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The Curious Case of Wi-Tribe Bandwidth Cap

The recent soft-launch of Wi-Tribe in the Philippines drew mixed reactions. While a number of people were excited about another telco-challenger, a few others who’ve tried it during the beta phase are complaining about the bandwidth cap.

The biggest complaint so far is the bandwidth caps being imposed by Wi-Tribe (although we already know other telcos are also doing some sort of bandwidth capping for years now).


Some reports coming in is that P2P traffic is limited to only 3GB per month. However, if you use the service between 1am to 7am, your bandwidth usage will not be logged/monitored (according to their Fair Use Policy).

If the 3GB cap is reached, the 1Mbps connection will be throttled down to just 256Kbps. This is then re-set back to normal on the next monthly cycle. (The figures here have not been verified since Wi-Tribe’s Fair Use Policy does not specify the numbers).


Area of coverage for Wi-Tribe.

Why have one?

Well it’s designed to make sure your broadband service is fast and reliable whenever you use it.

Some of our broadband customers use file sharing software and download large files like music and videos. This uses up lots of network capacity leaving less available for you. If they’re doing this at peak times, it could mean that the speed of your broadband service will be affected.

Am I likely to be affected by the Fair Use Policy?

If you don’t use file sharing software or download large files from the Internet it’s unlikely you’ll ever be affected by this policy. If you do, all we ask is that you do so considerately, perhaps by downloading outside the peak hours of 1am to 7am. Don’t forget that media streaming, including the streaming of internet radio contributes to your use of bandwidth and may, if left permanently on, cause you to be in breach of this policy.

What will happen if my use is very high?

If you only occasionally have very high usage, we’re unlikely to be concerned. If it is happening regularly, we may either have to reduce the transmission speed of your broadband while we continue to keep an eye on your usage, or suspend your service and/or possibly close your account.

We don’t want to do that, and with your support and goodwill we’ll work with you to see if we can avoid this happening.

I think 3GB is just too small for a bandwidth cap. Maybe somewhere around 20GB could be a “fair” limit. That un-metered slot between 1am to 7am is classic for dial-up providers even until now.

Will have to follow this up and confirm some of the details with Wi-Tribe.

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Avatar for Abe Olandres

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 considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

150 Responses

  1. Avatar for Dan Dan says:

    http://img130.imageshack.us/i/witribe02.jpg/

  2. Avatar for Dan Dan says:

    Let the Image do the Talking!

  3. Avatar for Tribester Grrrr Tribester Grrrr says:

    Hope they take out the bandwidth capping thing, i agree with Iks, they are not supposed to dictate the consumers on what we can and cannot do otherwise be penalized by downgrading our bandwidth allocation… by the way, counted the ung whole 24 hours (no 1 am to 7 am exception) sa computation, this was confirmed by the CC rep when i called wi tribe….

  4. Avatar for Rek Rek says:

    I should have read about this about there unsatisfactory service Tsk sayang nakasubcribe na ko akala ko 4g speed yung lang pala limit 4g bwusit yan ang hirap to understand technology scam about this days.

  5. Avatar for Dan Dan says:

    http://www.dtincr.ph/cpapp/index.php

    DTI SITE

    Thanks “Yen”

  6. Avatar for Dan Dan says:

    http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/8872/howtocomplainwitribe.jpg

    Eto Yung EXAMPLES COMPLAIN NA KAYU!!

    Thanks “Yen”

  7. Avatar for The Purist The Purist says:

    Ang dami palang nagrereklamo sa capping ng wi-tribe. Wala bang magrereklamo regarding sa reliability at speed ng wi-tribe kung casual user ka lang? Ako kasi subscriber ng Sun Broadband pero sobrang bad trip na ako sa Internet nila dahil HINDI AKO MAKABROWSE man lang ng mga websites palagi. Puro na lang page timeouts at page cannot be displayed kahit na anong oras o araw pa.

    Sa tindi ng kalbaryo ko sa Sun, mas gugustuhin ko na yang 6GB capped Internet ng wi-tribe kung reliable naman ang connection nila at nakakabrowse naman ng mabilis. At least sa ganyang scenario, alam mo kung ano ang limit mo at the same time ay nagagamit mo ang Internet mo. Mahirap pag puro unlimited na lang ang pinagsasabi ng mga Telco, akala natin totoo un pala hindi naman kaya ng network nila ang dami ng subscribers. Gaya na lang sa Sun ko, 6 months na akong nagcocomplain sa hotline nila pero wala silang magawa kasi nga congested na raw ang area ko. So magtiis na lang ako di ba at maghintay na matulog ang mga subscribers na malapit sa akin para naman makapagbrowse man lang ako ng Facebook.

    Although hindi ako subcsriber ng wi-tribe, nakikita kong nasa right path sila by implementing this speed cap. Bakit kamo? Lahat kayo gusto ng unlimited Internet with unlimited bandwidth. Sa tingin nyo ba kayang i-provide yan ng wi-tribe o iba pang wireless broadband providers? Hindi! Imposible yan at limitation yan ng 3G o 4G technology dahil shared bandwidth lang yan per cell site o 3G site. Hindi yan kagaya ng mga wired DSL connection na direkta kang nakakonek sa server ng ISP mo at talagang pwedeng maallocate ang dedicated bandwidth sa yo.

