cellular networks. Could be Verizon, Altel or Spring- it's not clear which.  That means you only get broadband speeds in some areas - other places will fall back to 144 kbps max.

From the Clearwire website:

"Clearwire uses a state-of-the-art wireless modem that can be plugged into a desktop computer, laptop, or local network. It works by transmitting signals to and from nearby cellular towers instead of using a traditional phone line."