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The Philippines were one of the first countries in Southeast Asia to embrace wireless 3G or UMTS technology for internet access. Blessed (or punished) with more than 7.000 islands, digging and laying down landlines was naturally a big endeavor for this developing country.
So all the way until the mid 90′s the country was one of the laggards in regards to internet access, with Dial-up speeds and slow dedicated lines ruling the access options. Due to the high penetration rates of mobile phones, business leaders soon recognized the great potential for mobile phone based or wireless internet options:
So when 3G/UMTS as an extension of then slower GPRS for GSM came along, the Philippines were at the forefront of its adoption.
3G/UMTS services in the Philippines
Other Asian countries were relatively slow in adapting 3G/UMTS services, as they mainly had already an abundance of access options, like Dial-up, Cable, ISDN, DSL or even WiFi-point-based solutions.
In the Philippines, incumbent telecommunications provider Globe Telecom first didn’t see 3G/UMTS as an interesting service, more like a thread to existing services; also a pricey one – as UMTS licenses in Europe and other countries were auctioned off for exorbitant prices in the last years of the internet bubble. So they were slow to roll-out an UMTS network or upgrade their existing mobile network from GPRS to 3G or even 3.5G capacity.
Thankfully another provider jumped into the gap left by Globe, rolled out and extended their 3G network and these days is years ahead compared to Globe Telecom, except maybe in the Metro Manila areas. This provider is Smart.
There are some minor mobile providers in the Philippines like Sun Cellular or TM, but the first only offers 3G services in the Manila area, the latter is a mere budget-reseller of Globe services without the internet access option.
So the services to look out for – are Smart Bro/Buddy and Globe Tattoo (previously called Visibility).
Both, Globe and Smart, offer time-based internet access service on a prepaid basis, as that’s is the main form of mobile contract here in the Philippines. There are volume-based alternatives also, but they are currently not competitive. You can either access the internet with your mobile phone or use one the USB sticks/modems provided by the providers.
Those starter packages costs anything between 1.990 to 3.500 Pesos currently.
My advice – hands off!
Avoid buying the complete starter package of either Globe or Smart – as these USB dongles are sim-locked to the respective provider. They are a useless investment, if the service doesn’t work in your area or if you are planning to change your provider. Also they are expensive.
Better buy an independent UMTS PC Card (like the unlocked Sierra Wireless card pictured to the right) or use a Netbook like the Acer One with UMTS option instead. They are not locked to any provider and you can simply slide in the SIM card of your preferred access option. The standard prepaid SIM cards of Smart or Globe go for as low as 40 Pesos – yes, sometimes they are even given away for free in promotions of big shopping malls, like SM Mall, Ayala, Robinson Mall or else.
Thus you are more independent and can change the provider ‘on the fly’, if one service is down in your area.
So what is the difference between Smart and Globe?
Driving with a Tricycle more than 4.000 kilometers around the whole country over the last 2 months – and accessing the internet in every town I stayed over night – here are my first-hand experiences regarding Smart Bro and Globe Tattoo:
- Prepaid Offers: Globe offers 15 minutes for 5 Pesos, Smart offers 30 minutes for 10 Pesos. That looks on first view like a win for Globe, due to the lower time unit – but wait a minute! If you get disconnected – what can easily happen in a lower coverage area – you will pay another 5 Pesos again, even if you didn’t consume your 15 minutes yet. With Smart you can disconnect/reconnect as often as you please within your 30 minute period. It’s basically a draw – but something to consider.
- Speeds: Both providers offer similar speeds on paper, with Smart having the upper hand in reality. Both start with simple 3G, which is theoretically up to 384 kbps bandwidth. An extension to that is HSDPA, which can go as high as 3.6 Mbps of bandwidth, although Smart offers maximum 2 Mbps. There is of course a huge difference between theory and reality. In reality I never had higher download speeds than 90 kbps with Smart and 40-50 kbps with Globe – which doesn’t sound like a lot, but is still good enough to surf the web, use Skype for telephony and video chat, check out YouTube Videos and even download the odd larger patch or software.
Coverage: During the trip around the country I found the coverage of Globe Tattoo mediocre at best, mostly it wasn’t even available in bigger towns – not even GPRS speeds. Exceptions are the island of Luzon and the Metro Manila area. There are also some university towns that are covered by Globe Tattoo as well, but they are few and far between. So probably one reason why Globe changed the name to Tattoo was, that their Globe Visibility service was actually a ‘Globe Invisibility service’. 
