WiFi

Smart WiFi launched

Abe Olandres Editor-in-chief June 16, 2005 · 1 min read

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Launched just yesterday, Smart WiFi is a new broadband internet service which allows users to get connected wirelessly thru Smart’s cell sites. The only thing you need is an outdoor antenna to serve as transceiver on any of Smart’s hundreds of cell sites nationwide.

Maximum bandwidth is up to around 128kbps and promo price starts at Php788/month. It’s an easy and affordable alternative if you don’t have phone lines in the neighborhood. This is gonna be a big hit once they find a way to bring access down to handhelds and portable devices (read: Tungsten T5 & Life Drive).

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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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2,577 Comments

Alex Mallillin · 21 years ago

kelan kaya maging network support ang wifi. nasubukan ko na sa single pc quite ok, pag dating sa network wow ang tagal. siguro dedicated lang sa single pc ang connection nila. sana may development ang technology nyo…… bilisan nyo lang paparating na ang competencya nyo hayan na cla.

Tony · 21 years ago

Guys, I’m a subscriber of Meridian Telekoms, impressive yung connection speed nya using smart wi-fi. Anyone who knows directions on how to share this connection to my otrher PC? Meron po akong router Linksys (WRT54G). Di ko sure if i configured it right, isang computer lang ang nakakaconnect sa Internet, my other computer is not. Baka sakaling meron na sa inyo nakagawa neto, pa share naman ng ideas. Router ba kelangan or switch? Please advise

nell evalo · 21 years ago

I just had installed my Smart Wifi Internet Connection last Saturday. It is all a misconception as to “Wifi” is concerned. I have 2 laptops and 2 pc’s in my household. Since both my laptops are wireless and my plans to buy wireless lans for the pc’s, i decided to subscribe basically because it was cheap. 788p plus 1000p for the antenna. Well, my excitement was definitely doused with hot water as the installation team arrived with a small plastic box and a short flexible aluminum tube as their antenna. That was their wireless receiver with a Line Of Sight connection to a Smart cellsite located about 3 kilometers from myhouse. It doesn’t stop there. They had one line to connect to only one pc. The 2 laptops and other pc had to wait for their turns. Hahaha! That’s as wireless as they can get. By the way, download speed is at 8-10 kbps. That’s faster than dial-up by about 1/8 slower than the standard 70-80 kbps of broadband. You judge coz i’m in jail right now.

UNSATISFIED CUSTOMER 2 · 21 years ago

at last my request has been granted. nagpadala na din nang tao meridian yesterday to check my connection. they’re from smart wifi mismo. so ganun na nga they checked my connection, yung ip address, ip number, if okay yung connection from my pc to the antennae, nag troubleshoot pa..okay naman daw, baka daw defective yung antennae na kinabit. pero….. they have to reschedule kase naubusan na daw sila nang dala na antennae!! oh well i should have expected that. anyway, the technicians from smart wifi agreed with me that the technical support team of meridian gives very poor service…walang kwenta talaga. kahit daw sa kanila when they ask for numbers or help in installing or repairing connections minsan hindi daw alam ang isasagot or kung pinapasapasa nalang sila. i’m expecting the technicians to be back by tomorrow. SANA TALAGA. i hopr they’ll be able to fix my connection at magkainternet na ako para naman magamit ang binabayaran

Juna Valdez · 21 years ago

My provider is Smart Wifi.Baguio ang location ko,I’ve observed na tuwing umulan(fog and rain),madilim ,signal is worst…U can expect that from a wireless connection.Prone sa interruption/blocking sa link kapag worst ang climate ,but of course u have to do an improvement (continuous improvement!) of providing us the best.

Phallus Erectus · 21 years ago

Actually, pwede ang internet connection sharing, medyo kelangan mo lang ng hub or router with multiple ports. Mura lang naman. Kaya mo yan.

Alan · 21 years ago

Pwede bang e internet connection sharing ang wifi?

