Clear 3G faster than 4G - Philadelphia

artiste · 4G Newbie Joined: 20 Feb 2010 Posts: 3

I have the 4G+ mobile plan from Clear. The 3G speed is faster than the 4G speed in my immediate area, i.e. the 4G speed is pathetically slow. I'm in Philadelphia, smack near the middle of their coverage map and even outdoors, without any tall buildings nearby, and at least 8 miles in each direction from the border of the coverage area on their map.

The Clear technical support's explanation is that I am closer to a 3G tower than a 4G tower, and there's nothing they can or are willing to do about it. Not very convincing and doesn't make sense to me. Anyone else having similar problems? It seems the coverage map is not correct at all.

Michael · Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2010 4:00 pm Post subject:

Once nice thing about the Sprint Connection Manager for the U300 or U301 is that it allows you to disable 3G or 4G. So, you could disable the 3G radio and only have the device listen to 4G only. Not sure if the connection manager for Clear can do that, we will look into it.
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artiste · 4G Newbie Joined: 20 Feb 2010 Posts: 3

Just updating. I can't get a 4G connection at my two work sites either. Both in the middle of the 4G coverage map on Clear's website. Excellent 3G signal and speed at both sites though. I do get excellent 4G connection in the parking lot of a plaza a few blocks away, but sitting in my car in a plaza parking lot is not how I need or want to use the internet. The tech support also told me one of the reasons for my poor signal is that there are a lot of trees in the area!!

Overall I think the coverage map that Clear has on their website for Philadelphia is not informative of the problems that you may have with the service in terms of coverage and speed. Especially if you need it indoors. If you get a good signal, it's great, but that is a very big IF. Guess that's why they state "speeds are not guaranteed".

artiste · 4G Newbie Joined: 20 Feb 2010 Posts: 3

[quote="Michael"]Once nice thing about the Sprint Connection Manager for the U300 or U301 is that it allows you to disable 3G or 4G. So, you could disable the 3G radio and only have the device listen to 4G only. Not sure if the connection manager for Clear can do that, we will look into it.[/quote]

Michael,

The problem was not that it automatically switched to 3G; it wouldn't. Just the fact that the 4G speed was slower than the 3G speed when I tested it.

Philly Cowboy · 4G Newbie Joined: 28 Dec 2009 Posts: 1

He is not alone on speed issues in Philly. When I first signed up, it was fast. For the last month, my service has been dropping in and out, and when it has been up, it has been slow about 50% of the time. By slow I mean less the 1Mb/s. Right now I am at 1.7Mb/s. There are a couple of tickets in, but I have not heard back on any resolution yet - Zip Code 19134