- Compare that with the coverage of Smart Bro, which is literally available anywhere – even in/on smaller cities and islands. The only exceptions were Samar and Leyte, which has the least developed 3G internet infrastructure. Tacloban and Ormoc on Leyte were the few exceptions here, the rest of the 2 islands had maximum GPRS speeds available. Gloibe was literally non-existant. Smart also offers generally country-wide higher speeds like HSDPA, an extension to the standard 3G speeds, which are offered by Globe only around Makati and Ermita in Manila.
- Reliability: The reliability of both services is pretty good – when you have coverage. There are some disconnects from time to time – but simply reconnect and the data flows again. Also you can experience some longer outages from time to time. Here again I had more troubles with Globe than with Smart. With Globe Tattoo I also had issues using POP3 mail, which could only be received, but not sent. Also the upload speeds are where SmartBro really shines – you can upload almost as fast as download – which is important, if you use Online Services like Flickr.com or Dropbox to backup your pictures or personal files. Globe is on the losing end in that regard again.
I’m currently sitting here on Bantayan Island – a small island about 10km away from Cebu island – and having 4 bars out of 5 standard 3G speed with Smart Bro here. Globe Tattoo isn’t even showing any faster speed than plain GPRS connection, that is somewhere in the 8-12 kbps range, similar to analogue modem dial-up.
Conclusion
If you are roaming the country, there is only one clear winner here – it’s SmartBro!
It’s virtually available anywhere, the speeds are decent and the realiability is acceptable. The world of Globe is mainly restricted to the Metro Manila area.
I wonder if they still think, that the world is flat?
In Manila they are even under more threads also; with new rivals like Sun Cellular joining the 3G competition. But hey – more competition, good for the consumer, right?
If you stay mainly in one area – it doesn’t hurt to try out both. Maybe even Sun Cellular is offering 3G services in your area!
So what to do? Don’t fall for their sim-locked Starter Kits! Get a UMTS Card for your PC, use a Netbook with UMTS slot or simply your 3G-ready phone. Just buy a prepaid SIM card, which can go as low as 40 Pesos for Smart, Globe or Sun in most locations. Try out which service works most reliable in your area. Use the other SIM card as a backup service, in case your main provider is experiencing an outage.
This way, you have the best of all worlds. Agree or disagree – which one works better for you? Are there even better mobile internet options? Please share your experiences here!
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Hi, Chris. This is an interesting posts. A lot of would-be wireless broadband subscribers are really trying to find some comparisons before settling to a provider they would stick with.
I’m using a USB dongle from Sun Broadband (network-locked) and now I got issues here since we are moving to a new home. In our new location, there is no Sun Broadband signal and GSM signal (for the phone) is even very weak. I’m stuck with a network I can’t use for now and it’s postpaid.
If only I’ve known of that unlocked Sierra Wireless card before, then I could have just get the Sun Broadband postpaid SIM only, and at least, I can use any other wireless broadband provider for the meantime.
Now, I know…
I mean, I can use any other SIM for the other wireless broadband provider for the same wireless device for the meantime…
I used the Globe Visibility Kit HSDPA before but I rarely get any signals even in my own apartment building – so I chucked it and sent it back to my parents. Just using a standard DSL from PLDT. Reasonably fast since I do not share this connection with any other computers. With Smart, its 3G is quite good – I can surfed the net on my mobile and access my social networking sites. Very good coverage as well. Even if I was in a secluded beach in Coron or on top of the mountains in Sagada – I got clear 3G coverage.I also use my mobile for purchases along with its local Mastercard tie-up which I can use for booking my airline tickets online. Sweet!
Ha and I don’t like traveling with my laptop so I just leave it at home. LOL. Will wait for that office laptop I can use for business. :P
dodong, that pricing of Sun Cellular looked quite interesting, unfortunately, outside of Manila they only offer telephony (but no 3G/internet yet) services. I also stumbled across one redmobile.com provider, but looks similar, not much coverage in the country outside.
Ryan, I would love to use a more fixed and flat rate solution, unfortunately I would have to sign at least a 1-year-contract. Hmmmmm. So yeah, I bet that DSL or fixed line contracts are still the best value for money – the 999 Peso Flatrate of Smart looks good also, although you’ll need a permanent address for that one….
