Telecoms

Smart Bro Pocket WiFi Portable 3G Router

Q: Key Point 2: The SmartBro Pocket WiFi is only available on a postpaid...

The SmartBro Pocket WiFi is only available on a postpaid Plan 495 for 50 hours of 3G internet every month.

Abe Olandres October 25, 2010 · 2 min read

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Smart now has their own version of a portable 3G+WiFi router they called SmartBro Pocket WiFi. This new product competes head-on with Globe MyFi launched back in July.

The SmartBro Pocket WiFi is only available on a postpaid Plan 495 for 50 hours of 3G internet every month. You will also need to add another Php150 per month for the Pocket WiFi device for the next 24 month lock-in period (that makes Php645/month for 24 months).

An extra Php10 per 30 minutes will be charged on top of the MSF when you exceed the 50 hour allocation. The promised speed it up to 2Mbps. They even have a promo that if you pay on time, you get 5 hours free on top of your monthly allocation.

As of the moment, they do not have an unlimited plan, probably because this will compete with the SmartBro Share-It Unlimited Plan. However, unlike the SmartBro Share-It that is restricted to your area/city/province, the SmartBro Pocket WiFi has nationwide coverage.

Likewise, since this is a postpaid account, the Smart UnliSurf offers (Unlisurf200) are not applicable on this device. Not sure if this is also a Huawei device (probably a ZTE by the looks of it) but it can handle up to 5 WiFi devices at the same time.

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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 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.

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152 Comments

netguy · 15 years ago

Hello po. para sa mga fan ng sun cellular meron na rin pong pocket wifi ang sun cellular nasa market na r5in ito. ang prepaid nila ay P 5,100.00 pero meron din silang post paid.

FOX · 15 years ago

you mean… cant use this as prepaid, like smartbro broadband plug-it ?

bro tester · 15 years ago

one time lang pala ang P150, next bill is only 495 kung hindi ka nagexceed ng 50hrs/month.

Device Specifications
>HSDPA/HSUPA/UMTS 850/1900/2100 MHz
>GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
>HSDPA Downlink 7.2 Mbps, Uplink 5.76 Mbps
>802.11b/g compatible with any Wi-Fi enabled device
>Compact size 99.7 x 54 x 14.9 mm
>Weight 75g
>1500mAh battery gives up to 4 hours use
>Maximum Emitted Power 2.95W/m2 in GSM 900Mhz mode.

nice parang installment.

tutz · 15 years ago

saan po nakakabili nyan sa mga smart stations ba sa mga mall?

Michael · 16 years ago

@Harold: Completely agree with you on that bro….Smart’s congesting their already congested network. They should really stop thinking about selling for once and upgrade their network first. If you know someone real interested in this device, i’ll be happy to recommend Globe’s MyFi too…much more decent speeds. Plus, everyone knows Huawei device is way better than ZTE.

Michael · 16 years ago

Completely agree with you on this, Harold. Smart is further congesting their already very poor network….

Hi Yuga,

Nice post!

I would rather advice those who are planning to get this to opt for other ISP. Smart is always upgrading their devices like this one and they keep on acquiring more and more subscribers BUT they have forgotten to upgrade their Base Stations or Cell sites.

Their base stations are congested, besides, only the cell sites in major cities are capable of 3G/HSDPA signal.

Iâ€™ve written a review about SmartBro Plug-it which functions the same as the one you reviewed here.

Hereâ€™s my review: http://philippinealmanac.com/product-reviews/smartbro-plug-it-review/

Nice blog!

Harold
PhilippineAlmanac.com

Damon · 16 years ago

@Cheftonio: Sorry you;re wrong, Globe sells their MyFi at both prepaid and postpaid options…Smart is the one selling only postpaid.

jun · 16 years ago

@JB openline ba sya..

