Clear Spot Voyager

By Alex Colon

How does all the data you could possibly want for less than $50 per month sound? Pretty good, I know. That's just what you'll get using the Clear Spot Voyager, Clear's latest, and best, hotspot. It's super tiny, which makes it incredibly portable, and unlimited data means you can even use it as your primary home internet connection. There's no 3G support, so it will only work in Clear's 4G coverage area, and its small size makes it difficult to determine things like connection status and battery life on the device itself. But that's a small price to pay when you consider how great a deal the Voyager is otherwise. It's so good, in fact, that it's our latest Editors' Choice for hotspots on Clear.

Pricing and Physical Features
The main reason to consider Clear as a cellular service provider is because it's one of the only carriers to offer truly unlimited data. There are two plans available for the Voyager. The less expensive one costs $34.99 per month, and gets you unlimited 4G WiMAX data, with download speeds capped at 1.5Mbps and uploads at .5Mbps (which effectively means 3G-like speeds, albeit only where there is 4G coverage). The $49.99 plan also gets you unlimited data, though there's no cap on download speeds, while uploads are limited to 1Mbps. Keep in mind that this modem is 4G-only, so be sure to check Clear's 4G coverage map to see if service is available where you live and where you plan to travel.

Verizon Wireless and AT&T may offer much faster 4G LTE, but those plans start at $50 per month, and only get you 4 or 5GB of data (respectively), which you can easily run through on a rainy day watching Netflix. Now that Virgin Mobile has access to Sprint's abandoned 4G WiMAX network, it too is worth checking out for inexpensive, contract-free broadband. You can get 2GB of 3G data for $35 per month, or 5GB for $55. But both of those plans come with unlimited 4G WiMAX data, so if you fall in the coverage area, be sure to take a look.

One thing's certain: You're not going to find a smaller hotspot anywhere else. At 2.6 by 2.6 by 0.5 inches (HWD) and just 2.1 ounces, the Clear Spot Voyager is smaller than a stack of Post-it Notes. It's made of matte silver plastic, with black plastic grilles along the side. It's attractive, in a minimalist way, and small enough to slip into any pocket. It's still big enough for a 1830mAh battery, which was good for an impressive 7 hours and 45 minutes of 4G streaming on a full charge.

The Voyager has a single Power button on the front edge, next to three different status lights. On the device itself, you can monitor battery life, network status, and whether or not anyone is connected to the hotspot. This is done using multicolor status lights and a series of blinks. It can be a little difficult to decipher at first, but if you ever get lost, the meaning of each LED indicator is listed clearly on the back of the modem. There's also a sticker with the Voyager's Wi-Fi network name and password, which you can change after your initial log-in.

Setup?and Administration
Since this is a mobile hotspot, you don't need any drivers to use it (unless you're running a laptop with Windows XP; more on that in a second). The Voyager uses 802.11 b/g. To connect, simply turn it on, and use your computer or device's wireless connection manager. You can connect up to eight devices this way; I connected a phone, laptop, and a tablet at the same time and they all worked just fine. If you're running Windows XP, instructions are provided to download additional drivers (after initially connecting to the modem) for optimal performance.

You can also tether the modem to your computer via USB cable. I did so with a laptop running Windows 7 and it automatically installed its own drivers and connected quickly and easily. Speeds were similar to what I saw with Wi-Fi.

There's also an excellent Web-based management console, which you can access by sending a connected device to http://clearspot. The console is well laid out and extremely easy to use. From there you can monitor signal strength and battery life, check out who's connected to the router, and control a wide range of router settings. It's fairly comprehensive, allowing set your Wi-Fi options, enable port forwarding and firewalls, and modify a host of security options, along with simpler options like changing your network name and password.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/SRnZg_GB6Hs/0,2817,2408653,00.asp

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