Hi, Chris. It’s 24-month contract for a postpaid subscription just like mine. If you don’t want a lock-in contract, you can buy the USB dongle for P1,895 and subscribe for a postpaid without any holding period. You just pay for the SIM card. You can terminate the postpaid subscription anytime. And you’re only required one valid identification to show. This information is only for Sun since I didn’t have any experience with Smart or Globe. Unfortunately, Sun Broadband is initially available here in Manila as of this time.
Yeah, too bad that Sun Cellular isn’t rolling out country-wide a bit faster. You guys in the Metro Manila area are just lucky and spoilt, hehe!
For one reason I never liked Sun Cellular for its very poor coverage and it is so hard to connect to other networks- reckon I haven’t heard anything from Red Mobile yet- seen a spate of ads on TV but they are kind of fairly quiet lately. Overall, Globe has the more yuppie, upper-class appeal – but generally – BAAAD Customer Service, spotty signals in some areas. Smart has a more pedestrian appeal, not very exciting actually, but has the best coverage I ever had so far. Sun – well you know the deal – very limited coverage.
What I am looking for is that they would be able to boost multimedia commerce – mobile, internet and real time – Smart has its Smart Money Card now- but very limited use. It’s debit facility now allows you to book Philippine Airlines tickets. Wish it can include a lot of other merchants as well. Maybe hookup Paypal?
Right now, getting a PayPal account is very complicated if you are not using a Credit Card, it would be great if Smart can do something about that.
Ryan, that’s right. Multimedia commerce. I’ve decide to stick long time ago to one service provider only. That’s why I drop my other network provider it’s only Sun which is left of me. I used to have Smart Money since 2001 and it was working pretty well. I like it very much since I didn’t need to use my credit card anymore (which is too bad if you would overspend). The following year, the card expired and I didn’t received the replacement. I kept on making follow ups, talking to Smart customer care over the phone and to the extent of visiting their Wireless Center in SM Iloilo (I was working in Iloilo back then). I was just promised it would soon arrive. It took me more than a year to make a follow up and nothing happened. That’s until I went back to Manila. I tried to make a follow up of the renewal of my Smart Money card here in Manila but I was told that I would be given a new number since the replaced card had already been expired for quite a long time. I could have agreed if it can still be topped with my Smart cellphone, but I was told it is not possible since the former was already topped with the old Smart Money card. I was adviced to get another SIM card of which such option turn out to be impractical on my part. I finally decided to give up Smart Money card. And so I thought the technology was only testing the waters and maybe gone soon. But now, I’m seeing Smart Money is gaining even more use. It’s a good news. But I can’t help it but to be pissed off everytime I’d see that huge billboard near SM North EDSA promoting Smart Money card when they really have a very terrible customer service. How can they expand into a bigger market when they cannot even fix their internal customer care management?
So, I’m just waiting that Sun Cellular can provide the kind of service – that you can use your Sun phone to pay for your train ticket, meals, shopping etc. For now, I can just only hope…
Hey Dodong,
I was just thinking that I would use the Smart card like for specific purchases – I was able to use it purchasing a plane ticket over Air Asia – so I guess that works. Top it up, and then use it right away – I never planned to use it for anything out side of that. I dun like credit cards – bad experience – paid over 2,000 USD for my Standard Chartered Visa. bleh.I had it cut and I prefer using cash.;P
Hi, redmobile is actually owned by pldt/smart.
http://www.pinoytechblog.com/archives/red-mobile-is-the-new-celco-in-town
eld, so it’s probably the same concept like with Globe/TM. A budget version to utilize their existing infrastructure? Hmmm, their internet prices are higher though (7.50 peso for 15 minutes = 15 Pesos/30 minutes), their voice/text offerings look cheaper…
This is still a squirrely program, the hours cost is too high.
Nepal has a great program, after you pay about 15 dollars in one month the cost is free afterwards.
Kenya is good, has a flash chip.
Can you buy a card as fast as you use the time?
Fun stuff, this this type of flash baby is the future or internet connections and soon they will get all this into reasonable pricing.
Thanks
I thought maybe you may find this blog very interesting. http://my_sarisari_store.typepad.com/
Funny, I just had a big problem withmy wife about the lack of anything other than very expensive next G coverage in the remote Aboriginal community I am working in at the moment. She found it impossible to believe that I couldn’t phone her or that there was no internet cafe here. It took me a couple of weeks to figure out the best option and buy a laptop as well as next G usb so we can chat daily as we always have when I’m away working.
