what about clear, the new wireless broadband service?

Indeed, Clearwire (http://clearwire.com) just launched their WiMax service in Portland. Not sure if they require multiple years for a decent price, but they still look cheaper than Comcast's most basic HSI package.

Does one need special equipment for that?

Tried that earlier today, but got this in response: "Currently your specified location does not qualify for Home Internet Services. However, you’ve qualified for Clear Mobile Internet Services for coverage around town." FOILED AGAIN.

You don't need the Home package to get fast speed. Clear Mobile Internet Services is supposed to be up to 3.6Mbps... should be enough to stream The Hills.

My confusion is this: My presumption is that if you're not cleared for Home service, you can't pick it up under Mobile where you live either. I mean, if you could pick up the signal with a dinky little USB modem sticking out of your laptop, you'd be able to pick it up with the bigger Home modem also, yes?

So, presumably if you're not cleared for Home service you can't pick it up at all where you are.

You don't have to sign a contract to get DSL -- you can get a DSL-only circuit from Qwest and then get your ISP service from a third party (e.g. iinet.com, which is a local ISP). Everything is month-to-month. Of course, you pay a bit more on the month-to-month vs. contract, but no more than you would for Comcast jacking your rate up higher since you don't also buy their cable TV.

Here's my experience:
http://kiloseven.blogspot.com/2009/01/clea…

As a licensed ham radio who also is a Mercury reader, I can advise you that those coverage maps are not always accurate... because, I'm done the drive testing for (a large nationwide cellular company) and I've seen how things change from one mapping stint to another.

The mapping is done at street level; do you live in an apartment building? You might have good enough signal, and since Clear gives you a 7-day remorse period to back out of any deal, it may work for you anyway.

Another trick is to add a reflector behind the antenna, and to align the antenna between the reflector and the tower you get signal from. See an explanation of how to use a wok strainer as a very efficient reflector at http://www.usbwifi.orconhosting.net.nz/ - and make the minor adjustment for the fact that WiMAX uses a wavelength 4% shorter than WiFi.

And, speaking of WiFi, Muni WiFi may be emulating a Norwegian Blue right now, but Free Fi lives! Visit http://map.personaltelco.net/ to find your closest free WiFi node, and if you find one, consider supporting their generosity by offering to pay the difference for their next jump up to a faster feed.

I'd be happy to talk with you about technical details if you send me an e-mail.

I have a long history of bad experiences with Qwest. They're the reason I haven't owned a landline since 2004. Comcast has good customer service and I have never had problems with their connection, but it is a bit on the more expensive side.

I did hear tell that there's room for negotiation in the pricing, though, since they know that there are cheaper alternatives with comparable speeds such as Clear Wire and FiOS. It would at least be worth a call to find out.

I do hate Qwest (and thus I moved to Vonage) but my ISP takes on the task of dealing with them for me, for the most part. They know that I won't pay them unless the thing works, and my DSL has been almost rock solid for almost 10 years. Yes indeed Qwest can be a pain in the ass, but no more so than Comcast. Pick your evil. And speaking of evil, also keep in mind that DSL is dedicated speed, while cable speed is dependent on how much your neighbor is downloading porn or watching movies.

Qwest is also soon going to offer 7 Mbit to residences, as Verizon has done in the 'burbs -- right now they top off at 3-5 Mbit.

Comcast cable internet only is $54.95 per month. No cable TV included in there (any variety of digital cable pushes it up to $100, basically).

DSL is a lame deal unless you need a phone line too. PersonalTelco is great if you live in downtown, or... in downtown, and also know somebody who can reboot the router every hour or so.

The Clear website nixed my address too, but when I called them, they said I was good to go. Haven't signed up, but I'd recommend the call.

Paying $54.95/mo through Comcast at home, too. Since the latest service upgrades I feel a bit better about it-- I can sustain 100kbps upstream, for instance. Then again, if you're caught seeding traffic like that for x minutes straigtht, their new policy cripples your connection for a few hours. It's the latest in their tactics to discourage piracy. Oh, and there's a new 200gb / mo cap.

I don't consider $55/month cheap, either.

Sleep under your desk from now on. Free home internet.

Just as an off shoot. If you happen to end up with Qwest they will sell your address and phone number. You'll end up with junk mail filling your mailbox every day and telemarketers calling all the time. It's really nice to know they are taking money from you and selling your information on the other end. Needless to say I'm with Comcast and really happy. They just bumped up my speed too.

I live in Seattle where we've had ClearWire for a couple years now. It SUCKS and that opinion is pretty much universal here. You're almost better off with dialup.

It may work well for now if it just launched (it worked fine in Seattle for the first few months), but as soon as other people started signing up, the speed slows to a crawl. If you do want to give them a chance, I highly recommend avoiding any long-term contracts.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/clearwire-kirkland

Caveat: I am not tech-savvy enough to know if Portland's WiMax makes a difference. ClearWire doesn't have WiMax in Seattle.

Hey Erik .. I'm in the same boat ... since write for a living (if you can call it that) ... I'm on the net all day from home. It is also my main non-console form of entertainment. I've been on Comcast's cable Internet-only ($54.95--no other services) service since I moved into my downtown apartment. It's plenty fast. My only complaint is the price. Clearwire is offering citywide WIMax (high-speed wireless no matter where I am in the city) for $50 per month. I signed up Saturday planning on replacing Comcast. As of today I still have no service on ClearWire (tech support is completely lost but claims they are having unknown issue with the tower system here.) They gave me no timeline for fixing it .... PS: their customer support blows.

Can you get any signal at all, like from a neighbor's wireless modem? If you can figure out who it is, ask them for permission to piggyback on their service for $xx a month. Problem solved.

I'm trying to sort out a trial from Clear so I can write about it for the benefit of our readers. So far, it's going somewhat interestingly. Here's the IM chat I just had with Wayne_L, contacted through their website:

I'm a journalist in Portland, Oregon, looking to test Clear here for the benefit of our readers. Could you have someone contact me? It's Matt Davis, mdavis@portlandmercury.com
Wayne_L [11:34:06 AM]: Welcome to our real-time support chat. How can I help you today?
Matt Davis [11:34:06 AM]: I'm a journalist in Portland, Oregon, looking to test Clear here for the benefit of our readers. Could you have someone contact me? It's Matt Davis, mdavis@portlandmercury.com
Wayne_L [11:34:36 AM]: If you could give me just a moment, let me see if I can get you some more info on who to contact.
Matt Davis [11:35:14 AM]: Thanks mate.
Wayne_L [11:39:32 AM]: Alright it looks like you may need to contact corporate for that. Their address is :3525 E Post Road, STE 110 Las Vegas, NV 89120. You may also be able to contact someone regarding that at our care lines at 888-888-3113.
Matt Davis [11:39:56 AM]: Thanks. Bye. I'm assuming there's no email address?
Wayne_L [11:40:26 AM]: I'm afraid not.
Matt Davis [11:40:41 AM]: An internet company without an email address?
Wayne_L [11:41:32 AM]: I don't have an address that I could give you per your request. We do have emails, but I am unaware as to who you should contact.
Matt Davis [11:41:39 AM]: Thanks.
Wayne_L [11:41:42 AM]: Can I help you with anything else today?
Matt Davis [11:42:15 AM]: No. Thanks. Bye.
Wayne_L [11:42:23 AM]: Thank you for chatting with Clear today, have a great day!

if you want to see the clear product demo at 3311 ne 44th st vancouver washington 98663 sign up take home your internet in a box. or I will have a sales rep test your address