UNSATISFIED CUSTOMER 2 · 21 years ago

SA LAHAT NG INTERESTED MAG AVAIL NG MERIDIAN SERVICES…PLEASE READ THIS FIRST
nagstart ako a few weeks ago and two days lang maganda yung connection. lagi nalang ako nagkakaproblem sa internet connection. there are times na walang internet specially at night. regular caller na nga ako sa technical support and customer service ng meridian, i’ve already memorized their number by heart sa sobrang lagi ako tumatawag. and everytime sasabihin ko yung problem ko na walang internet ang laging sagot sakin “ma’am paki check po yung status ng POE” troubleshoot nanaman!! lagi ko nalang ginagawa pero nothing happens. ipapaayos pa yung ipconfig wala pa din. they’ll tell me to check the POE, go to run, type ipconfig, check the ipnumbers, browse….. paulitulit na ganito still…..NOTHING HAPPENS. the same with UNSATISFIED CUSTOMER nagrequest na din ako na magsend sila ng tao to check my connection, pero wala pa din pumupunta. lagi nalang nila sinasabi ng customer rep na they’ll fprward my complaint to the concerned department. naforward nga kaya?
meron pa….pag sa technical support paghindi na nila masagot yung question ko or wala na sila mabigay na solution sa complain ko, they’ll put me on hold.. tas babalikan ako after ilang minutes, tapos they’ll put me on hold again hanggang sa mawala nalang sila at marinig ko na ang… toot,toot,toot. wala na pala akong kausap. hindi lang once nangyari sakin ito, i think it’s their style of hanging up the phone pagwala na silang magawa. ano ba namang klaseng service yan!! lastly, mali yung advertising nila, they said their connection is not affected by any weather condition, eh konting ulan nga lang wala na akong internet. they also said that 288kb yung speed nila yun pala yung maximum, hindi sinabi na once in a blue moon mo lang maeexperience yun. i know its advertising and you’ll only put things that will make your company look good, pero sana naman there’s truth, kahit slight truth to what you’re saying. i’m just stating the facts so wag sana masamain comment ko gawan nalang nila ng action yung mga complains ko at ng ibang customers.

UNSATISFIED CUSTOMER · 21 years ago

i had mine installed two months ago and its the WORST!!!!! mura nga pero feeling ko solar powered sha kase everytime madilim, umuulan, kumikidlat and night time, walang internet!!! wala na ako internet for almost a week now. ilang beses nako tumatawag sa customer care and tech support pero wala sila magawa everytime. ive caleed them a million times to send out someone to fix our connection pero til now wala parin. i wont be surprised if they close down because of poor quality of product and poor service.
ATTENTION: to all those planning on availing this service, research muna kayo and find out sa area nyo kung ok sha.
may alam ba kayo na ok na service provider dito QC new manila? kahit cable… except PLDT myDSL…

shijirou · 21 years ago

I’ve got Smart Wifi installed. Maayos na sana pero their tech support has an IQ of 0. Galing ako tech support ng Sony Computers USA so alam ko ung problem. I had a problem sa bandwidth. The bandwidth test isn’t reporting the supposed bandwidth. I was only getting 50 – 60% of the max allocated bandwidth. The tech support agent just had me go thru ipconfigs and bandwidht tests. I asked the agent what was the relevance for this to get my problem resolved but they had no clue. They just told me they’ll forward this to the “2nd level” of support and do a follow-up. This is very disappointing…

cybermastha · 21 years ago

Putang ina!!!! tang ina tlga!! bago kayo mag pakabit ng smart/meridian wifi!!! syet mag isip isp muna kayo!!! ako 5 days plang nakabitan tang inang yan sang damakmak na problema na!!!! ayus sana yung speed ero bale wala dahil pag nag piping ako fucking shit daming interference!!!! puro request time out!!!! RTO!!! hindi lng ako may ganitong problema try to read this thread >>>>> http://www.pinoywifi.com/index.php?showtopic=59

