Telecoms

Smart Bro 大兄弟

Abe Olandres Editor-in-chief May 8, 2006 · 2 min read

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我与Smart公共事务部门的一位高管的会面进展顺利，我获得了关于该服务如何推出的详细内幕信息。

讨论围绕应对日益严峻的问题以及Smart Wifi明显不足之处的新策略展开。如今，随着其重新品牌化为Smart Bro，也已组建了一支新团队来全面监督整个运营。

一封早期发给我的邮件中的解释已发布如下：

我们目前正在采取措施，通过部署先进的无线基站和终端设备、安装升级后的路由器来改善网络设施。同时，我们将把无线宽带网络的核心传输骨干容量提升至 10 Gbps，区域骨干容量提升至 1 Gbps。国际传输容量也已大幅增加，以进一步改善对海外服务器的访问。

在客户服务方面，我们正在改进处理无线宽带服务查询的客服系统和流程。专门服务于宽带客户的呼叫中心席位已增加至 370 个。在业务层面，Smart Bro 现由 PLDT 和 Smart 的高管及技术专业人员共同直接管理。

与此同时，我们计划通过与记者、编辑、技术用户团体以及经常接触 Smart Bro 服务客户反馈（无论好坏）的活跃博主合作，扩展我们的客户互动与反馈机制。因此，我们诚邀您加入"Smart Bro Big Bro"核心用户群。您可以在您最方便的时间与我们进一步讨论这一机会。

据我所知，他们原有的支持人员只有70人，直到最近才又增加了300人（在Meridian大规模离职之后？）。唉，算了。

无论如何，他们将在我的住所安装Smart Bro服务，以便我亲身体验该服务，并提供直接反馈和改进建议。作为核心小组成员之一，我将能够直接与各部门负责人沟通，尤其是其网络运营经理。

我还提到，此举（包括征召活跃博主等参与此类服务的“测试版”）是菲律宾的首例。更多详情请见PTB。

[标签]宽带，电信运营商，互联网服务提供商，Wi-Fi，无线保真[/标签]

What is the new name for Smart Wifi?

Smart Wifi has been rebranded as Smart Bro.

How many call center seats are dedicated to broadband customers?

The number of call center seats dedicated to broadband customers has been increased to 370.

Who now manages Smart Bro directly?

Smart Bro is now directly managed by a combination of PLDT and Smart executives and technical professionals.

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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.

8,010 Articles

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264 Comments

salimpusa · 20 years ago

puro kayo reklamo reserch muna kayo bago kayo apply.. my bro is bursting up to 390 kbps no problem at all. kahit na dumating yun bagyong millenyo ganun pa din walang pag babago… consistent 2 naging connection ko for 5 months na, and upon reading dis thread ang iinit ng ulo nyo sa mga technical support ng smartbro ganito lang mga tol try to calm ur self 4 sure they will do their best para matulungan nila kayo.. pag opening sentence nyo agad ay mura o galit agad kayo eyyy mga tao din yun mga yun may mga change of mood, nag trabaho din ako sa ibang tchnical support kaso international sop din namin na talagang mag check muna connectivity b4 deploying a contractors or technical personel..share ko lng… one time nag reformat ako ng pc ko dont know how to do kala ko kasi satic ip ang bro kaya nag call ako sa tech support nila may nag assist sakin tech support if im not mistaken his name is eaw di cya by the book mag troubleshoot na restore namin connection ko almost 2min lng, natuwa ako sa kanya and i ask for his supervisor to commend him… kaya wag init mga ulo mga tol… ok???? SMART BRO ROCKS!!!!!

