More and more Filipinos have again gone wireless to connect to the internet. Recently, the three major wireless telcos have pushed down the cost of their wireless broadband modems or dongles to as low as P888 in a common effort to outsell competitors. The competition has gone so fierce that rivals Smart and Globe have come out with ads claiming their respective wireless broadband service is faster. Curiously, both did not include Sun in their ads.
This post and the next one(s) hope to provide an independent take on the wireless broadband services of Globe, Smart and Sun Cellular.
Wireless broadband or mobile broadband is simply the provision of mobile internet access through modems or dongles, and through mobile phones as well. Instead of being connected via wirelines, wireless or mobile broadband makes full use of the GSM signals to connect a user to the internet. Speeds vary depending on what the telcos can provide in a particular area. Globe and Smart both claim to have 3G and 3.5G signals nationwide, while Sun has said it has completed its 3.5G rollout in Metro Manila.
For this initial post, let’s compare modem/dongle prices and internet rates:
| Globe Tattoo | SmartBro | Sun Broadband Wireless | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prepaid price of modems and dongles | P895 | P995 (and P1,195 for those with special UAAP, NCAA designs) | P888 |
| Prepaid rates | P5 for 15 minutes | P10 for 30 minutes | P10 for 30 minutes P50 for 24 hours (through special card or OTA load) |
| Prepaid reloading | Autoload Max, Call and Text Cards, Share-a-Load | E-Load, SmartBro cards, Pasaload | Xpressload, Sun Broadband Wireless Cards |
| Promised speeds | Up to 2 mbps (prepaid and postpaid) | Up to 2 mbps (prepaid and postpaid) | Up to 2 mbps (prepaid and postpaid Plans 799, 649), Up to 3 mbps (postpaid Plan 1399) |
| Claimed coverage | Nationwide (3G, HSDPA, EDGE or GSM) | Nationwide (3G, HSDPA, EDGE or GSM) | Metro Manila (3G, HSDPA, EDGE or GSM) and Nationwide (EDGE, GSM) |
| Postpaid rates and terms | Tattoo 499: P499 monthly fee w/ 45 hours mobile internet access of up to 2mpbs and 10 hours WIFI access at Globe WIZ hotspots. P0.33/minute beyond free hours. Standard credit checks. 24-months contract. Tattoo 999: P999 monthly fee w/ 100 hours mobile internet access of up to 2mpbs and unlimited WIFI access at Globe WIZ hotspots. P0.33/minute beyond free hours. Standard credit checks. 24-months contract. Tattoo 1499: P1,499 monthly fee w/ 160 hours mobile internet access of up to 2mpbs and unlimited WIFI access at Globe WIZ hotspots. P0.33/minute beyond free hours. Standard credit checks. 24-months contract. | Plan 799: P799 monthly fee w/ up to 80 hours internet access of up to 2mbps speeds. P10 per 30 minutes beyond free hours. Standard credit checks. 24-month contract. Plan 1500: P1,500 monthly fee for unlimited internet access up to 2mbps speeds. Standard credit checks. 24-month contract. | Easy Broadband 799: P799 monthly fee for unlimited access up to 2mbps speeds. Advanced payment of two monthly fees required to get free modem. No credit checks. No contract. SBW Plan 799 SIM Only: P799 monthly fee for unlimited access up to 2mbps speeds. No free modem. No credit checks. 6-month contract. SBW Plan 799: P799 monthly fee for unlimited access up to 2mbps speeds with free modem. Standard credit checks. 24-month contract. SBW Plan 649: P649 monthly on top of postpaid plan of current or new subscriber for unlimited access up to 2 mbps with free modem. No credit check if existing subscriber. Standard credit checks if new subscriber. 24-month contract. SBW Plan 1399: P1399 monthly fee for unlimited access up to 3mbps speeds with free modem. Standard credit checks. 24-month contract. |
| Important links | SmartBro Prepaid SmartBro Products | User Manual | FAQs |
| Customer service | Dial 211 from a Globe mobile phone or 02-7301000 from a landline. | Dial *1888 from a Smart mobile phone or 02-6727277 from a landline. | Dial 333 from a Sun mobile phone or 02-3953333 from a landline. |
Prepaid modem price, rates and reloading
Sun Cellular offers the cheapest modem/dongle price at the moment, which is P888.
All three telcos charge an effective rate P20 per hour of mobile broadband access. The different is the minimum time to connect. The minimum for Smart and Sun is 30 minutes (P10) while Globe’s is 15 minutes (P5).
