Clearwire might not offer much by way of cellphones, but it has every kind of gizmo and doodad for accessing the data service and upgraded mobile Internet it so proudly provides. The devices it uses to harness cyberspace fall into three categories: Clear Spots, USB Modems, and Home Modems. Each type is tailored to suit your use and pricing needs, providing a custom plan and package for customers ranging from college dormers to office buildings and multiple-user home networks. The best part? You actually have the choice as to whether to buy or lease the equipment necessary – a truly mobile (and very flexible) mobile Internet plan.
Need something to help ride the information superhighway on your own? The Clear Spot 4G and Clear Spot 4G + are at your beck and call, saving you that trip to T-Mobile in Starbucks with a quick and easy hookup to the net. With the Clear Spot 4G [$5 a month lease, $99 to buy, monthly plans beginning at $45], you get the basics – unlimited coverage wherever there’s 4G (even on the go, be it car, train or bus), with a four-hour battery life…AND, should the mood strike you to share with your ‘net-starved roommates, the ability to connect up to eight wi-fi capable devices. The 4G+ [$9 a month lease, $225 to buy, monthly plans beginning at $55] device gives you an hour less battery and only five spare wi-fi connections, but more than makes up for this with 3G-4G backwards-compatibility – meaning that, no matter how advanced or stone-age the destination, you’ll have Internet wherever you go.
If you’re not rocking the wi-fi hotspots, but still prefer the individualized attention of a single-user plan, a USB modem is the way to go; Clearwire offers the Clear 4G Mobile USB Black, the Clear 4G Mobile USB White, and the Clear 4G+ Mobile USB Series S. The USB Black and USB White both come at the same price [FREE when ordered online, $80 regularly, monthly plans beginning at $45], both are small, handy and portable, and both are compatible with Mac or PC. The 4G+ [FREE when ordered online, $115 regularly, monthly plans beginning at $55] , conversely, follows in the pattern set forth for it by Clear Spot 4G+ – it too is backwards-compatible with 3G service, giving you wider coverage as you travel through our not-yet-entirely-4G nation.
With the 4G Home Modems, designed specifically for multiple-user service, you can access WiMAX Internet at either home or office with varying degrees of device portability: these modems come as the Clear Modem Series G and the Clear Modem with Wi-Fi. The Clear Modem Series G [FREE when ordered online, $85 regularly, monthly plans beginning at $35] is an easy-to-install device, friendly to Mac and PC alike, with shipping included with purchase of the hardware. The Clear Modem with Wi-Fi [$7 a month lease, $120 to buy, monthly plans beginning at $35] offers a little more device flexibility – it is capable of connecting with any wi-fi enabled device (including cameras, cell-phones, and more), and can link up with eight to ten other devices, signal range 100-150 feet.
With all this at your fingertips, who could ask for anything more, right? Anticipating the few who might, Clearwire also offers four different service packages, devices included, to yet again suit the needs of every customer: the Nationwide Plug and Play Package, the Plug and Play Package, the Home & On-the-Go Package, and the Home Package. Nationwide Plug and Play starts at $55 a month, with a Clear 4G+ Mobile USB device lease included, providing coverage for one person with a 2-year contract ; automatically switching between 3G and 4G as available, a customer can download up to 5 gigs in a 3G area at no extra cost, with $0.05 extra per additional MB per month. The just-plain Plug and Play Package comes as the next step up – while its leased device is the 4G mobile USB (and, therefore, lacking backwards-compatibility), its plan starts at $45 a month, servicing one person with a 2-year contract, and it provides said user with unlimited data usage and unlimited Internet speed. The final individual-use package is the Home & On-the-Go Package; starting at $67 a month, it leases both a 4G mobile USB and a Clear Modem with WiFi, offering, again, a single-user-two-year contract for unlimited data usage and unlimited speed. The last package offered is the unbeatable home-and-office friendly Home Package, starting at $52 a month: leasing a Clear Modem with Wi-Fi, it provides unlimited service, unlimited speed, and full use of the eight-to-ten device linkup the device is already capable of.
So much is available, and so much more is on the way – a number of companies, looking to take advantage of the fantastically fast CLEAR WiMAX service, are all developing their own 4G-friendly devices, all with the intent to join Sprint and Clearwire in moving toward the future. We hope this guide has been helpful in navigating the two major providers of said hardware, and that the data-plan road ahead is all the CLEARer for it.