Dax · 21 years ago

sa naintindihan ko, bridged ung connection ng transceiver. no authentication needed ba o kelangan nila ng mac address? kung bridge sya, e di switch na lang bibilhin ko, hindi na router. so unlimited sya, pro reliable ba ung service? consistent ba ung bandwidth o pag peak hours baka bumaba ng 33K. gusto ko kasi mgpakabit ng broadband kaso research muna ako, baka kasi mura, un pla, 80% of the time me outage. one more thing, me static ip service ba sila. need your opinion bago ko sila kausapin, syempre sales un, puro BS, me number ba kayo ng tech support nila, kasi mas gusto ko silang kausapin e bago sales. and syempre, gusto ko muna opinion ng current users tungkol sa reliability & consistency ng service. thanks!

pinay · 21 years ago

ive had meridian for almost a month now and its true the speed is really amazing, it even hit the 3mbps mark last week! the average bandwidth is around 400kbps higher in the evenings where the average is around 1.2mbps. i live in cavite and paid the 788 + 500 installation fee. this wifi is answered prayer for me as we have no phone lines yet in our part of the woods. no regrets yet so far.

Abe Olandres Editor-in-chief · 21 years ago

@ connected

You connected with Meridian Telekoms? Can you share something about the level of security of this type of connection?

@ waraybuut

Thanks for the additional info. :)

waraybuut · 21 years ago

I just copied my post at http://www.phackers.org... Ako rin ang nagpost dun! Tinatamad lang me magtype! Sorry!

waraybuut · 21 years ago

To avoid confusion Smart’s WiFi is a “fixed” connection in a sense na hindi ito katulad ng typical na WiFi na pwede ka mag-roam around dahil directional and antenna nito and required na magkaroon ng LOS (line of sight). But still, it uses the 802.11b specification so therefore it is WiFi.

Don’t argue with me dahil I have physical access to those devices.

Ibang term dito ay “Last Mile Access Solution”

Basahin nyo to para kayo’y maliwanagan
http://www.orinocowireless.com/solutions/lastmile/

No offense! ^_^

waraybuut · 21 years ago

Kung security ang pag-uusapan, very weak ang security nito dahil naka-disable ang WPA or WEP therefore di encrypted ang connection. Good news sa mga mahilig mag-wardrive, napakadaling makapasok sa network kung tutuusin. Bad news lang sa inyo dahil maaaring maka-connect kayo pero limited ang connection nyo sa Smart-Meridian network lang (kung di ako nagkakamali “portal.meridian.ph” lang ang pwede nyong pasukin. Meron din authentication kahit papaano (thru portal.meridian.ph), pag authenticated kayo maari kayong makapagbrowse sa internet. Pero palagay ko a very good hacker can easily bypass their security, and with the right tools anyone can eavesdrop the customer’s activity and probably acquire confidential information like passwords, credit card numbers, etc.

waraybuut · 21 years ago

It’s actually wifi, pero di yun yung wifi na iniisip nyo. The CPE or yung device na ginagamit ng SMART ay IEEE802.11b compliant, so therefore it’s WIFI. Mali po ang post ni cyber-friar. Siguro partly mali partly tama, or should i say di lang acurate ang post nya.

Ang device na nilalagay sa taas ng bubong ng bahay ng customer ay actually isang WiFi Bridge, merong ethernet port na ikakabit dun sa lan-card na nakalagay sa PC ng customer.

Ang device na nasa cellsite ng SMART ay most likely isang WiFi multi-bridge.

Mermaidian · 21 years ago

I got subscribed to meridian during the testing phase(750 a month + 500 installation.. i think 988/month na ngayon). I normally get speeds higher than 256kbps(i just checked now, 1.20Mbps).. tagal lang before you get a scheduled installation date, you really have to follow up on your application but it’s definitely worth the wait =)

connected · 21 years ago

guys,

If you’ve got inquiries, comments, suggestions, or incident reports… email ma****@meridiantelekoms.com :)

It is available in metro manila but applications will be thru meridian (8121757 loc 224/257) – you may apply thru their website (www.meridian.ph) and follow up thru the numbers given. The package available in manila’s is the regular package which is P988 / 256kbps and one-time installation fee of P1000 plus a one-year lock-in period. All you need is a working PC with a LAN card.

