WiMax San Antonio TX

We just returned from a CLEAR Wimax Dealer’s briefing on the new 4G+ USB modem (4G/3G combo) that will be available in the San Antonio, Austin and nationwide markets effective July 1st.  We learned about the new modem that is Mac Compatible!  Yay!  My wife will be very happy as soon as she gets one of these, cause, as our readers are aware, my wife is a Mac Consultant  (www.MacAnswers.com).

This disc shaped USB modem can swivel 180 degrees, making it easier to fit more computer’s USB port configurations.   The swivel is metal, not plastic, which should help in both durablity and heat disipation.  But see that little cover on the right edge of this photo?  That’s for an external antenna connection. 

Yep, you can connect an external antenna for about $20 (according to Sierra Wireless Rep)  to increase your signal by about 50%.  

The Sierra Wireless Rep showed how she  velcroed her external antenna to the upper lid of her laptop, so when it was opened, the antenna would be sticking up in the air more.  One might even assume that you could connect to a really external antenna, stuck up higher in the air, over in a nearby window, or some other place where you can pull down a better / stronger signal.  At this time, we don’t know if the CLEAR dealers can sell those antennas with the modem, or if you will need to visit www.SierraWireless.com to purchase direct from them.

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We received word that there are plans to release a new 4G+ USB modem to the San Antonio market (and presumably elsewhere) in June, if all goes according to schedule.  Hmm, where have we heard that phrase before?   

This new 4G+ modem is the combo 4G/3G USB modem, but unlike the current 4G+ modem which I own and love to use do much, the new modem will reportedly be compatible not only with current Windows operating systems, but also with the current Mac operating systems, just like the plain 4G USB modems now perform. 

My wife, who is a Mac Consultant in San Antonio (www.MacAnswers.com)  has been chomping at the bit, figuratively speaking, to get a combo 4G+ modem instead of being limited to just 4G on her Mac notebooks.  Perhaps it will get released around the same time as the Sprint EVO 4G phone in June, and be just in time for my wife’s birthday in July.

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Clear 4G+ Modem

Back in February we ordered our first very own 4G+ CLEAR Mobile Modem to play with.   One of the benefits of being in the business is being  able to justify all the toys.   The next business day later, a small brown box arrived via next day FedEx, on time as promised.  

CLEAR is using the same U300 USB modem that Sprint offers, and has not (yet) released the U301 that Sprint has started offering.   The CLEAR 4G+ Mobile Modem is NOT compatible with Mac operating systems at this time.

We went online to activate (remember, we’re already an existing active CLEAR customer ourselves) and waited for it to change the browser over to htpp://home.clear.com to let us view CLEAR’s terms and conditions.   Naturally since we were already a current customer, it skipped that first page and went direct to our account, saying we were good to go.

Now normally this means you get instant 4G access, and then 2 hours the 3G access gets automatically  authorized by Sprint’s computer system.  Two hours later, you ought to be good to go.   Key word “ought”. 

CLEAR Connection Manager says (on the 3G tab)  3G Initialization Started…   then 3G Initialization Failed… then Log on using 4G to accept the terms and conditions first…

We first went online to the chat tech support, but they were no help.  One agent even told us that it was because we were “still in a 4G network area, so it won’t work until you go outside the 4G range.”    We knew that had to be 100% pure hogwash, but we drove NW 20 miles out past Helotes on Hwy 16 until we lost all 4G signal and then some.  We were now in an area that we had previously used our Sprint 3G card with 1.3mbps download speed!    Same error message received.

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