Telecoms

Sun Cellular 3G: Speed Up, Price Down

Abe Olandres Editor-in-chief February 8, 2009 · 1 min read

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Here’s some good news for people looking into budget 3G internet. Sun Cellular Wireless Broadband has upgraded its network to 3.5G (HSDPA) and dropped its unlimited monthly subscription fees to Sun subscribers.

Sun Cellular has upgraded it’s 3G to speeds up to 2Mbps. There are new subscription plans offering as low as Php799 a month:

Easy Broadband Plan 799
Unlimited Use
up to 2Mbps
Php799 MSF
One time charge of Php2,500
No lock-in period

Plan 799
Unlimited Use
up to 2Mbps
Php799 MSF
No initial fee
24 month lock-in period

Plan 999 2-in-1 Deal
Unlimited Use
up to 2Mbps
Php999 MSF
No initial fee
Free Plan 350 with handset
Lock-in period of 24 to 36 months depending on handset model

The Plan 999 looks like a good deal since you also get a free phone with a Plan 350 subscription. That practically makes your 3G internet fee just Php649 a month.

Existing Sun Postpaid Subscribers can also avail of the Wireless Broadband plan for an additional Php649 on their MSF.

Note: 3.5G speeds on Quezon City, Makati, Mandaluyong, Las Pinas, Paranaque, Bicutan, Pasay, Pasig, San Juan, Marikina, Valenzuela, Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, Cainta and Antipolo.

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Abe Olandres

Editor-in-chief

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and is considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines.

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153 Comments

xspach · 17 years ago

anong website yung ina-access nila to get the coverage kung pwede sa location mo?

honey24 · 17 years ago

i just got my sun broadbnd plan 645 last wk. And im impressed kc ang bilis ng connection youtube,games etc. I dont know kung 22o ung speed nya,nkalagay kc 3.6 mbps. Sana d magbgo ung service nila.

neil · 17 years ago

spare yourself the trouble zeth. SBW is total crap. the 2 MB/s speed is not real. you’ll get around 64 kB/s during off peak hours..i.e. from 2 a.m. till 7 a.m. only. and less than 5 kB/s for the rest of the day..

zeth · 17 years ago

any1 knows the signal strength in paranaque area? m planning to get the 799 plan.. pls nid feedback asap.. :)

Dan · 17 years ago

As of today, SBW has DOWNGRADED the speed of SBW from 2Mbps to just 640kbps. Confirmed using a software called MDMA which shows the actual profile used by Sun. Before it shows 2mbps in both upstream and downstream, but now it’s capped at 640kbps for both. This is clearly a blatant form of false advertising.

joseph · 17 years ago

Sun broadband wireless is fast depending on the places.
mine sucks. I bought the 3.6mbps plan.
I live here at pasay, the fastest i got was like 800kbps. :( and they offerred 3.6mbps. what a scam!

Wendy · 17 years ago

I live in UP Village Diliman. I got my Sun modem last March 2. For the first 2 weeks, it worked really well. After that, downloading became so slow and there were instances when it becomes disconnected. I probably called their hotline 10 times already and I was always told that they will prepare a report but nothing has happened up to this time and the service is getting worse. It gets disconnected now every 2 minutes. I just came from their Trinoma shop and I was told the same thing, that they will prepare a report. Right now, I am on the phone with their hotline and I am on hold for about 5 minutes now. Ooops, there it goes I got disconnected from the hotline. I have a web-based job and it is really affecting my work.

jo · 17 years ago

may naka-try na po ba nito sa diliman area sa qc???
i’m planning to get one kasi eh…pero di ko alam kung ok ang sun sa diliman area…tnx

Jejo · 17 years ago

How is Sun Broadband in the UP Diliman area?

Rob · 17 years ago

guys b4 you subscribe maeron silang ipapakita na map ng 3g coverage sa laptop nila sa Sun Shop. kung pasok area nyo dun most likely may HSPDA speed nyo.