Hope this helps. :)

BryanMania · 21 years ago

KAbog taga nueva vizcaya din me, hinihintay ko nalang ung connection ko sa smart.. hihih kapit bahay lang namin ung smart wireless center d2…

musta naman kaya lag time ng Wifi ng smart.. maganda kaya ito pang Ragnarok? or mas mabilis parin pag DSL as in ung cable talaga… sana may makasagot

KAbog san ka d2 sa Vizcaya ^_^ small world

Abe Olandres Editor-in-chief · 21 years ago

Wi-Freak,

It’s partly WiFi, it’s partly not.

WiFi in the sense that your connection from a Smart cellsite to your WiFi antenna is un-wired.

Not WiFi in the sense that the connection form your Wifi antenna to your PC or internet device is still wired.

So what’s the missing link? A WiFi hub to your antenna. The WiFi hub then re-transmits it to your WiFi-enabled devices or workstations in your home/office.

Wi-FreaK · 21 years ago

in wi-fi, you use IEEE 802.11 network replacing the Ethernet Card of the Wired Network. Smart’s Wi-Fi Product is not similar to US’s Sprint of Cingular. ITs still a wired technology, but still .. it will surely be a viable market player in the industry considering the existing infrastructure, market-base and support.

I will definitely suscribe to this product even if i was mislead by the branding :P

Lets try the Wired Wi-Fi

Wi-FreaK · 21 years ago

I almost dropped my jaw when i heared Smart launched a Wi-Fi product. I could imagine myself going to work with a driver in tow so i could do my last minute quick fix on my report in the comfort of my back seat.

TO MY DISMAY!!! They gave a wrong definition of Wi-Fi (not similar to IEEE) im not techy but I dont think they somewhat giving false expectation.

Tama ba ako mali lang intindi ko sa Wi-Fi

arlo · 21 years ago

i just had mine connected yeterday it was the star of a nightmare.

unlike other servers which activates the email address automatically, meridian asks me to email their csd (cs****@meridiantelekom.com).

the team that set up my connection, left the wires dangling as well saying that another group was scheduled to fix the wires to the walls.

this morning i woke up with no internet conenction and i have been calling their tech support every hour with result nor any anwers when they can have my connection back up.

so this is how i lie right now, 26 hour after having meridian conenction.

no email account and no reply from the csd, and tech support no help with this subject

intertnet cable running from the top of my bedroom window, dangling down the wall, snaking across the floor all the way tot eh sala wher i have my work area.

no internet connection since 7 am and no hope sight, the tech support cant even offer any back-up like a dial up number so i can have some sort of email conenction

i am posting this using conenction of my old isp that thankfully hasnt acted on my request to be disconnected.

aaaaaargh!!!!

arlo

Francis · 21 years ago

unlimited ba ung monthly rate? or merong Kb limit kasi kung Edge technology d per kilobyte ang bayaran?

Leo · 21 years ago

smart wifi uses the present GSM format incorporated with the GPRS/EDGE technologywhere in the signal is still GSM but because of EDGE technology they can increase the speed to 285 kbpps in october and the charge will be 988 pesos per month. Im not a electronic freak but i research this stuff. Smart wifi is slower compare to dsl but it is ok for residential use…for at least a single user. Im still hesitant to subscribe because because of service interuption. However, i have great info that this technology will improve even up tp 400+ kbps in the future. try you na lang to know more info.

ehrgeiz · 21 years ago

988 per month at 90kbs lang? di kaya mahal yun?

jeebo · 21 years ago

i have heared of meridian telekoms which is also offering wireless broadband. i think smart is also a part owner of it. at 988/mo of 90kbs speed the least. still wireless to the nearest smart cellsites.

kabog · 21 years ago

kelangan may LOS ng smart cellsite and within 1.5km radius para mas mabilis.some say that kung wala signla smart wala na rin wifi, well smart wifi is using other equipment nakakabit lang sya sa same tower.i think for provincial areas 1000 pesos ang installation fee because dito sa amin sa nueva vizcaya 1000 pesos.