Filipinos take it for granted that even in the most remote places there will be cafe’s and decent affordable communications.
She was only convinced I was telling her the truth when I sent her a bunch of articles on the 3rd world in Australia.
As for the contents of the article I would agree, Smart is the best generally.
The only problem we have had often with Smart is in peak usage times the service drops out a lot. It is often in these times when if I call her I will get a break in signal while if she calls me she will not. I suppose this makes sense as the carrier makes it’s money on outgoing calls rather than incoming.
Hi Chris! Thanks for the advice. I just want to ask where can I buy UMTS PC Card. Thanks in advance.
Teks, most computer shops who specialize in communication (routers, wifi devices, etc.) also should have that in stock. Depending on where you live it shouldn’t be too difficult to find one, just shop around a bit. Ah, I see you are in the Philippines, you might want to check Octagon (they have them for sure) or even CDR-King.
Thanks so much Chris.
The more interesting the blog would be..the marrier. anyway, im planning to buy a UMTS pc card..but since availabilty of the product is so transparent. i must admit that buying the smartbro at it current promo 995 is basically not just a win-win situation between both sides… i must admit, it maybe lock to smart communications only for smartbro…unlocking it to be used for another network is a hundred percent easy. no sweat. but since smart has the most widely available cell sites, you stick to it…its quite cheap also.connection speeds up to 7.2mbps is good enough for browsing… downloading at rates of 90kbps? is widely dependent on your position. if you are located at atleast 50% of the 50 mile radius of WWAN the connection is fine. Not sure if atmospheric interference is a factor, currently im using an adapter soon il be buying the 995 smartbro promo… tnx
im planning to buy a smart bro kit.. in loading the smart bro do i need to buy a new simcard? im using a globe simcard.. thanks for the help
Smart Bro plug it is now 995
http://smartbroplugit.wordpress.com/
Globe Tattoo plug it is now 895
http://globetattoo.wordpress.com/
Another alternative is SMART Bro Share it with antenna connection possible
http://smartbroshareit.wordpress.com/
You can get the Globe usb or the SUN usb unlocked read more about it at my plug it sites above to use with any sim.
grr. i wish i also knew about the sierra card before i bought a smart bro starter kit. thanks for all the info.
B-)
trebor, yes you will get a new sim card just for data services. If you have one of Smart already, you can use that one also and phone, sms/text with the same one.
tepiwepi, the Sierra Card is meanwhile discontinued, but there are similar and other cards in the market. There is so much development, prices and form factors change all the time. Check out your local IT supplier and I’m sure you will something (an unlocked 3G/UMTS card/device) that works for you….
Your review is spot on! I also travel around the country quite frequently because of my work and have both a smart bro and globe tattoo USB modem (the smart bro modem is company issue while i bought the globe tattoo modem for personal use). I can’t stress enough how unreliable globe’s internet service is outside most major cities is. I experienced more dropped connection in the span of 5 minutes than i can count on my fingers! And thats even in locations with more than 80% signal strength! In most rural areas i’ve been globe is pretty much non-existent. Though smart bro has more coverage and has a stronger signal, there where still areas with weak or no 3G coverage at all. All in all, both have their strengths and weakness, but for the most part, smart bro is still better than globe tattoo in most aspects.
Thank you, thank you, thank you soooo much for this article and the advice. I’m a balikbayan from washington dc, planning a trip to manila in november 2009. I wanted to make sure I can stay connected at all times, by voice, sms and internet without shelling out too much money. I’m currently with verizon which runs primarily on cdma network but recently traded my phone up to a global-capable one. So this whole sim card and gsm and hsdpa and whatever other acronyms are new to me. I was about to get a prepaid from Globe but based on your advice and the others here in the column, I guess I’m going with Smart. Again, thanks!
Rei, thanks for confirming our observations here.
amarc, you are welcome. I’m happy that you could take something out of the article and that other readers could help with their comments to shape your opinion. That’s the whole goal of the exercise here. Good luck with your connection and have a safe trip!
so that unplimited flat plan of smart bro is still available? i mean postpaid after you boght dongle?
Sergey, yup there is a flat rate for postpaid and it was 999 Pesos, if I’m not wrong. But you would need a residential address to get that one.
CHRIS,
is it big problem?
