How to Bridge a Clear (Clearwire) WiMax Modem to work with an Enterprise Firewall and a static IP

Guess what, you can’t.  Return the modem and cancel your service.
Ok, to be honest, you can get it to work with a firewall without going into a Bridged mode, but forget using VPN, and for most people that is the entire point of having a firewall that can be bridged.
I have a Watchguard Firebox that can take a DHCP address from the Clear Series G modem, but I couldn’t get remote management to work or site to site VPN tunnels.
I spent almost 3 weeks screwing around with this and got NOWHERE!  Every time you need to change anything it takes 2-4 days.  Need a static IP? 2-4 days.  Need to replace a dead modem, 2-4 days.  There is no way I can keep a business running if I have to wait 4 days every time there is a problem or a change!
First they sent me a home modem with no support for bridging, then I read on the forums that you could get a USB “Mobile” device and then plug that into a CradlePoint router (I paid $150 for the CBR400 on ebay)
I wish that the devices that Clear sold were as well built as this Cradlepoint, It’s a well built product.
It took Clear 4 days to activate that Modem and then it still wouldn’t link to my static IP!  When I tried to link the static IP on the Clear website it said that the device belonged to someone else, but the real error was that the Home USB devices do not support static IPs,  so much for bridging with the Cradlepoint!
It’s “Clear” that the Office Pro Internet they sell is nothing more that consumer grade internet re-branded.  They even told me they could setup direct billing to my accounting department and when I got the modem in the mail, it wouldn’t work until I gave them a credit card!
At this point I am livid and I call 888-888-3113 so that I can talk to Level II support.  I get disconnected the first time I call, and then I get transferred 5 times over 23 minutes before I get to a Level II support person who tell me right off the bat that they do not support bridging.  Done, over, that’s it.  No conversation about alternatives, your just SOL and I will open a ticket for you now to cancel your account.  Great...
This is the worst support I have EVER had on ANYTHING!  No one you speak to on the phone will be located in the United States as far as I can tell.  Half the time I don’t think they even understand what I ‘m saying.  For as often as I was disconnected, I think they prefer to dump anyone who has anything other than a simple question.
More notes of interest:
  • The speed I was getting with 5 full bars was about 6mb down and 1mb up.
  • I never got the “Professional Class Support” they list under Office Pro Internet
  • They always told me they would email me information when I signed up and I never got anything.  Later I found that it all went to my clear.com email box (They use Google’s Gmail)

Comments

Blabbing Brad said…
They never even offered me 2nd level. And the 1st level guy was useless, he suggested I contact my VPN device vendor on how to configure it. How dumb can you be, my VPN device works fine, its clearwire's inability to even understand what bridge mode is that is the problem. ISP's are making it increasingly difficult to use anthything other than basic internet access, they have it so "dumbed down" and "plug and play" that no-one has any clue what is really going on in the background.

Sad sad sad...they just lost another customer due to poor support and the in-ability to talk to someone that knows what I'm talking about.

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