    Maliit nga ang 6GB speed cap kung tutuusin, sana man lng gawin nilang 20GB yan para maging mas acceptable. Pero after ninyong ma-cap, makakadownload pa rin naman di ba? Yun nga lang mabagal na yata ang speed (256KBPS). Ang dilemma kasi diyan, kapag tinaasan nila ang data allocation per month, lahat ng users sabay-sabay na gagamitin yan at ang resulta syempre ay poor network performance na. Malamang makaexperience na rin kayo ng mala-dialup na speed in the future kung hindi nila iiimplement ang download capping na iyan.

    Mas acceptable na sa akin yang ganyang policy kesa naman sa Sun Broadband o Globe Tattoo na hindi makabrowse. Kailangan lang ay linawing maigi ng wi-tribe yan sa mga subscribers at isama nila sa contract para alam ng mga tao at hindi nagugulat na may limits pala ang subscription nila. Talagang mabubwisit kahit na sino kapag nag-sign up ka for “unlimited” Internet tapos malalaman mong 6GB per month lang pala ang pwedeng mong madownload ng mabilis at pagkatapos ay babagal na ang connection mo.

  8. Avatar for sickem sickem says:

    In Your Dreams….

  9. Avatar for Yen Yen says:

    @Jimbo – look for Tina Moran at Facebook. She has an ongoing mediation with wi tribe after her complaint was processed by DTI. You can see her in this discussion>

    http://www.facebook.com/#!/topic.php?topic=15598&post=60146&uid=439100335507#post60146

  10. Avatar for Jimbo Jimbo says:

    “We will be filling a separate complaint to NTC about this. Please feel free to repost or pass this message to your friends. You might just help them save 998 pesos.”

    Count me in! Who can I contact so that all of us who were duped into this service can band together and we can all complain to the DTI

  11. Avatar for Yen Yen says:

    I received this email today from a subscriber:

    “I got your email address in an unsolicited email sent by wi-tribe customer service dated March 26 (Manila).
    We’ve filed a complaint to DTI against wi-tribe for :

    – Not issuing of Official receipt upon purchase
    – Misrepresentation of product and services as advertised
    – Violation of privacy of subscribers by sharing personal email addresses of its subscribers via mass email
    We would like to demand the increase of capping limits, otherwise, return our payment without any conditions.

    Please support us by sending your complaint to DTI:

    http://www.dtincr.ph/cpapp/index.php

    We will be filling a separate complaint to NTC about this. Please feel free to repost or pass this message to your friends. You might just help them save 998 pesos.”

  12. Avatar for alice alice says:

    pano ba malalaman kung lagpas o gamit na ung 6GB na fair usage mo?baka may nakaka alam dyan.ung mga internet addict matututong magtipid?sana tanggalin na nila ung 6GB na cap o kya gawin na lang nilang 15GB-20GB.please wi-tribe philippines.

  13. Avatar for vin vin says:

    bago ako kumuha ng wi-tribe nkita ko na ung forum na may 3GB na limit tapus naging 6GB na pag nagamit ung cap babagsak ung speed mo ng 512kbps o 0.51mbps pababa.kumuha din ung mga pinsan ko kasi nakita nila na mabilis naman.bago kayu kumuha alamin nyo muna.nagamit ko na ung 6GB ko 2days lang sa TORRENT ng DOWNLOAD ako ng malalaking files talagang sinakto ko ng 7GB para magkaalaman. tinatry ko kung gaanu pa kabilis pag naubos na ung 6GB na cap.noong naubos na dahiil sa download ko sa torrent.maganda din sya sa torrent kc mabilis magdownload.try ko mg speedtest lumabas 0.50Mbps nlang minsan 0.34Mbps pero di ko gaanong ramdam ung pagbagal sa youtube lang may onting pag buffering pero ok padin.stable ng 1Mbps pataas ang speed mo kung d mo pa nagagamit ung 6GB na cap.sana nga tanggalin na nila ung cap para di na mgdalawang isip ung mga gustong kumuha.
    at ung peek off hours na 1am hanggang 7 am kawawa naman ung sa iba na nagpapakapuyat pra di mabawasan.pero ako talagang natry ko ayus nmn khit gamit na ung 6GB.nasasainyu naman yan kung kukuha kayu sa kanila o hindi.

