So tomorrow (July 30), Smart will open their 3G network to everyone and offer free mobile internet for free within a 24-hour period.
No registration needed, no special requirements — there’s no catch (except for a minimum 1 peso load balance). Just fire up your mobile browser and start surfing with Smart 3G.
My guess is that Smart wants to stress-test their 3G network and see if their bandwidth can take the capacity and the load. Maybe we can all lend a hand and tether our 3G phones to our laptop or PC and download stuff all day? {see FAQ here}
There can only be two outcomes — (1) the network handles the load just fine so we know they’re really allocating enough bandwidth for their existing customers or (2) the network collapses with the extra load and Smart will have to upgrade their bandwidth allocation to adjust for that. Still a win-win for customers, right?
If you’re set to do this, please share your experience and post download/upload speeds in the comments. Let’s see how this goes.
Update: Also got a tip from the inside that if this TGI Freeday works well, they might do it again on another Friday. So let’s get it on and tell everyone to try it out.
Update 2: Of course, this is just speculation on my end. The link above points to their FAQ taken from their Facebook Page.
Disclosure: Smart/PLDT/Red Mobile is an advertiser on this blog so allow me to do a little plug for them here.
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I want to see the outcome of this! (SMART’s end, that is)
Wahaha! I like the idea! RT @abeolandres Let’s humor Smart and help stress-test their 3G network tomorrow — http://www.yugatech.com/blog/telecoms/sm...
via Twitoaster
i bet there will be a lot of angry paying customers on Friday.
Twitter: arnoldgamboa
replied on Jul 29th, 2010 at 3:20 pm (4)
I have an openline HSDPA USB dongle. Anyone knows the Smart settings? (I only have Globe and Sun)
sayang hindi ako smart.. globe naman! every weekend
Twitter: richardsonchan
replied on Jul 29th, 2010 at 4:18 pm (6)
Too bad I just cut my Smart number a week ago…
@kumag – mura lang Smart SIM na prepaid.
Twitter: simplynice93
replied on Jul 29th, 2010 at 4:27 pm (8)
Tamang tama ‘to! I have been waiting for months for this. I already have a 3G phone and I’m going to test this service to its MAXIMUM LIMIT!!!
Twitter: Teknisyan
replied on Jul 29th, 2010 at 4:27 pm (9)
yeah.. I think paid customer will be furious about this, since the network will be congested because of the free loaders, while the paying customer will sufer as well.
pang mobile lang daw po ito, smart bro is not included.
sir yuga do u know how to open the 3g of nokia 5230 smart talk n text po sim card ko
tnx po
Twitter: ramfree17
replied on Jul 30th, 2010 at 12:09 am (12)
Sayang SMART doesnt support VPN considering that PLDT WeROAM does.
too bad smart bro isnt included
only internet via cellphones, USB dongles are not included
Its a pretty “smart” move by smart. Getting a free stress test by only paying for advertising
Do remember that you can also use your phone as modems by tethering it to your pc/laptop.
most carriers can detect if you tet ur phone. especially if bb phones.
for tnt and tm users db wla clang gprs service?
try ko nga..
sana nga mag improve sila.. kasi sa uzzap pa lang na may bayad nag hahang pa sila… mas lalo pa sa libre… the 3g services of this big 3 telco (kartel) companies are very bad, slow, and expensive… as compare to other countries….
this is good news.. i’ll try to test the wifi tethering capability of my htc desire with Froyo MCR! =)
I wonder if it will still be free if the phone slips from a 3G signal to GPRS?
Im using my smart prepaid sim on my smart bro plug it. Sobrang bagal during peak hours.
you know what this is good bow ako sa smart. Naku di tulad ng Wi tribe whole day naka down ang connection nila ngayon lang bumalik around 10am. Sa mga nakakabasa nito think twice before getting witribe..
update:
ok naman free mobile internet ng smart kahit na nag didisconnected at hang minsan(di naman nagtatagal ng minutes…)
Pretty good so far! No problems or lags. Just not to fond of surfing via phone. Screen is too small even on a Nokia E72 ;-C
pretty fast. kudos to smart. sana every Friday na to.
how is it guys? is it any good? peak hours is tonight yet, we’ll see how the real stress-test goes.
By the way, I do not have Smart, I never had one. maybe it’s just me, di ko lang feel ang brand.
hehhe..nakakatuwa ang Smart! dami nilang ads for their wimax..tapos pag mag apply kana thru their wireless centers sasabihan ka na ” di pa daw open for application dahil may problema pa network nila sa wimax..”
smart should also announced that corporate accounts are not part of this free friday mobile internet
thanks SMART!
Twitter: hahaharvee
replied on Jul 31st, 2010 at 3:00 am (28)
tried using my 3-month old Smart Sim earlier. It was too slow that it can’t load Wikipedia’s homepage within 30 seconds. Same results when I used Opera Mini. Sayang pinapasa kong P2 haha
Maybe my area was full of “usiseros” too that tried checking this TGIFree day out. Congested siguro.
ive tried this from 7AM to 11AM kahapon and here are my conclusions. hindi stable ang connection with multiple chat applications. hindi kaya ang skype videochat; in my case, one way videocall lang ang naging successful. download speed-wise,from 1-5, 5 being the highest, i’d say 2. overall, unstable ang connection sa area namin sa taguig kahapon.
disclaimer: tried it using N95 3.5G connected thru my laptop. open area kami, lahat ng network, may 3g signal samin.
Twitter: iamjoshua15
replied on Aug 1st, 2010 at 9:28 am (30)
tnx smart ang bilis ng connection hehe:D sa phone ko!!:D
i doubt smart is just making a “pa good shot sa mga customers” they will open all resources with this stress test… para masabi lang na mabilis tlga un net nila.. but look at smartbro usb… it is the worst of the 3…
I did turn on my browser the entire day (and to my horror, I forgot to shut my browser off at 11:59PM last friday).
From the office connection is quite fast, though at times the 3G signal would die out from my location.
I also did my browsing from the MRT end to end (to and from my workplace, took a roundtrip ride going home). Some areas passed by the MRT don’t have 3G signal but for those areas that have, facebook loads in a snap.
I’m disappointed with SMART regardless of area. I have a lot of horror stories to tell from their customer service representatives and even the bosses. I requested that I ditch the service and still I get billed after a month. Sadly, I DO NOT recommend this to anyone.
Use Opera Mini to maximize your slow connection.
omg why are they doing that when im already in the us
the problem with this “stress thing test” specially to smart buddy/talk n text sim users is, they cap your speed to 104kbps upload/download speed. so you cant really push it to the limit.
[img]http://i37.tinypic.com/o8c4g7.jpg[/img]
Twitter: boffill
replied on Aug 8th, 2010 at 8:13 pm (37)
Too bad I missed this promo. Tsk.