JB · 16 years ago

tried the three networks. Globe ang pinaka stable 70-130kbps plus(actual download speed with only 1-2 3g bar signal.

second para sakin ang Smart 20-50kbps plus(actual download speed)with full 3g signal bar

third syempre ang Sun. 9-12kbps actual download speed niya pag 6am to 12midnight. . pero pag mga 2AM na to 6AM sobrang bilis 150-220kbps plus ang actual download speed. with almost full 3g bar signal. but surfing is ok lang ang speed ng sun. ewan ko ba kung bakit. . . hmmm

BAGUIO AREA
3g signal lahat ng test

anneskie · 16 years ago

Does it works with iphone coming from the other countries like Japan?

bale · 16 years ago

actually working dito yung smart bro sim for prepaid and post paid.

pag naubos na 50 hrs or if you’ll be needing to use the internet for a long time continuously then mas maganda palit muna ng sim yung pang plug it then reg mo sa unlisurf.

annipie · 16 years ago

comparing download/upload speed with smartbro plug-it device which one is faster?

Harold · 16 years ago

Hi Yuga,

Nice post!

Their base stations are congested, besides, only the cell sites in major cities are capable of 3G/HSDPA signal.

I’ve written a review about SmartBro Plug-it which functions the same as the one you reviewed here.

Here’s my review: http://philippinealmanac.com/product-reviews/smartbro-plug-it-review/

Nice blog!

Harold
PhilippineAlmanac.com

Jubail · 16 years ago

Hmm… ganda sana kaso sa total na P654.00 dapat wala ng 50hour limit ang browsing dapat fixed na yung price for the whole month.

Elimar · 16 years ago

just tether your 3g cellphone so that your cellphone will be your wifi hotspot..

josemagnaye · 16 years ago

this is the ZTE MF30 http://www.zte.com.au/telstra/MF30.htm

cheftonio · 16 years ago

According to a source, globe is not selling the prepaid mifi anymore. Postpaid nalang din daw. Tell me if I’m wrong.. I want to get one and tinker with the software.

-Sent via YugaTech Mobile App

CK · 16 years ago

The best pa rin to survey your area first, on whose got the better signal…or suffer the consequences.

Brown Bear · 16 years ago

hey, did anyone of you also noticed? the yellow smiley guy at a glance seems to be giving the finger using his right hand.

Boffill · 16 years ago

Sana lang malakas pumickup ng signal to. Baka mas mabagal pa to kesa sa antenna na SmartBro.

chayo · 16 years ago

You think it’s a good portable solution to replace SmartBro Plan 999 (canopy)? I wish to save on monthly internet bills, and I use SmartBro as backup whenever PLDT MyDSL fails.

Jon · 16 years ago

Pwede yun, I guess. I was using a G1 before but I was able to use wifi tethering on it. Rooted nga lang sya. Right now, I’m using a Motorola Milestone runninng 2.1 (waiting for froyo update) and wireless thethering still works great.

As far as I know, Android natively supports wifi tethering in Froyo. In older versions, usually kelangan mag root muna then install the wireless tether app. Punta ka sa xda-developers.com or google mo na lang kung pano gawin sa phone mo. In most cases, madali naman mag-root. Follow the instructions to the dot nga lang. ;)

jun · 16 years ago

talaga.. so kahit anong phone with froyo 2.2 and up.. alam ko kasi ang samsung galaxy 5 is 2.1 lang so di sya pwede?

Jon · 16 years ago

@jun

Almost any Android phone can be used for that. Some though may require you to root. But for newer phones running Froyo, you can most likely do it out of the box. :)

jun · 16 years ago

ano kayang brand nito?

anyway.. Sir Yuga.. sana ma feature nyo ang mga android phone that can be use as 3g wifi spot… :)

isko · 16 years ago

i still love my android…hassle-free and very fast.

mkks · 16 years ago

baka naman mabaog pag dala to sa bulsa, masyado na madaming signal waves ang nasasagap ng magandang kinabukasan

Arvee · 16 years ago

for the same price, you get a better device from Globe. Not endorsing Globe or Huawei here, just being practically wise.