Rob · 17 years ago

I’m using it right now!
Mabilis dito sa Taguig, HSPDA 90-99 percent and signal strength. Ang download average speed around 250 KB/s tapos minsan umaabot ng 500+ KB/s.
Mabagal nga lang torrent sa umaga minsan almost wala pero opposite naman kung gabi kasi sobrang bilis sya kung gabi.

Sun Broadband Info. · 17 years ago

Want To Share Sun Broadband in Many COMPUTERS In just 84 pesos??? Just PM me in Yahoo Messenger or Yahoo Mail (jo****@yahoo.com)

dragonlord · 17 years ago

Just to clarify…when I say the signal disappears, it literally disappears. No 2G signal, even if you try forcing the device to connect via GPRS only.

dragonlord · 17 years ago

I subscribed to Sun Cellular and ditched my visibility subscription.

According to the people I was able to talk to at Sun, the 3G network that serves the internet connection is a separate network from the existing cellular network. That’s why they only offer this to Metro Manila residents. And when you go out of Metro Manila, the signal disappears. LOL!

The nice thing about sun is that you won’t have problems getting a 3G signal within metro manila, even when you’re travelling. For the case of visibility, I always have to check first if there’s an available 3G signal or not, and it’s kind of a pain. And if you’re travelling, you have no choice but to use GPRS mode to maintain reliability and avoid the network switching overhead.

The only bad thing I see about sun is the consistency of the speed per area and latency. Based on my current experience, it’s faster when you’re in Makati than in Muntinlupa.

tom · 17 years ago

mejo ok lang signal strength ng SUN dito,d bumababa ng 90% kaya ok sa surfing.smart d ko nasubukan.globe wireless nasubukan ko,mas mabagal sya.lamang lng globe dahil nkakalaro ako online anytime kahit d ganun kabilis.pero baka dito muna ko SUN mas mura sya and overall mas ok sya compare to globe.sana nga ganyan na service ng SUN para d nko lumipat pa

Pedro · 17 years ago

may peak hours kami dito sa Cainta.minsan kelangan mo pa mag “refresh” bago mo ma surf un website.kapag youtube minsan d gumagana…

pero kapag madaling araw at umaga na (mga 3am-8am) ambilis na ng access…pano ang mga katulad ko na mga hapon lang pede mag surf at d na pede magpuyat?

i’m thinking of getting un bago ng SMART un P1,995 tpos pre-paid pang back-up lng…maganda ba un sa SMART?

tom · 17 years ago

nakakapaglaro na rin ako online pero off peak hrs dapat..12:30 am onwards nako nakalaro.yun lang magpupuyat pa ako para maglaro..

tom · 17 years ago

oo nga mabilis sa surfing pero pag online games na DC lagi hindi ka makakapaglaro.NAKAKAINIS.d nman ako kumuha ng internet for surfing lang eh.d kasi ko nagbasa muna ng mga forum.kaya kung surfing lang kayo ok to,pero pag hhilig nyo online gaming mag isip muna kayo.sana ayusin nman ng SUN service nila

war · 17 years ago

Almost a week or so na ko since ng-subcribe ako sa SUN.

Mabilis nman sa surfing kaso sa online games laging disconnected. Sa Bicutan ako and sabi nung guy n ng-demo nung kit e 3 ung 3G site/terminal dito.

Check ko rin ung ibang comments sa web and mukhang pati ung iba ganun din ung experience. Di sya stable pg-online games, mikhang png-surfing lng

I play ragnarok and mabilis nman sya pag pasok kana kaso it only lasts for 3-10 min (mostly within 5 min) disconnected ka kaagad.

So kung kukuha ka ng SUN and online games ang trip mo, its best na I try mo mg-online games pag ng-DEMO sila pra ma-assess nyo kung stable ba sa area nyo.

