Smart and Globe are fighting over the title of having the “fastest mobile broadband service”. As they fight themselves in the media, I thought that perhaps its better to make my own study of the three competing mobile broadband products.

To do the tests, I made use of a Compaq Presario notebook computer running on Windows 7 Ultimate, a single openline Huawei E156C dongle/modem and a generic Mobile Partner software dialer to connect to the internet. I got the SmartBro SIM pack from a package I bought last August. I also bought a Sun Broadband Wireless prepaid SIM SIM pack for P50 and a Globe Tattoo SIM pack for P40.

All tests were done on Nov. 23, 2009 at several points in Metro Manila. APNs used were those suggested by the telcos: http.globe.com.ph for Globe, minternet for Sun, and SMARTBRO for SmartBro. Network settings: WCDMA only. To measure the upload and download speeds, I used Speedtest.net.

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What is clearly lamentable is that all three telcos provide speeds much less than their promised “up to 2 mbps”.

As you can see, the results point to Sun Broadband Wireless as the consistent winner. The bad news is that coverage of Sun Broadband Wireless is currently limited only to Metro Manila.

My personal advice is to test which of the three actually works best in most, if not all, of the areas you usually go to. To do this, just borrow modems/dongles from your friends.

You may check below for the details of the speed tests:

MALL OF ASIA, PASAY CITY

Globe:

Sun

Smart

Verdict: Sun emerges on top with at least 1 Mbps download rate, followed by SmartBro. Globe is last.

GUADALUPE, MAKATI CITY

Globe:

Sun

Smart

Verdict: Sun again emerges on top, and again followed by Smart. Globe was the slowest.

ARANETA CENTER, CUBAO

Globe:

Sun

Smart

Verdict: Sun again emerges on top with Smart second and Globe at the bottom.

VITO CRUZ, MANILA

Globe:

Sun

Smart

Verdict: Sun again tops Smart and Globe.