Hello Everyone,

Since I have been receiving a lot of feedback and emails asking about how to cancel or discontinue their subscription with Smart Bro, I’ve escalated the matter to the people at Smart.

What I need now is a list of those people and their contact information:

1) Full Name
2) Location
3) Landline / Mobile
4) Subscriber No.
5) Date started with Smart Bro/Wifi

I will forward all these information so they can contcat you and process the necessary steps.

Thanks!

Popularity: 12% [?]

Well, nung una akala ko konti lang kami na nagrereklamo. Yun pala nung nabasa ko to halos ang dami.

At yun nga nung umpisa lang maganda at nakakasawa na ang mga lines na… monitor your internet line for hours. Restart your PC pinging troubleshoot and so on. At ang bayaran grabe one month advance at nagdidisconnect agad dusa talaga.

I choose wifi b’coz that time it is the cheapest and I found out that this is also the worst internet connection mas ok pa ang dial up. Suking suki na nga ako ng tech service eh.

At nung ipapadiscontinue ko na ang subscription ko aba I need to pay daw the rest months kasi nga 1 year contract. Buti kyo 1-3 months ok ang service eh ako from the start wala na sayang lang pala pera ko. Kaya yun di ko na tinapos ang subscription ko pina full out ko na kahit 2 beses ng pumunta yung technician at ang lagi lang naman sinasabi sa base station lintek na base station pasabugin na yan.

Kase may promo ang Digitel 128kbps Php800 a month internet lang talga sya walang phone line kaya Php800 lang talaga bayad. La nako paki alam sa contract pangit service eh manigas sila.

Digitel na nga. Ngayon lang talaga ako naka experience ng ganitong service sobra. Dapat kasi inassure muna nila na efficient talaga bago inilabas e di yan ang nangyari nasira ang name ng company hay nako. At last comment yung mga nagkabit nakakinis basta basta na lang kami pa ang nagkabit sa loob ng kisame at nagpapadagdag pa ng bayad 800 daw additional tubo kasi kailangan mataas after a couple of months my nag inspect sobra na daw sa taas yung antena ko kaya ganun ang signal ko ah ewan ko sa inyo cge na po. Basta sana ma refund ko yung mga binayad ko sayang talaga yung pera. AZZARRR….

Popularity: 1% [?]

I’ve been staring at this editor waiting for my image uploads to finish so that I can show screencaps of my utterly pathetic connection.

Date: May 30, 2006.
Time: around 11 to now

Some screencaps:

Downloading a file.

Network activity.

TestMy Results:
Note yet done (for over an hour now)

Globelines Results:
Not yet done (for over an hour now)

Popularity: 3% [?]

Just got connected to Smart Bro this afternoon and I posted the details of it here. So far, my first day seems ok and each time I go online, I am able to connect without a hitch.

Here are my detailed reports for today:

Date: May 26, 2006
Time: 2:30PM

PLDTPlay: 260.3 kbps
GlobeQuest Utilities: 235.0 kbps
2Wire: 99.50 kbps
TestMy: 113 kbps

Date: May 26, 2006
Time: 11:00PM

PLDTPlay: 383.9 kbps
GlobeQuest Utilities: 307.1 kbps
2Wire: 203.8 kbps
TestMy: 252 kbps kbps

I suggest that everyone to take note of the date and time when posting their bandwidth speed reports and use the 4 sources which I used above to measure them. This will allow us to see the trend of the speed on a 24 hour basis and on a weekly basis as well.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Ping results to Google.com

Popularity: 1% [?]

Hay Nakaka disaapoint talaga ang Smart. Una nagnanakaw sila ng mga load sa text sa pamamagitan ng mga services nila na hindi k naman nag susubscribe, bigla na lng babwasan ang load mo. Then eto naman ang problema sa wifi…

Almost 3 months na ako naka subscribe sa Smart wifi at lately, very disappointed ako sa service nila. Nag decide kami na magsubscribe sa kanila kasi kailangan namin agad nang internet connection for my father’s work.
Nung kinabitan naman nila ako ok naman about 3 days nainstall na at wla pang 2 hours ok na. First impression ko about the speed, medyo ok nun una kasi inakala ko na hindi pa naka optimize ang internet connection ko. During the 1st month, nag rate ako about mga 110-125 kbps speed (that’s less than half of thier claimed 256 KBPS). Nung nag tweak na ako nag rate ako about 120-135 kbps, medyo nag improve.
Pero during this past week, nakakafrustrate na talaga kasi less than 54 kbps na lang ang speed ng connection ko (Minsan less than 24kbps pa and that’s accurate bec. of NETMON software. Sometimes wla pang connection) LESS than DIAL UPS!!! (and my pc is tweaked for maximum internet speeds). Sana naman may mangyaring himala upang ma solusyunan ang problem na to kasi wlang connection ng telephone dito para mag cable DSL ako….

Popularity: 2% [?]

CONSUMER group TXTPower is urging the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to stop Smart Communications from accepting new customers to its fixed wireless Internet service until it resolves pending complaints from existing subscribers.

TXTPower said it was speaking in behalf of complainants, but NTC Deputy Commissioner Jorge Sarmiento told INQ7.net that the regulator would act only after the group files a formal complaint.

“We will act on this until we see a complaint. If they do that, we can call Smart and their group to explain,” Sarmiento added.

