Clear 4G+ CMU-300 and Clear Spot WIFI Hotspot Review

Last summer I started looking at 4G devices when Windows 7 released.  However, at that time the software and drivers weren’t stable so my experience wasn’t very good.  That has all changed now.

Both Sprint and Clear have solid 4G offerings on the market now.  I wrote about the Sprint U301 experience last month. I knew then I wanted to try the Clear service because they offer a month-to-month option.  The planets really lined up when I discovered the DFW IT Pro Users Group was having a meeting and Clear was going to give away hardware.  Cha ching!!!  Free is one of my favorite words.

Clear 4G+ CMU-300 

The Clear 4G+ U300  pictured at right is a very flexible device.  The USB connector flips forward or back to accommodate the device you are plugging it into. The Clear connection manager software behaves very nicely on both Windows 7 Enterprise x64 and Windows Server 2008 R2. 

The install is clean and you can choose to have it start each time you start Windows.  The software initializes the device and looks for a 4G network first.  If it doesn’t find a 4G network, it falls back to 3G mode and connects.  This is typical at my home.

As the technical specs for the Apple iPad began to emerge, it became apparent that there was no USB connecter on that slate device.  That meant there would be no way for the iPad to use the Clear 4G+ USB device.  Wrong.  I realized later that Clear has this cool little WIFI device the call the Clear Spot.

Clear Spot

The Clear Spot is a device the size of a 2.5” mobile hard drive enclosure.  The device is a portable WIFI router that uses a Clear USB device as the gateway to the internet.  In theory this allows any WIFI enabled device to use the Clear 4G connection. 

Unfortunately the Clear Spot didn’t work very well for me.  The device kept dropping the connection and rebooting. I could tolerate the 3G/4G connection dropping and preventing any device connected to the hotspot from using the internet but it became apparent there was too much instability. 

At the time I had the hotspot sitting on my desk using battery power.  Considering I was only one hour into the use of the device it wasn’t looking good.  So I decided to move the Clear Spot next to the windows of my home office and plug it into the charger.  This improved the behavior, but after several file download attempts I noticed the device dropped the 3G connection yet again and rebooted.  That was the kiss of death as far as I am concerned.

Summary

For now I’m keeping the Clear CMU-300 USB stick.  Considering it was free, it’s a no brainer.  I’m on a month-to-month plan so I still have a great 4G solution for my Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 laptops.  However, the Clear Spot is history.  It’s too expensive and the return policy is too short.  Sorry Clear but you left me no choice in this regard.

Next up, the Sprint Overdrive 3G/4G Mobile Hotspot.  I hope that goes much better.  The user reviews at the Sprint site look pretty promising.  To be continued…