[Blogging WiMAX] Details on Clear WiMAX and Mac Support

[William Higgins]

As a Clear WiMAX reseller, one of the most common questions I get about the service is, "Does it work on my Mac?" Sadly the answer is "Yes" and "No." Allow me to explain.

The residential "fixed" WiMAX modem, pictured to the left, absolutely supports Mac. In fact, it works with any OS that supports TCP/IP over Ethernet. The interface to this modem is Ethernet and not USB. This modem is made to connect directly to your PC or to a home router. The installation of this device is so easy because it does not require any software install. Most installations you plug this device directly into a WiFi router and thus your entire house can share the connection using WiFi like you do already. This type of installation does not require any reboot or for anyone to change a setting on their computer at all. It's very easy.

The mobile USB modem, pictured to the right, is a different story. This modem does require you to install a Connection Manager on your computer. As of right now, that software only works on Windows XP and Windows Vista, but not Mac. I am working on testing Windows 7 and will report on that very soon. The lack of Mac support with the USB modem is very puzzling. I have not been able to confirm if this issue is hardware related or if it is just a matter of software support. I am working on finding out the real story, so please follow this post for updates.

Current Workarounds
Now, there are a few workarounds for getting the USB modem to work with Mac. I have not tested this myself, but there are reports of people getting the modem to work on Mac by using Parallels Desktop for Mac. This allows you run Windows virtually inside Mac and hardware pass through is supported. When I find a good tutorial about this I will update the link in this post.

Another way to workaround getting the USB modem to work with Mac is to use the CLEAR Spot personal hotspot accessory. The CLEAR Spot is a battery powered WiFi router. In this case, you connect the USB adapter to the CLEAR Spot personal hotspot and then you connect your PC or Mac to the CLEAR WiMAX signal using standard WiFi. This is truly a workaround and not a very good long term answer for supporting Mac and the USB modem. For more information on the CLEAR Spot hit link below to watch a short video.

YouTube - CLEAR Spot - Personal WiFi Hotspot

Future Support
The good news for Mac users is that mobile WiMAX support is only 30 days away. It is my understanding that on August 1st a new hybrid 3G/4G (WiMAX) device will be available, and will feature Mac support. I do not know if this device will be attached to a different service plan or if you can simply buy this device to be used with an existing mobile plan you may already have. I am working on getting those questions answered and will update this post with any answers I can get.

I hope this post helps clarify questions around CLEAR and Mac support. I welcome comments and questions on this post, and I do plan on using this post to update any information I get on this subject.

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Posted By William Higgins to Blogging WiMAX at 6/28/2009 11:08:00 PM