Telecoms

Unlocked SmartBro, SWB selling in Malaysia

Abe Olandres Editor-in-chief June 29, 2010 · 1 min read

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Was doing some gadget shopping at the nearby Sunway Pyramid Mall last night when I spotted several SmartBro Plug-It and Sun Wireless Broadband USB dongles being sold in one of the stalls.

At first I thought it was for data-roaming or something like that but when I asked the sales lady she said it’s unlocked.

The 3G USB dongles were selling for around Php2,000 (forgot the exact price in Ringgit) and you can use it with any of the local telco’s SIM card.

I also got some rates for their 3G internet and this one is by Celcom Broadband:

Daily Unlimited 3G Internet @ 384kbps – RM6/24 hours (Php90/day)
Weekly Unlimited 3G Internet @ 384kbps – RM20/7 days (Php300/week)
Broadband Basic @ 384kbps – RM64/month (Php1,020/month)
Broadband Advance @ 3.6Mbps – RM98/month (Php1,470/month)

Come to think of it, our daily unlimited internet rates are like 55% cheaper than here in Malaysia and it’s even slower at 384kbps. The monthly postpaid plans aren’t very attractive either and I think our Php1,200 per month @ 2Mbps seem pretty competitive.

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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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55 Comments

yanyan · 15 years ago

How is the signal strength and reception of these devices?

Aby · 15 years ago

My husband was able to unlock our Huawei Smartbro Broadband and our Globe Tattoo…

Agugus · 16 years ago

Walang Globe? Eh, kasi tina-tamper ng mga taga-Globe yung mga USB dongles na binebenta nila kahit na prepaid yung linya mo…

loadex · 16 years ago

Kaya bumalik na sa P1495 and up mga dongles dito sa Pinas.. nalaman ng mga telco na nung nagpromo sila ng 999 and 899 for USB dongles, kaya pala mabilis naubos, may mga negosyante na binili lahat and exported sa labas ng Pinas.. kase ang USB dongle na bnew from Huwaei cost P2000 almost.. net price na yun.

gio · 16 years ago

yeah mejo matagal na merong open line or unlocked na dongles, i got mine for 1200 bnew with 3 sims globe, sun and smart plus 300 load.

Boom · 16 years ago

hey sir,

i was in Bangkok last June and at their IT Square, something like our Gilmore they also sell the same smart bro and globe dongles for about 2,000 THB per. that’s about 2,800 PHP.

They even have the old white ones ng smart.

trish · 16 years ago

@jomar- thanks for posting wi-free. i got from him the unlimited internet service for only 350/month. its so cheap. i can now surf even without any load on my globe tattoo.

techiewitty · 16 years ago

hey yuga, bring that here in phils, for sure dami bibili nyan dito…

tagal ko na hinihintay na magkaopenline ang mga wireless broadband… hahahaha

or if not try to ask how did they do the unlocking then you teach me nalang.heheheh

jomar · 16 years ago

search for “rorymabangis wi-free” at google and you would’nt believe the rates. its so low for unlimited internet

drew · 16 years ago

hahaha.. parang ng galing yan d2 sa pinas ah..

Herce · 16 years ago

BTW, the link Head Geekette posted is dead.

Herce · 16 years ago

How did they unlock them? Tutorial link anyone?

kebb · 16 years ago

cellcom in malaysia is expensive.

manaka_junpei · 16 years ago

kung mag-youtube ka sa malaysia gamit nito, asa pa ang pangarap mong mapanood nang no bufferring

Abe Olandres Editor-in-chief · 16 years ago

@kiks – yeah, I know. But for most people, it’s hard not to.

Kiks · 16 years ago

abe, you cant really directly compare ringgit versus peso without considering cost of living/expenses in those countries.

Paul Villacorta · 16 years ago

HolyCow! Inernetzz rates are kinda crazy in Malaysia!
glad our rates are way much cheaper!

kentot · 16 years ago

the USB dongles selling here for <php1000 is subsidized heavily by the local telco. thus, it's cheaper to buy the dongles from globe, smart and sun than from huawei and zte directly. it's crazy!

Head Geekette · 16 years ago

@seju What sellers would do is to buy as many prepaid broadband modems as they could here in the Philippines and have it unlocked. (Check my previous post on unlocking USB modems http://www.thegeekettespeaketh.com/2010/06/how-to-unlock-your-huawei-usb-hsdpa-modem/)

I’m surprised they have SmartBro’s ZTE modem since that takes a bit more effort to unlock than the Huawei brand. It’s possible it is old stock since I heard the newer versions they’re selling are not can’t be unlocked. So to with Globe’s Huawei E1552 “Redbox” modem.

mpst · 16 years ago

yuga do you know which is the cheapest net provider in adelaide, australia. Unlimited data and speed counts, either dsl or broadband connection card would do, napaka mahal kc d2 ng internet. Thanks

Adrian · 16 years ago

Astig. international ang smart and sun.

Darren · 16 years ago

***SAMBA***

Jay · 16 years ago

@seju
why don’t they?
business is business. sell as many units as you can. still favorable to them since it’s a prepaid.
mas madami din bibili kasi alam nila pwede i-openline.

“unlocked” means it’s open for use to other networks (not locked to Smart)

example: Smart Bro USB modem can be used with Globe tattoo sim card or Sun sim card.