Speeds between .25 Mbps and 1.5 Mbps with rare bursts

Edit Subject

It looks like quite a few people are having similar issues. My goal here is to log a nauseatingly specific description of the problem, trouble-shooting steps, and the solution -- when it happens. Hopefully, this can become a One Stop Shop to help out the others who come to the Clear Forums with similar problems, so they don’t have to spend the 4 hours on the phone or online chat with tech support that I have. I will continue to update until the problem is solved.

The Symptoms:
~ DL speeds consistently between .25 Mbps and 1.5 Mbps for the last 14 days.
~ In that time, there where 7 days in which I logged short windows of time with speeds within spec -- 3.0 - 6.0 Mbps. Typically, this happened in the evening, between 6:00 pm and 11:00 pm.
~ Modem always has 5 lights.
~ Ping is typical -- between 50 - 90 ms. PingTest.net score of a B with little jitter.
~ UL speeds were consistently as expected, at 1.0 Mbps, but have dropped to around .5 Mbps in the last three days.



My Equipment:
~ Motorola WiMax (Wave 2) Clear Modem
~ Netgear wireless G router
~ MacBook Pro running OS 10.6.4
~ MSI Netbook running Windows 7 Professional

My Location:
~ 60555 zip code (Western Chicago suburbs)
~ Approximately .5 miles to Clear antenna. (During the winter, I can see it from the window I have the modem sitting in front of.)
~ Listed as “Best Clear Coverage” on the Clear coverage map

Troubleshooting Attempts:
~ Power cycled modem. (Many times.)
~ Connected computers directly to modem. (Whenever I’m troubleshooting.)
~ Made sure modem is plugged directly into outlet and moved away from other electronics.
~ Had L1 tech “reset my connection with the tower.” (A couple times.)
~ “Optimized” several browsers by deleting cache, cookies, and history. (Safari, Firefox, IE)
~ Ran through the DOS commands in Win7 with the L2 tech, such as clearing the DNS cache.
~ Sent in a Trace Route to L2 tech.
~ Changed IPv6 setting in OSX to “Off,” instead of “Automatic” on advice from L2 tech.
~ Put my modem outside to rule out interference from my window / screens.
~ Took my modem to the school I work at to see if the modem was the problem. Even though I was over 1 mile to the nearest antenna, and in a huge cinderblock building with Low-E windows, a metal roof, and no line-of-sight to the tower, I still pulled speeds of 4.0 Mbps and above for the two hours I was there. (The modem had 3 lights.) I was actually impressed the modem did so well considering the long list of things that impaired the signal.

What Clear Has Done:
~ Opened a trouble ticket with the speed team, which was passed on to the RF team. The RF team (apparently) “updated the software at the tower,” whatever that involves.
~ They closed the ticket as “resolved” without telling me... Needless to say, it was not solved.
~ Opened a new trouble ticket to initiate a tech visit to my house (also known as a “truck roll,” I found out.)
~ Given me a $20 credit on my bill.

So, I’m now awaiting my tech visit, which is scheduled for Tuesday evening (8/24). I think at this point it is reasonably clear (heh) that the problem is not at my location, with my computers, or with my modem. That said, I begrudgingly understand the long list of hoops I have to jump through before Clear starts to think that maybe (just maybe) the problem is with their tower or infrastructure.

... Will update as events unfold... In the meantime, I wish all those in a similar boat Godspeed. (As long as God travels faster than 1.0 Mbps.)