Very light users may find Globe a bit attractive but that is based only on the rate offers. Take note though that service issues (like proximity to cellsites and base stations, signal strength, available internet speeds and density of users in a particular area) may affect web surfing and may actually take someone a time longer than 15 minutes to check email.
Sun Cellular deserves praise for being the only telco that provides one-day, 24-hour unlimited mobile broadband access at just P50 a day for its prepaid subscribers.
Reloading prepaid modems and dongles is as easy as reloading cellphones. All three telcos have made available a variety of ways to conveniently reload via electronic load or scratch cards.
Coverage
Globe and Smart obviously have an edge over Sun in terms of nationwide 3G and 3.5G coverage. But Sun is reportedly rolling out coverage outside of Metro Manila with subscribers independently claiming that they could get 3G and 3.5G signals already in parts of Bulacan and Cavite.
If you travel often outside of Metro Manila, you can choose between Globe and Smart. If you stay only often in Metro Manila and rarely go elsewhere, Sun is a wise choice.
To check which telco has a 3G signal in your place, just use a 3G phone, go to network settings and search for new networks. It will show you in a moment all the network signals that reach your house or office. Choose a telco with good coverage of places you usually go to.
Postpaid
The postpaid rates and services are varied and choosing one among them depends on your internet habits.
For example, Globe Tattoo may attract those relatively light to medium users only because there’s no plan that provides unlimited internet. Access to Globe WIZ looks like a consolation prize. Those who wish to opt for Globe Tattoo prepaid should check if they are often near or at Globe WIZ hotspot so they can take full advantage of this offer.
Add a peso to Globe’s Plan 1499 (which provides for 60 hours mobile internet access and unlimited Globe WIZ access), Smart can already give you unlimited mobile internet access but with no complimentary AirborneAccess privileges.
Metro Manila users who want a unlimited postpaid mobile broadband at faster speeds should avail of Sun’s Plan 1399 which promises speeds of up to 3 mbps. Only this plan and telco has offered unlimited mobile internet at that speed. Globe and Smart can only provide up to 2 mbps to both prepaid and postpaid subscribers.
Globe and Smart are apparently still stingy in offering and approving applications for postpaid Globe Tattoo and SmartBro accounts. Sun Cellular has taken advantage of this by offering the widest choices for postpaid subscribers.
Globe and Smart has stiff requirements for those who wish to apply for postpaid Globe Tattoo and postpaid SmartBro: Minimum of P10,000 monthly salary, proof of billing, a landline number and IDs – practically the same for mobile phone service applications.
Sun Cellular also has these requirements for its only high-end Plan 1399 and for their Standard Plan 799. But it has also made available an Easy Broadband 799 Plan which requires only the submission of one ID and the advanced payment of two monthly service fees, and without any contract. Those already with a modem or dongle can also avail of the SBW 799 SIM Only Plan – again without a long list of requirements and with a short contract of just six months. These two plans are arguably the two most convenient and downright most affordable postpaid plans for mobile broadband. Current Sun mobile postpaid subscribers can get an even lower rate of P649 a month if they add a Sun Broadband Wireless subscription to their account.
VERDICT
Based solely on their announced rates and services, the wisest choice for Metro Manila is Sun Broadband Wireless, whether prepaid or postpaid. Its P888 modem price is already a steal. Heavy prepaid users can enjoy unlimited internet for just P50 a day. The Easy Broadband 799 meanwhile is the best postpaid offering in the metropolis for providing unlimited internet for just P799 a month, and for having no cumbersome credit checks and long list of requirements.
For the highly mobile Metro Manilans who go out of the metropolis often and those who live elsewhere in our archipelago, the best choice appears to be Smart prepaid and postpaid.
[Watch out for Part 2!]
Tags: globe tattoo, mobile broadband, smartbro, sun broadband wireless, wireless internet
thanks for this review, I was wondering what is the most practical wireless broadband to avail in Manila since I’m planning to visit soon and here’s the answer.
I heard a lot of good stuff about Sun broadband before but didn’t really believe them at first. What you said here cleared up many things for me. Thanks for the helpful review. ^_^
Dont believe in SUN. I got Sun Easy broadband last May. I was happy at first that I bought another stick (prepaid) for a close relative as a gift. However, I finally realized that their service which once was great is however short lived. Last May, I was able to enjoy 2MBps surfing (I can access WCDMA signal). A month later, my broadband lessened to 400-600Kbps (cant access WCDMA anymore, the only available band is HSDPA and EDGE). But still, its ok for me because surfing is still not that bad. However, I soon realized that the more I used it the lesser my bandwidth becomes. Now my maxspeed is only 100Kbps while paying at the same rate (Now can only access EDGE, WTF!!!). So please beware.