BTW
I never had higher download speeds than 90 kbps with Smart
- you mean kilobyte or kilobite per second?
Sergey, kbps is kilobit per second and I reached that several times. Many times on Bantayan, where I lived near the Smart tower and which obviously has only a few Smart 3G users.
A residential address is not a big problem, if you plan to stay in one place longer (at least 1 year or so). Otherwise it would make obviously less sense to subscribe to a postpaid service, as the requirements are more stringent and you end up spending more money. If in doubt and you want to stay mobile, prepaid is the cheaper and safer way to go for you.
oh 90 kilobit per second!
Philipines is no go for me – need some sort of better internet connection.
In india i got 220 kbs per second – and sometimes it is now anoght for my job =(
Sergey, wait, that was probably my mistake. The download speed is in KB/sec (not kbps) – that what Firefox or a Download Manager shows. Before you compared Philippines with India: definitely Philippines has a 10 times faster and more reliable internet than anything you might have experienced in India (which technology did you use there anyway and where?).
Oh =)
That changes the plan. i use reliance cdma ? as i told previusly it gives about 12 kilobytes per sec. It should be same speed you enjoy by tata indicom.
Haha. ‘Enjoyed’ is a good word, Sergey!
No seriously, there are worlds between India’s CDMA Dial-up services, be it Tata Indicom or Reliance – and the modern 3G networks in the Philippines. It doesn’t work all the time and perfectly fast everywhere; but no comparison with Goa, trust me on this.
nice review,,,i will get one of smart bro this month,,hope all my expectation will meet!!!
Thanks
In response to post # 19 (khmer lee), 3G/UMTS/HSDPA is not a 4G WIMAX which capable of a distance of 50miles or more in a “line of sight” signal. The current technology being used right now in the Philippines is 3G/3.5G hence the HSPDA/HSUPDA . Only Globe started to implement “4G Wimax” in a limited no. outside the cities mostly in the provinces in a limited no. which capable of 75kilometer distance line of sight per cell. They also uses a different type of modem for 4G which the current modem of your cellphone and or USB modem are not compatible..
Anyway all pinoy internet users should be familiar of 80/80 rules sa internet speed. example, if they published/claimed a 2.0mbps speed, we expect a constant 1.6mbps speed (80% of 2.0) at 80% of the time… hence the 80/80 rules.. the rest of 10% should be on the upper range and the 10% just “near” below of 80%..it can’t be at the speed of 50kbs, 100kbs, 200kbs, or even 500kbs majority of the time if you subscribed at 2.0mbps..
this 80/80 Quality of Service are the norm de facto of other countries .. these big 3 companies knows this 80/80 rules but just turning a blind eyes and giving us poor performance speed here in pinas!
I hope this help…
Bong2
hi i would like to ask if smartbro works outside philippines…like in europe?
Nice insight, thanks Yurs truly.
Good question, cheng. No easy answer. It probably will work, as almost all network providers have partner agreements with international carriers in other countries. For sure they don’t have their own network infrastructure there. So providing a service abroad is done via roaming through other networks. And yeah, the roaming charges will most likely kill you, so better get a prepaid service in the country you are traveling to.
hi,
im planning to set-up 3G PTZ cameras in Isabela city, philippines, and I have UMTS 3G PTZ camera, can you teach me how to configure the Sim card I will be using. can you give me basic steps, do i need some procedures to follow like establishing the network, etc. because its my first time to encounter 3G configuration , pls help.
hi there,
can smart bro wireless antenna or USB type can configure on port forwarding to forward video signals and use HTTP port 80.
pls check and advice
thanks,
rey
just wait for 3g roll out of sun cellular early by next year in north luzon area.
rey, I have no idea, how you can set up this antenna configuration. I hope that it comes with a manual and some installation/driver disks. Usually you use the connection manager of your operating system, your hardware or the internet provider you are using. Also the ports I can’t check, as I’m currently not in the Philippines. But the initial investment is pretty low (just get the SIM card prepaid), so you can figure that out easily when you are setting up the system. Worst case, you might have to buy another SIM card of the alternative provider in your region. Or – to avoid that – you drop by a local computer shop and ask, how they use their mobile internet. They should be able to give you better and updated information for your region than I would ever be able to do from afar. Thanks and good luck!
hi chris pls give some advice i wnt to go to philippilines and i wnt to have internet connection wher i will buy for it? its my first time to use dongle what shoul i do for having a good internet connection and my place in dipolog mindanao
rose, just read the above article. It gives you all the information you need. If you are still confused, ask other people in your town, what they use and what works best there. Based on their reports then drop by at a Smart or Globe outlet in your town. They will help to install the internet for you accordingly. Serious!
hi chris,
thanks for your comment,actually, i have two options 1 ) is using PTZ camera with simcard slot, and its only needs little configuration, to view the camera anywhere.