salimpusa · 20 years ago

gamit ka analogx netstatlive yun ang pang check ng bandwith

Frank · 20 years ago

Tang ina smart broâ€¦ pak uâ€¦ (senxa sa words sobrang galit na ako) noong month ng augost nwala ako ng internet for one week.. ngaun for one month na.. wtf.. tumatawag ako araw araw sa support nla tae.. na memorize ko na troubleshooting nla.. tapos ngaung sept 26 2006 tumwag ako 9:30 am na tapos mga 10:30 am nakikinig ako sa may nag uusap yun pala yung naka usap ko sa fone naka upo lng kin kausap ang mga katabi nya. sinasabi â€œputa ito tiningnan ko records araw araw tumawag.â€ sabi ng isang lalaki â€œtaas na proceso na yanâ€¦ tatawagan ka uli nyanâ€ at may babae nag add pa â€œsabihin mo nlng na pa monitor at tawag nlng uliâ€ asar na ako.. d nla alam na maririnig ko boses nla.. nag tatawanan pa mga pota.. !!!!!!!! tang ina smart bro serviceâ€¦

neneborgs · 20 years ago

http://www.testmy.net/dl-97 is a good place to start.

rich · 20 years ago

guys help me naman on how to check my connection speed… i just don’t know how because i am new subscriber of smart bro…

thanks a lot

Bex Rabo · 20 years ago

I’ve been experiencing a very slow connection since August 25. A couple of Smart wibro/wifi field technicians were deployed last Sept. 11. and performed some reconfiguration in my connection. I was told that they changed the color code. A bandwidth test was performed through http://www.pldtplay.com/ displaying results registering 236+++kbps connection.

My fault is I did not browse the internet while they are still around to see how the connection is actually performing. I just stared on the bandwidth test results and felt satisfied with the reading. When I started browsing, I have to click on “Reload” several times to be able to gain access to websites successfully ( e.g. yahoo mail, gmail, craigslist, mybdo.com.ph…); plus the access is very slow.

I checked my connection through http://www.pldtplay.com/ and it registered 210++ kbps. I tried browsing again but I have to click on “Reload” several times still to gain access. I tested my connection through testmy.net and my connection speed is nowhere above 99kbps. I tried testing via globequest (crude test) and it’s also registering a low connection having 89kbps the highest. I observed my connection with hopes for improvement but I’m still in the same status of very slow connection.

I’m wondering why pldtplay.com displays way above what other bandwidth meters are registering??? Feeling ko tuloy http://www.pldtplay.com displays bogus bandwidth readings.

janet morcillo · 20 years ago

naman!!!ang tagal na!!!ang bagal tlga ng connection..pls naman!!kanina pa kami tumatwag sa smart..wala namang sumasagot…nako!!gusto nio bang malugi at mawalan ng customers?!!!ayusin nio nga trabaho nio!!!?nakakawalang gana!!

bob magoo · 20 years ago

Speaking of 3G, Smart has 3G services not in Metro Manila alone but also all key cities. With respect to HSDPA, tahimik sile pero it was package under WeRoam service of PLDT. Speed can go up to 1.5Mb to as high as 1.7Mbps.