  14. Avatar for van van says:

    hay grabe,,, ang bagal tlg,, di na mention samin ung 3GBs n cap cap na yan,, akala nmin basta gmit k lng ng gmit since unlimited ung sabi nila,,, sabi pa nila as long as may signal hindi magbabago ung speed khit gmitin mo ng gmitin walang magiging problem,,, hay naku, makabenta nga nmn,,, e araw2 cguro maghapon magdamag e nasa harapan kmi ng computer,,, e d ilang gmitan lang pla ung 3GBs n cap nila? kaasar,, sana d n lang kmi d2 nagapply kung alm lang nmin n may ganyan pang policy,,,

  15. Avatar for Dan Dan says:

    How is it that Wi-Tribe defender pop like mushrooms out there? anyway!!, im one of the subscriber that not satisfied to their service, we paid them to use what we expect 1 mbps and unlimited use of internet, thats what all user want High Speed Connection, and what did Wi-Tribe did!?, wait their GOOD Service, for how long???.. thats why so many user commented very negative, do you all think people waste their time just for nothing?? of course not there’s a reason for that, and that is Very SLOW like Dial-up Connection and thats Wi-Tribe.

  16. Avatar for Anonymouse Anonymouse says:

    ^vince

    Sir you should join the discussion, masaya dun

  17. Avatar for vince vince says:

    this is the tipid pc wi-tribe thread. Read the comments and judge for yourself.

    http://www.tipidpc.com/viewtopic.php?tid=172606

  18. Avatar for badongers badongers says:

    WI TRIBE SUCKS IF

    MAKINIG KAYO SAKEN

    MAGANDA ANG WI TRIBE KUNG:

    — KUNG 1AM TO 7AM KAYO MAG I INTERNET DAHIL HINDI COUNTED SA CAPPING ANG ORAS NA YUN KAHIT ANONG HEAVIGAT ANG GINAGAWA MO MAPA YOUTUBE X5 OR DIRECT DOWNLOAD X5
    OR PEER TO PEER OR TORRENTS NA X100 ALL AT THE SAME TIME= WALANG CAPPING

    —KUNG SA ESKINITA O LOOBANG SQUATTERS KAYO NAKATIRA BASTA MAY SIGNAL AT NAG HAHANGAD NG HASSLE FREE APPLICATION BASTA ONE VALID I.D OK NA

    —NAI PATEST MO NA MUNA SA SALES REP KUNG KAYANG MAG 1GBPS S PLACE NYO KHIT KULOB NA LUGAR
    (UNG AREA KO KASI KHIT NSA 350 METERS UNG TOWER
    EH 5 BARS PA RIN)

    — NAG UPGRADE NA SILA NGAUN FROM 3GBPS NAGING 6GBPS NA , THEN REDUCED SPEED AFTER CAPPING FROM 256KBPS TO 512KBPS ANG PUTSA BAGO MO MAKUHA ANG UPGRADED SERVICE NILA EH MAG HIHINTAY KA PA NG AFTER 48 HRS UPON REKLAMO N BUMAGAL NA PLA

    THEN AFTER 48 HRS KHIT MAG TROUBLESHOOT KA PA AT ITAWAG MO
    DAMN WALA PA RIN…. AT YAN ANG NA EE XPERIENCE KO NGAUN ARAW NA ITO
    GRABBBEEE KUNG 512KBPS PA CGURO MAPAGTITIYAGAAN KO PA KASO 256 LNG REACH NG MODEM KO AT NAKAKA URAT ANG 256 SA MGA SITES NGAUN DHIL SA IMPROVEMENTS na hindi plain text content lang!

    PANGET NMAN ANG WI TRIBE KASI:

    — KASI CALCULATED SA CAPPING ANG LAHAT NG PAG GAMIT MO ABOUT INTERNET MAPA ANO PA MAN YAN!!!!!! YES MAPA ANO PA MAN YAN!!! BASTA 7AM TO 12:59 AM

    SO PANGET TLAGA DAHIL SIMPLENG MATH LANG EH…..
    DOWNLOAD KA NG ISANG 3Gb NA HD RIP MOVIE NA TORRENT
    OH DI LAPNOS KAGAD ANG 3GB MO;;; LAGAPAK K NA KAGAD SA 256KBPS

    — PANO KUNG TULOG KA NG 1AM TO 7AM AT HINDI MO KAKAYANING BUMANGON TO START A TORRENT DOWNLOAD MAN LNG NG 1AM DBA?

    —PANGET KUNG HEAVY USER KA TALAGA NG INTERNET AT LALO N SA YOUTUBE IT IS ALSO CONSIDERED AS DOWNLOAD KHIT NAG STREAM KA LANG

    —HINDI MAKAPASOK NG MAAYOS MRS KO SA FISHVILLE SA SPEED NA 256 KBPS

  19. Avatar for Tuldok Tuldok says:

    The 1AM to 7AM un-metered slot is a hoax.

    Bad-trip, nag-DL lang ako ng 3.5 GB file from 1AM to 7AM…kinagabihan, capped na yung speed ko.

    Another case of false advertising…

  20. Avatar for markangleon markangleon says:

    HAAAYYY buti nalang nakapasyal sa website na ito..
    wi-tribe will come to my house this saturday afternoon to test and connect and eventually subscribe to them… i called them last wednesday and they did not mentioned this cap thingy.. im calling early later to make a cancellation. :)
    thanks guysz!

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