2) by using router 3G, i bought it and it needs USB modem from smart, globe or sun,
so for option2, i think i need to configure it my my laptop first then after configuration i will let the PTZ camera + Router + modem works as standalone and can view the camera anywhere right?
thanks,
rey
hi there,
I want to configure smart bro account 999 with canopy antenna for port forwarding,
i can enter to my DVR, but i cannot view the camera live video, what i can browse is the web server. i think smart bro 999 account cannot set up port forwarding, pls help based on your experience.
regards,
rey
rey, am sorry, but I can only reiterate my tips from comment #43. Go to a local computer shop or to any of Smart’s outlets – they should be able to help you.
I don’t know your hardware configuration, I never used any like that and don’t know what the problem might be. Also, I’m no expert, just a user, currently in Indonesia, I have no chance checking ports or other SLA’s of Smart. A professional computer service should be able to help you or Smart directly, if you use their service.
Either way, a local solution will probably be the way to go for you…
hi chris,
right now, im testing my DOO-LINK 432 3.5 G Router, and i used to try Globe Tatoo, the results was its only keeps dialing and dialing only, it cannot connected.
can you advice what is the exact model of Hua wei USB globe Tatoo for me to check the compatibility with my router.
thanks,
rey
hi chris,i checked the WAN configuration, its only have globe.info.com.ph and the dial nos: is *9#
i dont know the correct dial nos. for globe and smart.
pls advice.
regards,
rey
rey, are you reading at least my answers? I’m really sorry, but I am the wrong guy for those details.
Neither do I have the technical knowledge nor did I ever use canopy antennas, routers, port forwarding or any Huawei, DVR, PTZ or Doo-link hardware to connect to the internet. Therefore I can’t help you with your detailed setup, compatibility check or WAN configuration. But the people who sold you that stuff can! Thank you!
HI Chris,
I really liked your insights on this topic. I’ve googled everything as to which is the better buy betweeen smart and globe and you really laid it out very nicely for me. Thanks for this very very helpful article! I will try to look for that umts card you suggested. Good thing I stopped myself from rushing to buy the dongle a while ago. (But based from what you observed and from the comments here, I think I’d go for SmartBro if there’s no umts card available)
THANKS!!!
Hi Oan, the above mentioned card is meanwhile discontinued, but there are many un-locked alternatives out there, for PCMCIA (PC Card) slots, SD Card slots or also USB. Just get what you need or if you buy a new netbook/notebook, some even come with an 3G adapter inbuilt. For me it was well worth the extra costs, than having another accessory to deal with.
I have a wireless internet connection and just like other people around there we want to choose between globe or smart. Like me i google a lot of times before i decided to choose the one. You have to choose the right one because if go to wireless internet most of them are 1 year to two year contract. That even if you want to cancel you have to pay the remaining months. It is unlike the line connections that you have to pay only two months penalty.
Like me i choose here in our province to get the Globe wireless dsl. In their contract it was a minimum of 1 year lock in period. Why i choose Globe? in our place they have a better and fastest internet speed than smart. And i notice in our place that most of houses with internet antenna is globe. I saw some that they already have smart bro antenna but got a new Globe dsl, i gues because they found out that globe is better than smart.
I do not recommend globe for everyone, it depends on your area. Try to survey on your area and not on internet. Its too broad, surveying on your location is better. Here in nueva ecija i can highly recommend Globe. Hope it helps.
leo
BoatPlansWooden
leo, you are right! And that’s why it’s also important to start and check with their prepaid SIM’s first, before you commit to any long-term contract. It’s no fun having signed a 1-year deal and then only having limited or unreliable coverage. Hehe!
hi there
nice experience you have there, but to my experience as a network solution specialist, our problem in the project is the distance(project resides in the province) from the cell site with a 3G signal. for now im working and some experimentation started last 2008, which proved to be running and stable, no matter what provider your using as long ypu get a good signal, i am running my 3G tatto and and Smartbro(USB) at a distance of 16Km, i get a 1.2 Mbps average,
the technology is outthere, all you have to do is think, innovate and experiment.
for now, i am trying to experiment at 30Km range, hopefully it will work.
thanks
Just tried SmartBro plugin with Windows 7……… Not working yet….