Kinuha kung plan e ung bayad ung modem, so kung di pa magiging stable ung connection, mlamang bumalik na lng ako sa smartbro khit ba mas mabagal ung speed: 300-400kbps at least stable sya. Just so happens na addict tlga ako sa games.

Grasya · 17 years ago

mandaluyong area ba okay?

DriftSpeed · 17 years ago

@bolong68

yup, same speed but of course you’ll be charged Php10/30mins ;) Ok na rin for a backup internet connection..or to try it out before availing of the plan which I did..downloaded a 70mb torrent file using my 3G (not HSDPA)handset and it was done within 20 mins..pretty sweet =) you can also check at any suncell shop if there is HSDPA coverage in your area before you avail =)

bolong68 · 17 years ago

rather than use the 2500 usb dongle, isnt it better to just hook up with the sun network using a sun sim and a hsdpa/3g phone for connection? will it be of the same speed kaya?

paul farol · 17 years ago

Someone told me that a friend would find a way to get me free trial, even for just a couple of days.

I was hoping that it would somehow push through. If the service is good, I’d most likely recommend that my office get a couple of plans.

Here I am… Waiting… Waiting… Waiting…

Rpedro · 17 years ago

downloading is soooo slow… I agree with reviews that at 1st try downloading files is quite fast but after sometime it becomes near to impossible to complete downloading…

wondering if there are hidden charges, that would cause files download to be slow?i’m on 799 no lock-in…

Milo · 17 years ago

Sun Cellular rocks! I have both Globe and Smart services as well; nothing compares to Sun. At least in areas noted above. Provincial is soon to come.

Paul Farol · 17 years ago

Abe,

Just warning you that somebody is impersonating me and I didn’t write the post that appears above.

In anycase, there’s a good chance I might be able to try out Sun Cellular’s 3G internet service. I plan to drop by the nearest Sun Cell office.

Got any advice regarding impersonators?

Productive Pinoy · 17 years ago

Tempting offer.. but i’ll have to stick with Smartbro.

jpeb · 17 years ago

this sun broadband wireless thing has been getting mixed reviews. just do a google search on keyword: sun broadband wireless
and click on the 2nd, 3rd & 4th search results to get to those forums.

Paul Farol · 17 years ago

Hi Yuga,

I picked up this valuable info and spread it around in my blogpost.

http://pinoybiz.blogspot.com/2009/02/yuga-on-sun-cellular-3g.html

Ann · 17 years ago

Anyone in around the Pasay area tried this? Like the others, I’m worried about the coverage. 3G/HSDPA is highly dependent on location.

I’m currently on a Globe Visibility Unlimited data plan now. It’s fast in some areas, but where I live (Cainta), it;s very intermittent to the point where sometimes it’s totally useless. I’m moving to Pasay soon, and I know there’s barely any Globe 3G signal in the area. Might switch to Sun by then.

Angelo Panares · 17 years ago

ka ingit naman, kelan kaya darating ang sun broadband sa Cebu ? :(

SlackeR · 17 years ago

GF’s been using this for 2 months now she got the no lock-in so far so good. Mabilis sa torrents and surfing not sure lang sa online gaming since she doesn’t play online games

Alex · 17 years ago

ok ang offer nang sun cellular for the price buster. but pangit ang feedback ng sun user regarding sa broadband. wait na lang ako siguro ng 2 to 3 years pagmaganda na ang coverage ng sun.

T-

t-cell · 17 years ago

Forgot to say that PLDT’s 799 plan is via their WeRoam and Smart bro is via their post-paid plan.

For Smart, my guess is that this effectively replaces their earlier “press release” plan of P1,500 unlimited that was never delivered but only “press release”. This is what I asked way back Dec ’08 and they said that it was on hold indefinitely.

I was intentionally holding myself for PLDT/SMART and Globe to bring their prices down to compete with Sun’s plans when I first saw Sun’s new plans last Dec. on their website.

When I just saw PLDT and Smart’s new plans a couple of days ago, I said to myself that may be the best they can do. This is why I finally made a decision to just go ahead w/ Sun.

