I live in southwestern Idaho and used Clearwire for nearly a year or so. It was convenient at the time, as I did not require a phone line or TV service. However the latency was always a problem, 170ms was about the best you could see for anything meaningful. Use of BitTorrent was slow to the point of deliberate and the problems got worse the longer I used the service. It was heavily promoted here at times and I believe the outstripped capacity rather quickly. Overall, this is certainly not a service I would recommend to anyone other than the elderly.

There's a WiMax precursor system popping up around Halifax Nova Scotia. I've been waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting for them to send the WiMax Installation truck out to my local cell phone tower.

Now I've given up waiting.

I've just ordered a EVDO gadget that plugs into my PCs by USB. Slightly more expensive per month than WiMax, but at least it actually exists today.

When I die a very old man, I want my headstone to read, "I'm still waiting for WiMax..."

Sprint did not have a partnership with Clearwire. A Letter of Intent existed which outlined a proposed collaboration, which if finalized required government approval due to spectrum matters. Sprint ended network collaboration discussion with Clearwire when complexities associated with seamless services delivery became obvious to both parties; we would not be able to offer the simplified user experience as planned. Clearwire has a fixed WiMAX network while Sprint is pursuing a mobile WiMAX strategy. There is still the possibility of roaming agreement. Sprint is getting ready for soft launch of Xohm WiMAX service in Chicago, Washington DC and Baltimore by yearend followed by commercial launch in the second quarter of 2008.

If WiMAX was so great, it would have replaced Wi-Fi by now. It hasn't. The connections are flaky in the spots that do have it, and the costs and equipment don't help, either. Perhaps it will still come about if the hardware becomes standard like Wi-Fi cards and the connections are fast, secure, and solid, but that might be awhile.