melvin · 20 years ago

4 day na ko wala connection sa internet.august 28 nawalan ng connection. sa araw din na un..tumwag na ako sa hotline nila *1888.kung ano ano pinagawa. ipina- ipconfig /release tapos ipconfig /renew. tapos ipinarestart ang computer. tapos ayun wala pa rin…….check daw nila sa kanilang base station. ok daw naman ang connection.. ok ba nman un eh wala nga ako connection. talagang hotline pano ba naman nakakapag init ng punong tenga dahil sa mga agent paulit ulit lang ang sinasabi. next day. tumawag ulit ako na baka nman meron na magsasabi na i sched na lang para mapuntahan ng technician wala pa din gusto nman ipa ipconfig at restart ang comp. kahit nasabi na follow up na lang ang ginagawa ko.at ilang beses ko na din sinabi sa kanila na nagawa ko na ung series ng pagtrouble shoot. pwede na nga siguro ako mag apply na call center agent ng smarbro dahil halos saulo ko na ang kanilang mga sinasabi.
kahapon tumawag ako. sabi imonitor daw ng technical group nila ung connect sa base station.tumawag daw ako after 24 hours.wala nman akong napala. buti n lang nde ako masyadong kumakain ng ma kolesterol, kung hinde baka nahighblood ako at inatake ako sa puso sa dahil sa galit inis asar…kanina tumawag ulit ako baka meron na development.WALANGHIYANG SMART BRO YAN. WALA PA DIN NANGYARI…NDE PA RAW NA I-EVALUATE NG KANILANG TECHNICAL GROUP. 4 NA 3 DAYS ANG NAKALIPAS NDE PA NA I-EVALUATE… isa lang ang ibig sabihin nun BULOK ANG KANILANG SERBISYO. AT PINAPABAYAAN NA LANG ANG KANILANG MGA SUBSCRIBER… maayos lang sila pag mga application palang ang dumarating sa kanila. agad pag nag apply ka kahit sa internet lang. pag umaga ka ngapply hindi lilipas ang maghapon papadalhan ka na agad ng ref# para sa babayaran mo.at tatawagan ka pa. tapos pag nde ka nman agad nakabayad..para sa installation fee. tatawagan ka ulit. ask nila if kung wala pa raw natatangap na ref #. kababait.talagang sisiguraduhin pa nila na nasa bahay ka para sa pagkakabit ng internet. minomonitor pa nila kung nasaan na ang mga contructor nila.at ipapaalam sa inyo na on the way na papunta sa bahay ninyo ang mga kumag..pero pag ganito na nangyayari nagloloko na ang connection, wala na…wala na makuha na tulong mula sa kanila.kaasar talaga.
pagikakabit ang internet within 3-5 days meron na.! PERO pag kaw na ang nadisconnect!
langya. baka nman nakalipas na ang isang buwan wala parin kahit araw araw ka na tumawag sa kanila… KAYA KAYO KUNG BALAK NYO MAG PAKABIT NG SMART BRO. magisip muna kayo..mahirap na magsisi.

mha · 20 years ago

ganun ba… try ko bukas… 1 week na wala wenta ang smart d2… pro may advertising for smart.. just read it…

sa tulong ng SMART Bro Computer Station ng Internet CafÃ© Negosyo Bundle. Sa business plan na ito, may computer at broadband Internet ka na para sa dagdag na kita! Also available ang PLDT myDSL Internet CafÃ© Plus na 5 to 30-seater unit. Sa Internet CafÃ© Negosyo Bundle, susuportahan namin ang pag-angat ng negosyo mo!

Smart Bro Prices are VAT-inclusive
**MyDSL Prices subject to government taxes and PC Insurance
***(While supplies last)

Tawag na sa 101-888!*
Siguradong sasakit ang ulo nyo!
May isa pa!!! libre 1 box of advil
San ka pa! what are you waiting for!
Tawag na!!!!!!!!!!!

bob magoo · 20 years ago

my bro connection keeps on improving since july and i had no problem since today. i visited their business office at sm megamall when i was pissed off due to frequent disconnection. technician came by that saturday and fix my antenna and others and its working well naman.. i suggest that you go to their business office and tell them that you will discontinue their wifi service if your problem will not be solve in 1 week. i tell you, maaayos yan!!!magic!!!

mha · 20 years ago

what can i say to smart bro.. its really suck. you know why.. it’s because poor services and always technical activities na ginagawa nila.. puro kau experiment maawa naman kau sa nagbabayad. bakit pa kayo ng smart br0?? kung di rin maganda serbisyo… pa promo promo pa kayo nalalaman bobo lang papakabit sa nyo ngayon… if i were you magtitiis na ko walang internet kung smart bro pakakabit. u wasting u money…

elbie · 20 years ago

i am very dissatisfied with the smart wi-fi tech service. they are always promising to address the issue within 24 hours but their 24 hours is 24 years!

kung kelan nila maa-address yung issue sa service nila…

i am really hoping na maayos na nila kung ano man ang dapat nilang ayusin. i believe na basically Smart is a good company with good people, kailangan lang nilang ma-iron out ang mga issues related to their customer service esp higher tech’s service!

XeNo · 20 years ago

Smart Bro really sucks at nighttime… the time i need the conenction the most! cant we do anything bout it…?

pongkoy · 20 years ago

Smart Bro’s service is quite good in morning… but as the hours of the day tick, the connection gets slower and slower… well not really slow, but intermittent. During night, when I play online games, I get disconnected as soon as I enter the game.

jumbz · 20 years ago

connection lost since 1st week of july.. and it lasted for a week.. when i called the smart service hotline.. they say that theres a techinical problem with there server.. i called several times and they all say the same.. after 1 week the connection is fixed.. but after 2 days.. the connection is lost again.. until now i have no internet connection…

Jag · 20 years ago

I had Smartbro installed July 1st, 2006.

