Smart Bro is getting some competition?

A tip from Lawrence got me all curious about this alleged new HSDPA modem from Globe. A wireless landline plus broadband service has been reported as early as last year and is branded as Speak ‘n Surf.

This month, I was told an upgraded system will be rolled out commercially, promising speeds way better than that of Smart Bro.

The previous Speak and Surf uses CDMA technology and can connect you to speeds up to 256Kbps (via a wireless axess*tel phone as shown in the picture, colored black). The phone is battery operated so you can actually move it around the house, even outside, for up to a max of 2 kilometers from the ZTE router (white box). On the other hand, the white phone in the picture is a regular wired phone hooked up to the router so you got 2 options.

From what Lawrence told me, the new speeds will be up to 512Kbps once this is commercially re-launched. I suppose that since it’s an HSDPA modem, you can theoretically go up to 1.8Mbps or 3.6Mbps with that IF the network capacity allows it.

The ZTE modem/router is supposed to be positioned in a location inside the house where it gets the best signal reception from any of the nearby cell towers. The nearer you are to the towers, the better the signal and the speeds.

I have yet to test the unit/service though initial testing at home shows there’s strong reception here. Previous road tests with Globe Visibility had mixed results depending on location.

On the other hand, existing Speak ‘n Surf (SnS) subscribers who are not satisfied might also get some speed bumps anytime soon.

Notes:

* ZTE – yup it’s the same Chinese company that’s the focus of the recent NBN contoversy.
* Rouge Subscribers – I was told some SnS Resellers are selling subscriptions to customers without field testing. This usually results into poor performances if the area does not have good coverage as they’ll end up getting GPRS/EDGE speeds instead of 3G/HSDPA/UMTS.