[Uncle Skeleton]

Comcast has been giving me troubles lately, and meanwhile Clearwire has installed a broadcast antenna on the roof of my building. Clearwire claims to offer the whole service wirelessly, though they do want to sell me a modem (free with 2 year contract though).

Does anyone have experience with Clearwire or a similar (wireless) ISP? What's the modem for, and do I need one if I have an airport card? Does it work with Macs? Is the signal strong and/or reliable?

TIA

[gbhgbh]

I don't have experience with a wireless ISP but I can answer some of your questions about why they want to sell you a modem. First, it assures them that you have a strong antenna and signal to connect with them. Second, some of their customers may have desktops without a wireless card. And third, it gives them a consistent interface to configure which eases customer support. However, if your computer can communicate directly with the ISP, then you shouldn't need the modem.

[gbhgbh]

A couple of more reasons came to mind. If there are multiple computers in the household connecting to this ISP, then they would all go through the same modem with a router, similar to the configuration you'd use connecting to a cable company. This modem-router would then act as a firewall to your local network. If you connect to the ISP directly with you computer, then everyone on the network will have access to your computer. This is probably a bigger problem with Windows machines than with Macs, but it's something you should be aware of.

[rjt1000]

Clearwire support FAQ's:
http://www.clearwire.com/support/faq.php

[slpdLoad]

We were going to go with a local wireless ISP, but after coming to our house three times with antennas, they could never get a signal due to a small wooded area across the street. We ended up getter Verizon DSL.