SmartBro didn’t inform me when I applied for service that, unlike the usual broadband service ISP’s, they will not be providing PUBLIC IP addresses. I found out right after the installers left, that I couldn’t play my favorite games which use direct IP connection because my PC’s IP address is in the PRIVATE domain range (i.e. 192.168.xx.xx). The service uses NAT (Network Address Translation) technology to hide the PC from the internet. Why are taking this responsibility away from the customers? If I want to expose my PC to the internet so I can access it remotely, I should be allowed to take that risk.

Internet access service (even DIAL-UP) allows access both FROM/TO one’s PC…. If they are not going to allow direct IP connection to my PC, I would be unable to play most of my favorite games . This is totally unacceptable, and I believe it constitutes non-performance of contract service agreement.

Question: Do I have a legitimate right to cancel my subscription (without early-termination fee) and expect to be reimbursed the fees I have paid?

A guy who lives in the Philippines · 20 years ago

No service for 10 hours now straight. Right after nawalan for mga 18 hours straight. This is really pathetic.

syncmaster · 20 years ago

Pwede bang dalawang canopy anf ilagay? ex. 1st canopy for upload and the 2nd canopy for download.

sweetchineseeyes · 20 years ago

i thought i’m the only one holding grudges to smart wifi…as some people here say it all, it’s quite tolerable at first, its been a year now since we started, each month i’m itching to terminate the service, but we just can’t becos of the contract, which im waiting to expire this july. and to my horror, it really prove true that their practice are way horrible as i browse through blogs by my co-wifiers…and i could say evrybody’s grudges and experiences are mutual. none of the said field visits/sched were complied accurately, and the so called callback are made even promised by supervisors, even credits are a big hoax. the agents are way disrespectful, if u asked for a supervisor, they would refused to escalate the call, none of them are properly placing the customer on hold, they’ll just place the phone hanging and you could over hear their chismisans…such horrible practice ive encountered when i called, their scripts are well practiced, how could you understand that as u asked to be escalated to a supervisor, the unprofessional agent named Don would make u wait for abt 30 mins, later to find out that he just xfer the phone to another agent who then will mak u wait another 30 mins…i’ve worked in a customer service field for 3 years, and never had encountered dealing with unprofessional and disrespectful agents….even supervisors can’t make a customer feel taken care of or feel satisfied with the services, no resolution whatsoever…im just waiting till july 15th, the date im paid up…and will gladly terminate the service….

Smart Fanboy · 20 years ago

tama si buknoy!

tama na ang whining…

THE BEST ANG SMART BRO

Hindi nyo mapipigilan ang pagdami ng subscribers ng Smart!

Hindi kasi kayo nagbabasa – UP TO 384kbps!

buknoy · 20 years ago

nabasa ko karamihan ng comments dito.

karamihan puro komedyante.

ang advertised service e “UPTO 384Kbps”, not “constant 384Kbps”, diba?
anung nirereklamo nyo kung ~100Kbps ang measured speed nyo?

kakatawa talaga kayo.

ang dapat lang na reklamo dito e ung mga intermittent ang connection tska ung pulpol na techsupport.

tska dun sa nagsasabi hindi daw WiFi ang service, ang WiFi connection mo is not within ur premises but between your antenna and the tower. bale fixed wireless architecture na WiFi ang protocol.

Pero hindi naman lahat wifi, ung iba Canopy diba? wireless protocol un ng Motorola.

iembrace natin ang technology mga brad, para umunlad naman tayo.

france · 20 years ago

So far no comments ako to the wireless communication here in davao, in regards with the smart bro madali lang ang pag apply ko after ng payment may ipinadala sa akin na materials used for connection which are schedule 3-4 days said by the agent. After that the agent said that they will call me, surprisingly the day after i apply tinawagan nila ako at ready na ang lahat ng gamit para sa connection. Yun nga kinabukasan nakabitan na ako, when i first used the internet it runs 112 kbps which im A little bit dissapointed but in the long run it geos up to 390 kbps…
They prove that there company are just simply amazing….