Btw, Im currently living in Makati.
Nice summary you have there. However, I think you should mention Smart’s Share-it service.
I don’t quite agree with your verdict, but considering the budget, Sun may be the default choice. Just remember, you get what you pay for. Cheap Internet? Hmm.. SBW is only good for casual web surfing, streaming, and a little of downloading. In other words, only for those people who use minimal bandwidth. Pushing it a little further would end up triggering their famous speed capping.
Heavy users should still stick to wired access.
Plenty of other stuff to share but I had to focus on what can actually be compared. I think I also wrote somewhere (else) that wired connections are always better than wireless.
As to speed-capping, I heard about it. But that’s an altogether different discussion, on how Sun determines violations of the service contract or terms of use. I think though that its kinda sweeping to just brand Sun’s product as “only for those people who use minimal bandwidth”.
Cheap internet is the way to go because that’s what’s been happening to technology services and products. High prices and rates don’t necessarily mean high-quality services either. The telcos better lower their prices if they wish to encourage mass consumption of their services and to raise the speed and bandwidth caps because the Philippines appear to be lagging behind our neighbors in those areas.
well.. most comment here are very subjective..
1. technically, speed varies on location.
a. speed varies on number of users within that location.
b. speed varies on interferences within that location going to base stations.
c. speed varies on the technology used to transfer data from your modem to their base station.
before you actually avail their product… please do try it first. if your phone has 3G on it, then you can use them to test if your area is serviceable by that ISP.
in our area which is Manila
no Smart 3G signal
not strong Sun 3G signal
unknown globe 3G signal
i’m very satisfied with my internet speed knowing that Sun’s signal is not that strong here.
@access WCDMA anymore, the only available band is HSDPA
- well you should be happy because HSDPA is faster than WCDMA.. you should do your research so you wouldn’t sound stupid and naive
if i’d promote SUN.. then there’d be more users connecting to sun.. but the higher the possibility that the speed becomes slower
otherwise. the more the customer the higher the income the higher the chance that they could improve their already satisfying service.
i agree with syntaxtimawa. everything he/she wrote above.xD
i am not sun broadband believer.i always get intermittent connection.it seems the unlimited connection becomes limited.i’m living in mandaluyong where they said (sun agents)is highly utilized area during peak hours.i tried connecting early in the morning but the same thing happened,promising that they are doing something (upgrading their system)where is it now????kainis!!! buset!!!
i am using a sun broadband wireless (postpaid)..my 1st 2 mos. was ok..i was able to get 1.5 Mbps during on/off peak..the speed was consistent..but after that, everything went down..m not even getting more than halg a meg..i kind of frustrated but i have to bear with it…instead of switching to Globe / Smart might need to just stick with SUN, coz the other 2 TELCO sucks more than what i have right now..
im applying postpaid unlimited for 2 years contract 999 a month 1299 nabayaran ko kasi may kasama daw 300 unlimited call at sim anyway binigyan ako ng smarbro mf627 at postpaid sim ini try ko wala pung signal kahit san ako kahit dito sa city of valencia kung prepaid lakas ng signal….help naman po
thank you for the post.. really helfull…. i am going for sun.. hope it workks on the 29th floor of sta. mezza condo’s…
sir i think di na updated yang list mo..
but still nice one….
I’m in Manila. And we have PDLT DSL before and for my personal use, SUN. When Ondoy came, we had problems with PDLT phoneline and internet. But Sun, though down sometimes, is still existing in its service with their internet. SUN stood still. Oo mabagal sha, pero at least di sha nawalan ng ilang araw katulad ng pldt dsl ko na di na kame pinuntahan ng tagagawa ng ilang araw nung nawalan kame. SUN, walang hidden charges, im using standard plan postpaid 799. Although, tama yung nasa taas loose ang SUN usb pag tumagal, pero ang alam ko meron na silang bagong model, hope nagimprove na nga. For cheapEST and performance, SUN nako. Alam ko they can still make things better sa service at sa matipid na Pinoy.
i did believe what people say about SUN broadband wireless so i got one that is postpaid…hay naku sa una lang magaling wala pa ako 1 month na gumagamit super bagal na… kahit saan sulok ako ng bahay namin GOSHHH di sya nag up ng 30 kbps WTF! tapusin ko lang 3 months i am going to switch to SMART..heller sa likod lang ako ng MOA wala na ako signal..what kind of service is that??? CALLING SUN…mag upgrade naman kayo! hindi namin pinupulot ang binabayad namin sa inyo..lahat kami dito sa street namin pissed off na to think na yung tower ng SUN is nasa kanto lang ha…hay buhay….hindi manlang kami makapag surf or browse kasi hindi nga tumataas sa 30 kbps…grrrrrrrrrrrrr
hello! Is SBW Plan 799 available in Cebu?
