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Philippines, Technology News & Reviews



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.

Speak and Surf

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.

Wireless WCDMA Phone

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.

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9 Responses to “Smart Bro is getting some competition?”


  1. Gravatar Icon mr nice ash replied on Sep 15th, 2007 at 8:34 am (1)

    we are actually planning for an internet connection at home (dasmariñas, cavite). what do you think would be the best?

  2. Gravatar Icon sasieboy replied on Sep 15th, 2007 at 9:22 am (2)

    Will that be also available in Bacolod area?

  3. Gravatar Icon Chino yray replied on Sep 15th, 2007 at 12:22 pm (3)

    if it’s Globe, it will be definitely available throughout the country. HSDPA utilizes globe’s mobile signal so where there is signal for your globe mobile phones, definitely you can connect through this.

  4. Gravatar Icon jeffrey replied on Sep 15th, 2007 at 3:09 pm (4)

    thank God! another option… im getting tired of using my smartbulok connection… well i hope it will be available in our area here in bulacan.

  5. Gravatar Icon Youngmaze replied on Sep 15th, 2007 at 6:59 pm (5)

    oh!, im a former globe subscriber pero! hindi ako na satify… lol maybe ngayon at marerelaunch sila mas maganda ang service nila…. pero im satisfied sa smart… ang haba lang talga ng extension ng tubo from my place… siguro almost 45 feet para lang maging oks ang reception ng antenna ko…! hope maging maayos ang service ng globe… heheheh!

  6. Gravatar Icon sylv3rblade replied on Sep 16th, 2007 at 7:12 pm (6)

    I suggest that Globe implements it in areas with already congested networks like in Manila and Cavite *cough*sana para pati ako makalipat na from smart brok-ken*cough* New subscribers will likely flock the new system rather than go with the already crawling speeds of a wired DSL.

    Any word on when this will be out?

  7. Gravatar Icon kulas replied on Sep 19th, 2007 at 2:41 am (7)

    dapat lang, sana noon pa.

    tagal nakong nagtitiis sa smartBro-ken.

    sayang binabayad ko sa smartBro-ken na yan. dapat sa kanila magsara nalang. sabi sa commercial “Faster than dial-up” daw, baka baliktad “SURF AS DIAL-UP”, mga bugok pa TSR nila.

    puros turo sa ganito ganyan ping dito ping doon hanggang sa mapingi ka na wala naman mangyayari. Hanggang sa sasabihin sayo magpapapunta nalang ng mga taga MERIDIAN para ayusin ang connection nyo sir, or madalas na sinasabi nila “sorry sir meron po tayong technical activity sa base station”

    isa pa.

    sa mga subscriber ng smartBro-ken, hndi nyo ba napapansin. kapag tatawag tayo sa TSR nila by *1888+4 walang sumasagot. nalowbat na cellphone mo wala paring sumasagot. pero sa *1888+1 “apply on the phone” mabilis, grabe isang ring lang. kaya tip ko lang sa inyo kung tatawag kasi sa TSR *1888+1 gamitin nyo, wag sa *1888+4

  8. Gravatar Icon BlackMarlin replied on Sep 22nd, 2007 at 6:57 am (8)

    I’ve used globe’s HSDPA and it’s quite advantageous as compared to SMART Bro. The only disadvantage is that it uses a shared IP so you won’t be able to connect via VPN. Also, for sharing IP’s with a lot of users you wont be able to download from file sharing sites like Rapidshare which track the number of times a particular IP is connected.

    Yun lang ang disadvantage. Pero if you use this for home or personal surfing, truly better than smart.

  9. Gravatar Icon byter replied on Jul 4th, 2009 at 12:51 pm (9)

    i am planning to subscribe to globe ZTE, actually i have my application already but i am still hesitant about it. i need some trustworthy feedback regarding the product. so far, hows your experience with globe zte?

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