anyone use Sprint Hotspot here?

[Don Flamenco]

I ask because of this:
http://www.evilbore.com/forum/index.php?topic=35954.0

Comcast is denying that I'm even having drop outs, then telling me they can send a technician out but that I'll be charged *if* they determine it's a problem on my end.  I'm just picturing the tech being some hard headed guy that barely speaks English blaming it all on me (like the guy who installed it, who I had to tell 1000 times that I didn't want Cable TV.)  When I stand up for myself, he's gonna knife me, then rape me, then grill me on my own stove.

So, Sprint Hotspot is my only other option and it's not looking so bad. No download caps, 3 mbs average, 10 mbs peak. But I'm weary of an all wireless network.

[Mupepe]

I use Clear which I believe runs off of Sprint's network and it works great for me. 

Except according to the other thread you download a lot.  I get about 600-700kbps on my torrents.  other than that, HD streams great over Netflix and XBL online gaming works great.

[Don Flamenco]

I wouldn't mind a steady 700kbs (it would probably be more overnight, which is when I download shit during the semester), it's the drop outs that are the problem.  Plus, they have 4G coverage in my area, so I might get something like my direct speeds. 

Just talked to a rep and it's $60 a month for this.  Hmmm....



 

[Mupepe]

ew.  60 bucks a month?  my Clear is 27 bucks a month and it runs off Sprint's network.  And yeah, I get a constant 700kbps when I download. 

[Don Flamenco]

Hmm, I should check out those Clear guys who've been trolling the city for the past few months.

[AdmiralViscen]

Really it's Clear's network, and Sprint is the majority shareholder of Clear. And you do pay more for their branding on the devices.

[Mupepe]

Ah ok.  When the Clear lady was trying to sell me she kept saying sprint's network.  Either way, it works great for me.  Especially for 27 bucks a month.

[Don Flamenco]

man, the reviews for clear in chicago are universally negative.  Almost literally all one star out of a couple hundred ratings on yelp.  in fact, I have no other isp to turn to. oh well :'( 

but I just realized I can use a neighbors unprotected linksys router to torrent shit during the day while they're not home!  Pulling 1.5 mbs right now.  Take that, data usage cap  

[Mupepe]

 

Reviews for Clear are generally terrible from what I've found but I've never had a problem.  You won't get cable speeds with it but it's reliable for me.  When I pay my Clear bill online there's a box on the right that says "Active Discussions on Clear Forums" and here's what's being discussed right now...

Active Discussions in the CLEAR Forums

    * Dumping on the customers.4 minutes ago
    * Fix my tower!!!6 minutes ago
    * is there an external antenna for cpei 25725?31 minutes ago
    * Stranded Dealer!!44 minutes ago
    * Lousy Signal with Clear Spotabout 1 hour ago

Yeah, it's usually worse than that.

[Don Flamenco]

If it comes down to it, I'll do their free trial thing.  I think it's a great concept though and I hope these kinds of wireless services improve.  I don't want to be stuck with comcast just because my building is only wired for it and nothing else.

[Mupepe]

Yeah, I can only get comcast or Clear in my building.  I originally chose Comcast even though I swore them off but they didn't show up to install... two days in a fucking row.  At the end of the first day, the installer called me and told me he was on his way and never showed.  The end of the 2nd day when i called the lady said the installer put in his notes that he had shown up but no one was home.  that royally pissed me off so I told the lady to forget about it.  I had been a Comcast customer for 5 years at that point so she asked me what she could do to make me stay.  They wanted an 80 dollar transfer and installation fee.  I asked her what she could do about it and she said she could give me a 15 dollar discount.  LOL.  really?  I took two days off work for you motherfuckers (without pay!) and you want to tell me two days of wasted time is only worth 15 bucks.  suck my dick.  no, really.  That was my first truly insulting experience with a service provider and I vowed to never use them again.  So I got Clear.

[Don Flamenco]

comcast is some serious bullshit.  Al Franken is the only fighting the good fight for us. 

I've got clear and that sprint hotspot thing as my only other choices.  The comcast rep said the tech could come look at it, but that it's at his discretion whether I get charged or not (if he decides it's on my end, I get charged.)  Couldn't get the rep to agree to anything that definitely wouldn't end up with me being charged.  No matter what, if a tech comes out, it's up in the air whether I'll be charged or not, despite whatever slick lawyer talk I tried to sway them with.

If I go by what they're saying, that I've never been disconnected on their end, then he'll say it's on my end and I get charged for the visit.  Well, when I got it installed, I got some dude who barely understands English and I got in a shouting match with him.  He insisted on installing basic cable and that it wouldn't cost, but at the time, I was insisting on not installing any TV service at all, because I knew I wouldn't use it.  I was hard headed because I really haven't been charged extra, but dude just wouldn't listen and accept that I didn't want any TV service at all.  It ended with him saying "alright I won't install it" and he installed it anyway.  Not a big deal, but it was the principle of it...the guy really wouldn't give in at all and ended up doing the opposite of what I was telling him.  I don't know how their tech scheduling works, but the last thing I want is to ever talk to this guy or anyone remotely like him again.

My other option was going to my local service center and exchanging for a new modem, but my local service center sounds a lot like the DMV, according to the first review here:  http://www.yelp.com/biz/comcast-chicago-2#hrid:mMJvCuux9Sual8dbA14B7w

So I guess I'll just leech torrents off this unsecured linksys router in my building and hope everything goes back to normal after this billing cycle.  I'm doing still testing shit to see if its my ethernet cables or router thats fucking up (not likely.) If I can't figure this out, I'm definitely trying clear. 

Goddamn, internet problems suck  :'(