Sidecut Reports

Want to try Clearwire’s WiMAX wireless broadband service while you’re in Vegas for CTIA? Move now and reserve yourself a modem or modem-and-pocketspot combo from local provider Cheetah, which is teaming up with Clearwire to offer WiMAX rentals for as little as $13.99 a day, or $34 for 3 days, a program that lots of folks took advantage of during CES.

So instead of paying exorbitant hotel fees for slow, shared DSL or clogged Wi-Fi — or taking a crapshoot on what will likely be mega-crowded 3G airwaves — you can instead have a mobile connection of between 3 to 6 Mbps on the download side, pretty much anywhere in Las Vegas.

In addition to renting both USB modems (for laptops and netbooks) and desktop modems, Cheetah will also be renting a combo of a modem and Clearwire’s Clear Spot portable WiMAX/Wi-Fi router, which will let you connect a small workgroup of Wi-Fi devices.

Single-day prices, according to the Cheetah site, are $12.50 a day for a USB WiMAX modem, $18.99 a day for a desktop modem, and $18.99 for a modem/portable router combo. Costs per day go down with multiple days, with a 4-day basic modem total hitting $44.59, about $11.15 a day for fast broadband access.

Our good pal Mari Silbey pointed us to a Motorola announcement today of an interesting new twist on the mobile USB WiMAX dongle — a home docking station that adds antenna power and the ability to suction-cup the sucker to a window, all to improve indoor coverage.

The reason we think this is interesting is because it is our reasoned guess that many users of WiMAX services (like Clearwire’s) will want to go for the cheapest and most mobile plan available, so they sign up for a mobile-only contract, figuring the USB dongle will do well enough inside their house or office. In our recent interview with Clearwire CTO John Saw, this is exactly what Clearwire is seeing — lots of “mobile” use actually taking place inside buildings.

The Moto solution (see video below) addresses the in-building problems by adding antenna power and giving users the flexibility to stick the docking station where it gets the best signal — while then taking the USB dongle with them when they are mobile, for a true home and away solution. The folks from Cradlepoint are following a similar path with their soon-to-arrive portable WiMAX/Wi-Fi router, adding even more flexibility to WiMAX use. In all, seems like that promised stream of WiMAX devices is finally starting to arrive.