Samrt bro stick are not working with w7. They even tell it in their offices.
Sergey and KiwiNomad, the SmartBro stick is made from Huawei and it is working with Windows 7, you just have to update the drivers. I found them some time ago on the Huawei support forum resolving this same problem of you for a friend. It was a little bit cumbersome to install, not like the usual way of updating a driver, but it actually works.
Good luck!
The mentioned driver can be found here. This driver works for ALL Huawei modems not just the E169. Hope this helps.
Jurgen,
I thoght it is made by ZTE, not Huawei. At least the software it start tells about ZTE.
Sergey, then you probably have an older model. The ones they are selling now in Manila are from Huawei, if I’m not mistaken.
have you heard of SmartBro’s new SurfTV? http://bit.ly/dgSi5R
I envy you ,i never go abroad to travel!!!!
work hard to achieve my dream
I am in Mandaluyong and ever since March to April my speed can only get as high as 0.19 Mbs especially between 7am until 12 noon. SMART Bro is my service provider.
I want to comment on the service aspect of SMART Vs Globe.
Have been in Philippines for more than three years and I took Globe broadband a month back (Moved from SMART to Globe) when I moved to Eastwood City and I am totally frustrated.
1. Numerous complaints have resulted in their “Engineer” coming home to check the lines and at the end of it saying “I will report to “Technical” department as I cant do anything”.
2. Finally I got upset and wanted to speak to their manager by calling the Hotline but was told that it was not possible and the representative Jennifer Flower was fully aware of my case for last one month but could not give any definite time when the issue would be resolved.
3. It is not only the poor service but also the poor responses which frustrate the customers who are stuck in the contract
Ok… So ive scrolled down through this page reading some here and there. Ive confirmed that I dont know anything about phone technology except that I own a Droid, it works on CDMA, and I wanna bring it to the Philippines to access 3g networks to check email and perhaps send an occasional text. Im gonna have to pay to keep the service anyways, id just assume somehow enable it to work for me there as well.
Can someone tell me that im not SOL here… how can I get this to work and what kinda price range am I looking at.
Hey Chris… you got any suggestions or info for my previous question?
Oops, didn’t see the comment until now. Am not sure about your CDMA Droid, Ben. CDMA is not that popular in Asia. There are some smaller providers in Indonesia or India that still use it, but their coverage is lousy at best. In Philippines you have basically only GSM-based Mobile Providers.
So your phone will most likely not work at all, as it’s a different mobile standard and a legacy one on top of that. If anyone knows of a good CDMA provider in the Philippines, please correct me and comment here.
I had a feeling that would be the answer…. but how about its 3g capabilities? do you suppose I could still access the internet or does that require my phone to be gsm as well. Sorry, just not a tech geek.
You are most likely out of luck, Ben. 3G is an extended GSM technology for higher bandwidth, the faster speeds for CDMA are called WCDMA.
But GSM/3G/HSDPA/HSUPA is a different technology than CDMA and requires a different phone altogether.
Well shit…. I do appreciate the info, even if its not what i would want it to be. Thanks
You are most welcome Ben! On the other hand, 3G phones are so bloody cheap meanwhile, you can even pick up a cheap Nokia when you arrive there, should do the trick.
Or get an unlocked 3G/UMTS USB stick, then you can change the SIM card based on your area of coverage on the fly. No need to buy a whole phone. Those USB sticks get cheaper by the minute these days, some carriers even give them out for free.
There is a Smart Starter Package in the Philippines, last time I checked it was around 999 Pesos, which comes out to something around 22 USD for the USB stick, the SIM card and some initial load for the SIM card. There is even a hack for it to make it carrier-independent.
with regards to 3g coverage here in our provinec ILOILO, Globe has better coverage than smart
Great to hear that, romel and thanks for the update regarding the coverage in your province Iloilo!
I’m heading to Cebu in a few weeks and the post and comments here have been very very useful for me as I will be travelling around for almost 2 months. Cheers!
Hi LEO,
What town are you from in Nueva Ecija? I’m from Zaragoza and wondering if Globe broadband will work well. Thanks!