I’m now a smart bro plug it user
Just bought a smart bro plug it prepaid kit yesterday for P2,800.00.
Actually i was contemplating on whether to have the P1,500 unlimited plan or the prepaid kit. The sales person helped me do some math and i decided to go for the prepaid kit instead. It will be much cheaper for me.
I was also looking at using Globe’s visibility unfortunately, you still have to pay P1,000 on top of the P1,499 of their unlimited plan. That makes a total payment of about P2,500.00 for the outright purchase. BUt they are only advertising that you can get the unlimited plan for only P1,499.
Well, so much for that.. back to Smart Bro, It’s only P2,500+300 smart bro load. I asked the sales person from Smart Wireless Center at SM Davao if i can purchase the smart bro kit without the load because they did not say in their ads that i need to purchase the P300.00 load right awat and that the kit is already pre-loaded with P100.00 free load. She said i won’t be able to purchase the kit if i wont buy the 300 load. So OK.. i purchased it.
Hmm.. Globe has an additional 1k while smart bro adds 300.. ok… but i suggest they make this clear on their ads. Right?
Smart Bro is very easy to use and easy to install. For first time users like me, you just follow the step by step instructions and you won’t get wrong.
Also, you might want to register your smart bro on the Smart bro connect site: smart.com.ph/connect so that you can check your balance, and grab your self some freebies in the future by automatically joining contests such as the loads of laptop promo.
Now the very important question….How fast?
Here’s from teh smart bro console:
I was also pinging google:
And i was downloading a file on rapidshare with the average speed of 12kbps. Not bad for a 3G connection.
So far there are only two problems i’ve encountered with smart bro. But its not with the gadget.
First is with their customer service. I’ve called their customer service hotline 4 times as of posting time. It seems they’re to tired and don’t have proper orientation about the product. I was able to talk to male agents on last 3 calls i made. And all of them seems sleepy. No energy… The last inquiry i made was about my Telephone PIN on the smart bro connect site. I was registering my smart bro and it was asking for TELEPHONE PIN. I asked customer care about it and the rep said its the pin of the sim. HE also suggested the smart bro mobile number. I found out that it was a 6 digit pin that the user should provide. 2 things:
- I hope the smart bro connect registration page could have some description on the side when a user is registering.
- I hope smart bro can update and train ALL smart bro customer service reps.
Second is with the smart bro connect site. I’ve included the problem with the registration above. Another one in relation to smart bro connect is that i can’t verify my email. And I don’t know why. I was sent a link and then it just says “Sorry, your email address cannot be verified.” Weird!
Oh, i tried using other sims… like the uMobile sim.. gave me this error:
Oh well.. it seems it can’t use other sims.. or do i need to have the gadget “open line”?
By the way, i also tried buying at retailers. Howver, their price is still P3,800 - the old price. I don’t think they’ve been updated of the Smart Bro prepaid price cut yet. So buy your smart bro from Smart Wireless centers only. But you can buy smart bro prepaid loads at retail outlets.
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Comments
12 kbps on a 3G USB Modem, this is just SLOW beyond belief.
Back in England I had a 3G modem plugged in my laptop, the company quoted up to 7.2 MBPS and I always got speeds between 4 to 5 MBPS even inside my house.
I will be in the Cebu / Lapu-Lapu area for 6 months a year, what would be the best internet speed I can RELIABLY obtain and with which USB Modem.
I already have PLDT 1 meg service at the house which gives about 200 kbps on a good day but brownouts do disrupt my stockmarket trading so I need a good USB Modem with a reliable connection.
Thanks for your help.
I just registered my account and I was also frustrated over the Telephone Pin part. There was no explanation whatsoever regarding what it was. Well, thanks to your site, I was able to complete my registration. Sigh, Smart needs to
provide better service.
Every telco should, because they get millions every day.
thanks for the input. i’ve been checking the net on what wireless connection to use. this really helps! 
i’ve been using smartbro pre-paid and weroam since before. My trick there is go to Network Settings and then select UMTS ONLY. This way, the device will only search for 3G, UMTS and HSDPA signals. If in the event 3G is not available, just select GPRS/EDGE only so that it will only search for EDGE.