@Damon

let’s just say for 4k, walang kita ang Globe dun (let’s just say nadin na around 4k ang OEM/Huawei price ng Mifi router) pero since locked ang units (and there’s no workaround yet to unlock this kind of device) to Globe, sa internet service sila kumikita.

Teknisyan · 16 years ago

nice one.. I don’t think this will affect the Smartbro network, since Pocket Wifi will be using the Smart 3G network and convert it to Wifi Signal and it’s different with Smart Bro.

I may be wrong.

Damon · 16 years ago

I think Sun will release one soon too but the prices wont likely be lower than Globe’s…..Globe’s is already palugi…theyre selling prepaid at 4k when the device costs 6-7k….i dont know how they did it….magpalugi narin kaya si Sun para lang makalaban???

Pea · 16 years ago

Sun na lang… ibabargain na naman nila yan…gaya sa mga prepaid wireless broadband…goo Sun goo….haha…wish ko lang… :)

jock · 16 years ago

@yizhan – d ko maintindihan kung bakit mo aantayin ang wifi direct? kung magconnect ka ng direct straight to device pero parehong bulok na carrier d mabagal pa din di ba?

Bernx · 16 years ago

Pocket Wifi is for people on the go, nice move for Smart. I can have my own wifi for my iTouch.

yizhan · 16 years ago

haha antayin ko nalang Wi-Fi Directâ„¢ from Wifi Alliance ^^ they’ve already lunched it in Austin. I have a lot of issue in smart services specially in their Smart Bro plug-it plan, you have to stay near the cell site to reach 2mbps connection T_T

edbanquil87 · 16 years ago

how long is the battery life?

islacom · 16 years ago

Yehey more competition for Globe MyFi, prices expexted to go south

Guy · 16 years ago

Smart has a poor 3G signal nationwide. I don’t know the point of introducing such if it can’t compete with Globe.

PimpMyiPhone · 16 years ago

I like the look of Globe’s device better.

Mobile Games · 16 years ago

I like the device but sad to note, our locality has very poor Smart Signal.

I only use Globe Tattoo to browse the net or update my Gaming Blog.

Nardz · 16 years ago

wow ang yabang ng mga tao dito. wala naman idea.

KennethM · 16 years ago

@bakoi Kasi this device also uses 3G kaya lalong macocongest ang already congested network ng Smart. Puro benta lang kasi nasa isip, hindi iimprove ang network quality!! Grrrr.

mike · 16 years ago

not good. it is not available on prepaid compared with globe. Not too many people are interested on postpaid.

Kaloy · 16 years ago

So what’s new? Sucky, sucky, sucky. Everyone knows SmartBro has the most loser signal of the three giants. Ganda nga ng gadget mo, wala ka namang signal. Pffft.

bokoi · 16 years ago

@ kenneth
how so?

abe · 16 years ago

Ayus yan …. atleast may mapagpipilian

Kenneth · 16 years ago

Not a good news for existing SmartBRO subscribers. Lalong babagal and magiging congested ang network. Meaning, slower download & upload speeds. The less reliable and dependent the connection will be.

ken jesryl caballero · 16 years ago

ayy i thot i was the first one to comment..haha

Abe Olandres Editor-in-chief · 16 years ago

@jon – I think Share-It is locked to a cluster of base stations. My Makati account works from Sta. Rosa, Laguna up to Bulacan.

ken jesryl caballero · 16 years ago

first!

“up to” na naman..

Jon · 16 years ago

Nah, I’d rather tether using my Android phone. Cheaper and less of a hassle. Oh, BTW sir Abe, the Share-it is like province-locked. For Manila users, it is Metro-locked. I bring my Share-it to different cities here in Manila and it works. Haven’t tried bringing it to a province though.