Maria Victoria Rabo · 20 years ago

I’ve been a smart wifi/wi bro subscriber since Nov 2005 and all I can say is IT SUCKS! I was informed by a certain Ana through phone that I’m scheduled for a field visit yesterday morning but no one showed up. I called for a ffup only to know that I was scheduled on June 8. Isn’t that a great appointment setting???? Sad to say, they only got a well-trained technical support staff to answer the calls but the action is way below POOR. Last month I’ve been experiencing intermittent network interruptions which has not been resolved until now.

mikhaila · 20 years ago

syett!!!!

wala sumasagot sa heldesk nila mula pa kahapon. bakit ganun??? sobra dami ba reklamo kaya wala available na tech person???

intermitent connection ko 2 weeks na.

smart bro> kuya panu ba yan????

mikhaila · 20 years ago

wala pa rin talaga ang smart wifi.. nagapalit ng balot pero bulok pa rin ang laman!

ganun pa rin naman ang nararanasan ko puro intermitent connection. kahit na tumawag na ako sa tech support nila sasabihin lang “just wait for our call sir”.

bad trip talaga. ang lakas mag advertise BASURA pa rin naman ang produkto!

ayusin nyu naman. last 1 month na lang contract ko kung walang pagbabago talaga hinto nako sa pag subscribe sa inyu.

marc08 · 20 years ago

ang bagal help pls…

marc08 · 20 years ago

ang bagal help me….

cassandra · 20 years ago

I just hope they address the issue of those potential customers wanting to apply for smart bro service but was denied because their location…
When smart bro staff surveyed them they said the wireless signal cannot reach the area because of coconut trees blocking the direct line of sight…
I just wish they should do something about this…
I do know maybe invest in more hardware so the more and more people can be connected in this country…
Maybe through information with the help of the internet we Filipinos can be truly progress…

mike · 20 years ago

Sir Yuga, kamusta naman konek mo with this kind of arrangement with Smart BRO?

Kasi ako na walang arrangement with SMART putol-putol at mabagal.

caloyphil · 20 years ago

Eto naman petition laban sa pldt, kasama na dito smartbro…..pirma na mga bro…………………………….mas marami mas mapapansin!

http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?pldtdsl

Smartbro= Mabuti na kaysa WALA
Smartbro= Not giving the right bandwidth to the paying consumers.
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caloyphil · 20 years ago

Smartbro= Mabuti na kaysa WALA
Smartbro= Not giving the right bandwidth to the paying consumers.

caloyphil · 20 years ago

Ang problemang malaki sa smartbro , kulang na bandwidth nila , tanggap pa ng tanggap ng subscriber, upgrade muna!!!

taga_bundok · 20 years ago

san lang po ay magiging totoo ang feedback nyo.

btw, smart bro is a troll

Danny · 20 years ago

oi KUNG GUSTO NINYO LUMAKAS ANG INTERNET NINYO RESTART NINYO KASABOT WAKOKOKO!!!!!! O BAKA MAHINA COMPUTER NINYO

caloyphil · 20 years ago

Mga bro,

Chat tayo sa pldt mypad , maraming taga smart dun kaya baka makatulong sa mga problema sa smartbro.

http://www.mypad.net/smartbro/

Caloyphil ako dun.

SlackeR · 20 years ago

saken stable naman whole day kahit tanghali umaabot akong 400kbps minsan bababa pero mga 128kbps pwede paren

caloyphil · 20 years ago

@ slacker,

stable ba the whole day??? Ano range ng bandwidth speed mo? Kasi saken pang madaling araw lang 300+ kbps sa tanghali 50 na lang !!