For now, Sun’s 3G/HSDPA is only available in Metro Manila and parts of Cavite and Bulacan. If you manage to get SBW and use it in Cebu, you can only connect using GPRS or EDGE.
Ganyan talaga yang mga wireless broadband, dume-depende sa signal ng isang lugar. Kung gusto niyo ng maayos na internet connection then mag wired connection kayo. @nene | problema lang sa dsl mo kasi di inaayos ng lineman yan? kaya dapat sa pdlt dsl techinician ka magalit. Coz na try ko na ang #Globe #Smart #Sun Broadband already, kaya nasabi kong mas maganda talaga ang wired connection.
Am quite happy with my Sun Broadband Postpaid. I also have Globe Visibility (Now Tattoo) and I tend to use the Sun more because it’s unlimited and service is generally better. Using it while mobile is really great especially if you’re at the mall. I notice the service is faster in business areas. You don’t have to spend for any Starbucks Wifi which i think is ridiculously priced.
When I’m in the province, I use the Globe. When I’m not in Manila, Globe’s speed actually attains real broadband levels. Sobrang bilis. Pag nasa Manila, ambagal ng Globe!
Sun’s service took a nosedive about a month or so ago when I used it at my residence in Marikina. But lately, they’ve been giving me satisfactorily consistent service. Yun lang naman hiling ko eh. Consistency.
is anyone from Pampanga? I’m going to stay there for a few months and I need input on what broadband to get…help.
I wanted to install Smart Bro Share It in the past but when I was searching the Web for reviews about Smart Bro, I found this link: The reason behind SmartBro’s lockin period. It really opened my eyes. That’s why I hope to spread this link so that others might also see. I hope you will spread it too.
<> kabibili pa lng alang net amp globe syang load pano pakaya pag nag plan na edi nag tapon lng ng pera.
I have several SmartBro USB Plug It. Two piece ZTE MF637 and a ZTE MF627. Medyo bumabagal ang smartbro dito sa Laguna(Binan) kaya nag-try ako ng SUN using my 3G cellphone as modem. Meron na pala 3G signal ang SUN dito, dati kase EDGE/GPRS lang. I-swap ko sana itong isang usb modem ko for a SUN usb modem. Nag search muna ako kung pwede ko ma-openline. So nakakita ako topics about MF627 to unlock it. Pero unsuccessful and later na-brick ko yung modem. I take the risk to take MF637 kahit na may warning na its only for MF627 unlocking. Anak tokwa!, gumana sa MF637… So, ayos na pwede na cya sa SUN. I use my SUN prepaid SIM with i50 load. Okay naman naka-connect ako pero parang capped ang speed up to 384kbps, di ako makalampas ng 500kbps. Baka siguro kailangan ko i-try sa SBW prepaid na SIM….hhmmm… any ideas everyone?
I’ve been a SMART BRO Pre-Paid user for some time and do describe myself as a mild internet user. the pricing is alright for the P200 5-day unlimited access. It’s not perfect as there are times where the connection tank at 15kbps at around peak hours (5pm-10pm & 7am-1pm). Most times I hit around 400kbps in MNL. but in north LUzon and south Luzon, it’s approximately 128kbps max.
It’s not ideal if you want to watch videos at youtube.com it’ll just freeze frame on you. if you want to watch videos, I’d recommend that you use some type of video downloader. Download the video directly to your HD and watch it from there instead of streaming it in.
I haven’t tried GLOBE TATTOO but will end up trying it out as I’ll be disconnecting my BayanTEL DSL soon (why? I simply don’t spend a lot of time on the web these days and I’m cutting back on my bills). at P495 per month, 24 month contract, mobility, 45hrs per month, it’s a good deal (that’s about P12 per hour … it’s like surfing at a net-cafe w/o the super dirty mouse pad)
SUN is alright during late night and early morning hours browsing. I just hope they increase their cell sites around big cities to accomodate the increasing numbers of Sun Pre-Paid users.
Broadband, in my humble opinion, will never replace DSL. Broadband is enough to browse for news and connect w/people but it’s not designed for continues throughput (that’s constant uninterrupted data transmission).
From unlimited call & text to unlimited internet at lowest rates, I can say I am happy under the SUN. Other networks can’t beat the heat!