I recently availed of their easy broadband plan.
Paid P2,500 (VAT included) and P799 (VAT included) for a total of P3299. Absolutely no hassle in getting it. Just provided one ID and paid for the modem and initial 1 month’s subscription.

I think this makes Sun’s easy broadband plan effectively a pre-paid plan in reality since I have to pay the P799 at once.

Just praying that the reviews I have been reading about Sun’s connections are true.

Sun’s P799 unlimited and no lock-in period is way better than PLDT and Smarts 799 plan of only 60 hours free and P10/30 mins. after the first 60 hours.

Waiting for them to activate the sim. I was told to wait 24 hours but said they will try and register the sim today and that it may be activated by tonight.

T-

t-cell · 17 years ago

I think this was already available since Dec. ’08.

I already saw those on their website since Dec.

Just didn’t go to any Sun shop to confirm if it’s really truly available or just “press release”.

What is real breaking news is that PLDT and SMART just released this month their own plans to counter this.

Both have 799 plans now(PLDT and SMART’s 799 plan are identical) to compete w/ Sun’s 799 plan.

The big differences from Sun are:

1) It is post-paid
2) It has a 2 year lock-in
3) In their 799 plan, only the first 60 hours are “free” but once one exceeds the allotted 60 “free” hours, the rates goes back to their std. rate of P10/30 mins.

Obed · 17 years ago

Here in Sta Ana Manila maganda naman yung connection

Abe Olandres Editor-in-chief · 17 years ago

@nonong – it’s from last month. A Sun Cellular Exec called me up informing me about it last week. Forgot to blog about it asap. Sorry if you knew about it ahead of me.

btw, sorry if your earlier post was flagged as spam and was deleted.

nonong · 17 years ago

Old news! Fail!

vance · 17 years ago

wow, cool. now it is more attractive to get a plan subscription. The only thing left is……….. more antennas to provide larger coverage.

SoNn · 17 years ago

I’m subscribed to Plan 999 2-in-1 deal since December. Speed varies on location and signal strength. Curiously, surfing and downloading are faster in Sampaloc Manila than in Makati.

Abe Olandres Editor-in-chief · 17 years ago

@lex – takes hundreds of millions (maybe even billions) of pesos to roll out the 3G network nationwide. Maybe, they just don’t have that kind of money yet.

madzman23 · 17 years ago

Wow, that’s a sweet deal.
Unfortunately, its not available in our area, too bad.
I hope it will be going to be nationwide til the end of the year.

jerome · 17 years ago

i tried the sun broadband myself and was actually quite impressed. one time i was able to get 1400kbps which gave it seamless youtube however there was also one time where i only got around 500kbps which isnt so bad for a 799peso per month fee. theres this plan where you can buy the 2,500 peso dongle and pay the bill on a monthly basis for around 799 pesos. sure you have to deal with the 2,500 peso dongle but at least when you dont like the service in the future, theres no lock-in period. the other plan though that comes with a free dongle does have a lock-in period. personally id prefer the one with the 2,500 peso dongle.

Something Fishy · 17 years ago

wow paano mag apply for the PLAN?

lex · 17 years ago

been waiting for that to arrive here in iloilo city, but that seems like an eternity. i don’t get it, what’s the point of sun cellular? doesn’t the company want to make more money? why is it not that aggressive in its business?

seoulbox · 17 years ago

Sun Cellular in Antipolo? hmm.
dito sa area namin. merong signal pero medyo mahina and no 3G.

living near Antipolo Bayan.

kill3rfill3r · 17 years ago

oks pa ako sa myDSL..may mga ngsubscribe na ba dito?

wh@ · 17 years ago

wee… thats so mura… 999 plus internet broadband.. great deal… pero maganda naman kaya ang service nila… kasi yun smart bro di sha ganun kaganda.. thats why after our 1 year contract lipat kami ng PLDT MyDSL