SlackeR · 20 years ago

I hope anytime soon? But so far I’ve subscribed to them for one year and ok naman ung connection ko

caloyphil · 20 years ago

So, when do we expect good services from smart, any time table , spedific date? Most of us feel hopeless on getting better conections and just hoping to graduate from one year lock in period then say adios..babayu !!!!!

vance · 20 years ago

@jun! smart wifi is a wired connection not a wifi that you can access anywhere on your house. It is called wifi kasi instead of using copper wires they use a microwave signal to transmit between the antenna that they will install on your roof and their base station. If you want a cheaper but reliable connection try getting bayantel its wired DSL but you don’t have to have a Bayantel Line and their in partner with sky cable. Cost around 900 pesos a month for 256 KBps

jepoy · 20 years ago

wow freeee…… *drools*

markku · 20 years ago

Smart Fix? I like that. Hehehe. At least it sounds like a commitment to fix the mess they got themselves (and paying customers) into.

jun · 20 years ago

Since you have their ear Abe, and u suggested some alternate pricing schemes, maybe u can whisper my thoughts to them:

i have been contemplating on getting wi fi but the cost for me right now is an issue. i use it only for about 2 hours a day max (since I’m in the office during the day). If it comes down to 500/month, with a two year lock-in period (with options to upgrade), i’ll probably (and many will, too) grab it. I would even go to the extreme of suggesting lowering bandwidth to 128 kps (if that is possible). Just to take a step off the dial-up world. Or is there a way to have it metered? many people, and students too, may benefit from this scheme.

audienceone · 20 years ago

Smart Bro… harnessing the free promotion by bloggers. :D And site owners.

Smart Fix should be a new name since they’re going to make it “better” and it has a fix/lock-in period. Anyway, hopefully they’ll hold to its speed promise once they have technical people and the better infrastructure up…

Abe Olandres Editor-in-chief · 20 years ago

They will be providing the connection for free for 1 year. The core group will also have direct contact with the network engineers so we might get better than usual support. We will also be logging all downtimes so that we get some sort of metrics how often it goes down — %age uptime of sorts.

I did mention the lock-in period complaints and suggested they do a some package changes — like Php998 if subscribed for 1 year, Php1,298 if subscribed for only 6 months and Php1,598 if subscribed for only 3 months. They explained that the 1-year lockin period was to compensate for the cost of the canopy.

About the outsourced support, they also admit that they used to have the support outsourced but they have now officially been doing the support internally recently along with the re-branding.

vance · 20 years ago

yah i agree with yellowcard/slacker about that having accessible forum.

By the way first impression is always good thus they might install it on sced but thats just the beginning after a few weeks to a month once you have a serious problem and needs to be fix, they will make your sched mix up cause they don’t have their own contractors so they can actually give you a estimate time and they can’t also follow it up since they can’t contact them when their on a job.

SlackeR · 20 years ago

This will be a good move.. Since you they will give you a Smart Bro Connection then you will have first hand experience on:

1. how long they take to have you connected
2. how professional their third party contractors are

from there you can start giving your feedback.

I agree with vance though I think they should also seek users from Tipidpc.com and http://smartbro.r8.org. From there they will have first hand comments, opinions, suggestions.

Or better yet if they don’t like that maybe they can create their own Forum site which can be accessible also via LAN/WAN so that means people who encounter connection problem can still post and view any resolutions given by Smart

Just my two centavos worth of words to say =)

vance · 20 years ago

oh good luck with your connection hopefully they arrive on schedule, second if you do experience problems don’t expect that you will recieve straight answer from their tech kasi hangang troubleshooting lang sila and you have to wait 24 hours or more for the higher tech to actually call you. Sana ako rin tawagan nila and i’ll be happy to interview them and ask them all the question that will kill them starting from their commercials to their services.

and if ever na mabilis ang connection mo, it doesn’t mean na maganda ang internet nila.

I hope they also ask those people on tipidpc.com and smartbro.r8.org forums na nakakaexperience ng slow connection na around 17KBps to 50 Kbps and those people falls under 100 – 200 Kbps.

Oh well! Sana nga magimprove sila and hopefully soon malapit na matapos ang lock in ko eh.

Peace!

noemi · 20 years ago

they better improve services. We just experienced a 2 day non working service. great for you to try it out. Lucky you get additional internet connection. When Smart Wifi works, it’s really fast though.