I am using sun cellular post paid, unfortunately since May the speed of my wireless broadband has been very slow, slower than dial up connection. I am so frustrated that no one from sun cellular seems to be interested in checking this problem despite my complaint filed a month ago.
i feel cheated by sun cellular, i pay but i don’t get the services from them.
I want to share lang my experienced to help other people deciding on what type of wireless dongle they will buy.. by the way I’m from Sta Rosa Laguna before I have the Visibility ng Globe that 2500php pa 2yrs ago, the signal is gprs so i decided to stop using it after a while this january i used it again and to my suprice wow i can get hsdpa signal sa labas nga lang ng house coz i used my laptop but ok nadin sabi ko yun nga lang pag pasok ko ng house yun back to gprs so i try to search some sites na makaka “boost” ng signal until i found forums bout external antenna, nag try ako bumili pero wala talagang nangyari.. ganoon padin gprs padin sa loob ng haus.. ang laki ng tiwala ko sa globe that time halos ginastusan ko ang usb dongle ko na yun pero wala talaga.. until one day Nag inquire ako sa digitel(sun wired landline) which wala kong katiwa-tiwala na nasa tapat lang ng village namin ang office with cell site na pagkalaki-laki. I ask them if good na signal or hsdpa na signal d2 sa area namin, ang sabi skin ng nag assist sakin good thing my tester daw sila just present valid id then you will get yung tester nila for one day so you can test your area signal strength.. so I got home and to my suprised BOOM! hsdpa97%-100% grabe wala akong antenna o something na kinabit sa modem.. thanks sa sun for that testing kit kumuha nako plan 799/month nila since sabi nga sa blog na to na madali lang mag apply. Im not saying na ok din sun sa place nyo gusto ko lang sabihin na check first your area before buying usb dongle. one thing pa mas my guts ang plan kesa prepaid try to read it from other site prepaid vs postpaid usb modems.. hope maka help guys! godbless!
I’ve tried all three in exactly the same computer and location and to my surprise, Sun seems to be the most reliable.
Globe’s service is just so disappointing, it kept me cursing while browsing. Smart is no different although I can browse at speeds like 13 kbps with Smart.
Sun, on the other hand, keeps an average speed of 34 kbps during peak hours and reaches up to 150 kbps on off-peaks.
I’m located in Talamban, Cebu.
Well I have Globe Tattoo Pre-paid dongle and SBW(Sun Broadband Wireless) I’ll start with my experience with SBW… SBW was good at the beginning (Pre-paid) it was giving promising speeds while browsing or streaming the first 2-3 months and signals inside and outside my house is 95-100% then after the initial months signals did not change (HSDPA signals all the way) but service got significantly lower… I could hardly open websites and lost any hope in trying to stream videos from several websites… so.. from what I read about coverage and all signal strength does not entirely affect on how you will get your internet receptions…
My First dongle was the Globe Tattoo prepaid (both dongles were from the promo of their lower prices) and signal strength at home is really low… as in 1 bar -3-4 bars at the most… but I get great speed with Globe Tattoo I could stream videos without loading them first and I play some MMORPG’s on Globe Tattoo… I get some lag on gaming at peak hours but it’s playable… There are though some times that Globe Tattoo fails to deliver like no service around the area or intermittent connections (at the moment of this comment having issues with intermittent connections with Globe Tattoo)
So I’d still choose Globe Tattoo over Sun anytime since Sun may have the stronger signal but reliability wise, Sun is just too short lived and “capped” according to other reviews from other uses (Pre-paid or Post Paid) which is not really good especially for a heavy bandwidth user like me… Globe Tattoo is a quick solution for a wireless fast connection as long as they keep their service up, it is most of the time but when they do get f*cked up it’s frustrating…
Heavy bandwidth still requires wired connections as always like PLDT DSL (which I had before) or other wired services… Wireless internet from Huawei dongles are meant for burst transmitions (citation from Wikipedia) and will always work that way where as wired will always have a steady flow on bandwidth connection which is good for heavy pinging and downloading…
I live at Paranaque BF Homes and that’s been my experience with the two of the wireless solutions we have…
~My 2 cents : I just wish our government would concentrate or actually address the internet infrastructure of our country as we are really left behind in the stone age while other neighboring Asian countries are already have a steady and reliable internet infrastructure… Sad to say that Philippines are too sunk in the problems today that advancement is getting set aside…
Here in zamboanga, Globe has good bandwidth and a has a 3G signal even insyd our house, next is Sun bt only has GPRS & Edge. Smart although has a 3G connectivity, really2x sucks! A reminiscence of Dial-Up internet connection of the past tsk tsk tsk!