For the most recent info, see the 2011 Clear 4G Plans Review
Mobile & Home Internet Plans
Clear has a number of unlimited mobile broadband plans divided into 4 types: Home, Mobile, Bundle and Professional (small office) plans.The benefits of Clear 4G plans are 2-fold.
They bypass the regular mobile broadband restrictions of long-term contracts along with 5GB data caps (they claim unlimited data service).
It’s a mobile broadband user’s dream.
Freedom to download to the digital heart’s content alongside the freedom the leave anytime.
Gotta love it.
There are two types of Clear 4G plans (regular consumer & business plans) that have even more options within them.
While it gives a well-informed customer much appreciated choice, this can be confusing as heck for someone new to mobile broadband especially with the weird names they picked for the specific plans.
Thankfully, it seems like someone at Clear figured as much as well.
In preparation for your impending 4G headache, they’ve got the Clear Advisor to pick the best plan to suit you. Click the screenshot below to hop to it.
Don’t worry though, just because they put this together doesn’t mean we’ll be lazy and not go through every plan with the detail of a brain surgeon. That’s why this site exists.
Their Advisor (available on their site) gives you an idea of which Clear 4G plans will fit you. While helpful, some might need a more in-depth analysis.
Let’s simplify by starting with the categories of plans. Then we’ll get into the specific plans within each:
All plans have a $35 activation fee if on the month-to-month plan. The fee is waived with a 2 year contract.
How To Pick A Home Internet Plan In A Nutshell:
Unless you’re really trying to slum it, don’t go for the Basic home. 1.5 Mbps download speeds would be good for about email and not much else (comfortably). For $20 extra, you could add Voice but with such low speeds, your $20 may be better spent with Skype.
On the other hand the “Get One: Home” is a fair option with speeds identical to the mobile plans below but at a fraction of the monthly cost. Instead of $20 extra, you can add Voice with the “Get Two: Home + Voice” for $15 extra along with no cap on download speeds. That’s a good deal.
That boils it down to 2 plans:
Either the Get One: Home for $40 or the Get Two: Home + Voice for $55.
These plans are just what you’d expect. Similar to current 3G plans, you get a broadband device that allows you to connect anywhere in the coverage area. What’s different is that the speeds are 4 times faster than 3G in addition to no data caps.
Here’s a sum up of the Mobile Internet plans in order of cost:
**There is no cap/overage charge when using 4G. However, if on the 3G network, there is a 5GB usage cap with a $0.05/MB overage charge. For making sense of overages and data caps, check out How Much Is 5 GB & Is It Enough?
How To Pick A Mobile Internet Plan In A Nutshell:
The iSpot On-The-Go plan is designed specifically for the iPad, iPod Touch and iPhone. If you use either device heavily, having higher 4G speeds for $25 works out to be a decent deal.
This’ll work out better for some instead of paying AT&T overage charges when using your iPhone or if you’d like faster speeds without relying on a WiFi or 3G network with the iPad or iPod Touch. However, if you’ve got a regular laptop, then you’ll be looking elsewhere.
The GetOne: On-The-Go plan is for just about everyone. At $40 for 4G speeds in any Clear covered area, that’s a heck of a deal. If they get the entire nation covered, it’ll be stiff competition for all other mobile broadband providers.
If you travel outside of the current 4G networks, your device will switch to Sprint’s 3G network for continued coverage.
Reaching over 230 million people (with roaming-included areas), service is available in 218 major metro markets and 1,002 airports coast-to-coast.The ClearInternet+ plan is for those of us who bounce around from place to place.
While you’ve got the 4G network, you’ve also got access to the 3G network nationwide if you happen to be in an area where there’s no 4G.
Since they’re completely different networks, it’s almost like having a nice backup if in an area covered by both.
If one’s not working, you’ve got the other.
Additionally, at $55, that’s $5 less than the industry standard and you get 4G to boot.
There is one caveat: When in a 3G network, you can’t be all crazy with your downloading since you’ll now have a 5GB cap plus a $0.05/MB overage charge.
With that being said, it’s pretty important to know exactly where you’ve got 3G coverage vs. 4G coverage.
Final Tip on Clear 4G Mobile Internet plans: if you don’t think you’ll switch providers for 2 years, you can sign up for a contract to save $35 off the activation fee. I say go ahead and pay it since it’s a small price to pay for freedom.
Not interested in Home Internet, Bundle & Save or Clear 4G Professional Plans?
Here’s a quick hop past all that info. Find out how fast CLEAR’s 4G Speed is?
Otherwise read on.