Clearwire not so Clear....

I received a netbook for Christmas from my dear Woman. I wanted to try out the new wireless internet service from Clear.

When I ordered the service online, I marked that I did not need a Clearwire PC Card. I did not think I needed one, because my netbook automatically detects and connects to my wireless home network.

I learned that the wireless modem in my netbook was not able to connect to the Clearwire wimax network.

I jumped on a chat line with a person from Clearwire support. I told him I had not ordered a clearwire pc card, but now realized I needed one. He insisted that I ordered one and that it was being mailed to me. It never came.

When I log in to my Clearwire account, it does not give me the option to order the PC Card. I ordered the wimax antenna, thinking that might do the trick. It came. It works with the PC Card to get stronger reception.

I went to the one Clearwire dealer near where I live. He has the PC Card that I neaded! He logged into my Clearwire account. He could not find the option on there for me to buy the PC Card. This was yesterday, Saturday. He told me I would need to come back on Monday, when whe could call Clearwire to figure out how to bill me for the PC Card.

I was not happy!

I went to Radio Shack. My thinking was that since I had marked the choice "bring my own gear" on the initial order, they might know what gear that would be. The lady there was kind. It took me a lot of explaining to tell her what I needed. She thought I was trying to connect to my home network. I told her I could do that. She did not understand my problem. I had her google the Clearwire PC Card. Another guy at the shop said I would need to get it from Clearwire, that they handled Verizon service, but not Clearwire.

I went home and had Jodie call Clearwire support for me. After some explaining, the guy understood that I needed a Clearwire PC Card and why I had not ordered it initially. He sold us one and we should get it in a couple days.

I think Clear (Clearwire) should do a better job explaining on their website the specifications required for your modem to get their wimax service. Also, there should be an option, when you log into your account, to buy the Clearwire PC Card. And let the local dealers know how they can sell them to people like me, who bought the service and not the PC Card.

I fear that I will get the Clearwire PC Card and still not be able to access the wimax service. Stay tuned!