Noel Lamsis · 21 years ago

Hello

Meron pa daw mas mabilis kaysa sa Smart wifi. Wifi ng Bayan name nito abangan na lang natin sila.

sandugo · 21 years ago

802.11g

Migs · 21 years ago

Smart has acquired 100% of Meridian. And, don’t expect the service to run on your portable devices, the “WiFi” is not 802.11!

Eugene · 21 years ago

meridian wifi o smart wifi ay iba sa product ng pldt like weroam.ginagamit ng meridian ang cellsites network ng smart pra sa wide coverage.magpakabit na kayo.di hamak na masmabilis ang access kumapara s dsl o sa nakagawian n ntin internet access.mas cheaper pa.ang meridian company ay part n ng smart telco.product ng smart ang wifi.ang wifi ng smart o ang badwidth na alloted d2 ay pra s residential user lng.pwede magkonect ng 2-4 na pc.limited area pa lng available.

hoop · 21 years ago

@yuga

ok lang ata kung di LOS, noong tinawagan ko sila sabi nila sa akin na kung nakikita ko yung antenna ng Smart mas ok daw yon at sure ball na puwede location ko… I forgot to ask what a Smart Antenna looks like though and had no intention to go up my roof either to check… hehehe

Paul · 21 years ago

Available lang ang Smart WiFi outside of Metro Manila.

Within Metro Manila? Sa October 1 pa daw.

retzwerx · 21 years ago

yup, kuya abe, need ng LOS.
samin wala daw, kakacheck lang kanina.
kaines! pero double check nmn daw nila next week.

Abe Olandres Editor-in-chief · 21 years ago

retz : better days are coming. Kelangan ba LOS (line-of-sight)? Kala ko kase kahit NLOS puede eh.

jon.lao: Technically, like any other broadband connection, it should be able to support Skype.

jon.lao · 21 years ago

Does Skype work on these microwave broadbands? like Smart WiFi and Smart WeRoam?

retz · 21 years ago

Ehehe, Yun nga ung sinasabi ko na ISP, mabilis nga and the receiver is bundled with the mo.charges. The downside is “KUNG” makakita ng signal papunta sa house mo. Pero I must say nakakaimpress ang bilis ng meridian.
(Pumunta ako sa bahay ng friend ko I tested it on Ragnarok Online, 2advanced.com and limewire) looks like Im shifting from cable to microwave. /gg

Abe Olandres Editor-in-chief · 21 years ago

Looks like same pricing as the Smart WiFi. Most likely the same service with a different brand.

hoop · 21 years ago

dito pala details… but for Davao to :-) .. should be the same for others (I hope)

http://www.davaoexchange.com/transact.php?action=show&topic=31

hoop · 21 years ago

@Jaypee

788/month plus 500 installation fee, tapos locked ka with them for 1 year.

Abe Olandres Editor-in-chief · 21 years ago

Yes, PLDT initially bought 40% of Meridian Telekoms (and thinking of buying up to 100%) where they used it as platform for their wireless broadband service.

Jaypee · 21 years ago

Ok yan ah..so how much is the installation and monthly fees?

hoop · 21 years ago

Not sure if this is the same as meridian, they have their site at http://www.meridian.ph

From what I heard at tipidpc.com, dating company to ni Mark Jiminez na binili ng PLDT.

When I called them up libre na daw yung reciever, just pay the installation fee. All you need is a smart cell site within line of site of you

retzwerx · 21 years ago

I know one certain broadband isp who offers bb-internet through microwave tech. The receiving unit is installed (free) Php 990.00 per mo. (residential), my friend says it’s far better than PLDT DSL corporate acct.

Fleeb · 21 years ago

I think you still need to buy some sort of receiver.

Abe Olandres Editor-in-chief · 21 years ago

I think that one is PLDT WeRoam.

Jaypee · 21 years ago

A couple months ago, I’ve heard PLDT offering something similar to this..unlimited wireless connection thru cell sites, all you need is a laptop or any mobile device coz they provide the PCMCIA card when you subscribe..but the price was i think around P1,500-2,000..not sure though. :D