TXTPower convenor Anthony Cruz said TXTPower was urging the NTC to take action in behalf of existing subscribers who had filed complaints with the agency. The consumer group noted that some subscribers have expressed dissatisfaction over the service, dubbed Smart Bro.

Smart Bro (formerly known as Smart Wifi) is a fixed wireless broadband Internet service.

Long Distance Telephone Co., the mother company of Smart, reported recently that there were at least 40,000 subscribers to Smart Bro nationwide.

Since its launch September 2005, Smart said that Smart Bro now covers 300 towns spanning from Batanes in the North to Tawi-Tawi in the South. About 65 percent of these subscribers are located outside Metro Manila, the operator added.

“Smart should be stopped from accepting new Smart Bro subscription applications until they are able to solve the connection problems, customer service and other concerns of its existing subscribers. The service has been described in many Internet forums as below-par, unreliable and slower than promised,” Cruz said.

TXTPower suggested that the moratorium on new Smart Bro subscriptions be implemented immediately, with an accompanying NTC investigation on how Smart is operating the service, the customer service mechanisms offered to subscribers, and how problems are being solved.

“Indeed, the NTC should not turn a blind eye on Smart’s multimillion-peso Smart Bro media campaigns while existing subscribers suffer from poor service,” added Cruz.

The consumer group suggested that the NTC ask Smart to refund aggrieved subscribers.

“If Smart cannot solve the problems, the company should be ordered to waive the one-year subscription contracts so that subscribers could apply for broadband services of other more reliable providers,” the group said.

Cruz said Congress has recently tackled House Resolution 1197 authored by Representative Manuel Zamora, which seeks an investigation on the widespread allegations of poor services of “Smart Wifi” and other broadband Internet services in the country.

Smart Bro is a fixed wireless solution that rides on the nationwide cellular network of Smart to deliver wireless broadband Internet service to subscribers. Subscribers will need an aerial antennae to establish a wireless connection to the nearest base station located at a Smart cellular site close to the subscriber’s home. Cables connect the antenna to the subscriber’s PC.

This wireless technology requires that the subscribers’ antennae have a clear “line-of-sight” alignment and be within a 1.5-kilometer radius from the nearest Smart cellular site.

Smart Bro subscribers pay a monthly subscription cost of at least 999 pesos a month.

TXTPower said that some subscribers have complained about the “low quality” of Smart customer service assigned for Smart Bro concerns.

“Oftentimes, subscribers are put on hold for half an hour before calls are actually answered. When calls get through, the customer service representative could only offer standard replies to problems and gives no help to helpless subscribers,” the group said.

Ironically, Smart announced this week improvements to its Smart Bro customer services.

“We’ve just undertaken major enhancements in our Smart Bro offering on two fronts — network operations and customer care,” according to Roland Peña, head of Smart Network Services division. “These will result in greater bandwidth, faster connection, and improved customer support.”

By major enhancements, Smart meant that it has completed integrating the customer care structure of Meridian Telekoms (owner of the fixed wireless technology being used by Smart) and its own customer service under the Smart Customer Affairs Department.

Smart said that it has increased the number of call center agents manning its customer service, and has also started training its support staff with “higher level technical skills that will enable them to efficiently handle customer concerns.”

Smart said that it has at least 370 dedicated call center seats for Smart Bro, each capable of handling up to 95 percent of calls within 30 seconds.

The local mobile phone operator also disclosed that it has started training and certification programs for its installers and field contractors for its Smart Bro service.

“Our Smart Bro installers — often our first point of contact with our customers — are now also equipped to answer queries and handle basic troubleshooting. With this, we can better educate our customers, and at the same time provide them with direct and instantaneous support,” Peña said.

Smart also announced the expansion of the wireless broadband network’s core transmission backbone capacity to up to 10 Gigabits per second (Gbps) and its regional backbone capacity to 1 Gbps.

Taken from inq7.net
http://news.inq7.net/breaking/index.php?index=7&story_id=76851

Popularity: 8% [?]

Smart Communications, in promoting their new service Smart Bor has recently innovating a new service called Smart Padyak (Smart Pedalling):

Smart hopes to make Internet access more widely available, a Philippine mobile telecommunications operator is experimenting with the use of sidecar-equipped bicycles to deliver wireless Internet access.

The bicycles, known locally as “pedicabs,” are equipped with sidecars, and are normally used as a means of public transportation.

In lieu of passengers, the sidecars of specially equipped pedicabs instead carry a desktop computer and a wireless antenna that connects to the cellular network of telecom firm Smart Communications.

Smart runs a fixed wireless Internet service, called Smart Bro, on it cellular network.

The computers, however, must still be connected to regular power outlet to function, Ramon Isberto, Smart public affairs head, said.

He said that the experiment, called “Smart Padyak” (Smart Pedaling) is underway in Cebu and some parts of Metro Manila.

Complete story on Inq7.net: Telco deploys wireless Internet on bicycles with sidecars.

Popularity: 4% [?]

My first post seemed to have missed the point entirely. So here’s version 1.5…..

I actually had experience with nearly all the other broadband providers that are available in the areas that I lived because of friends who has internet cafes. In which I helped them on their operations. And believe it or not, not one of them will give you the perfect performance you will want.

PLDT : The main backbone for most of the Online game servers here in the Philippines. Which makes it THE CHOICE when it comes to online games but for downloads, don’t expect it to be good, especially for the lower priced packages. This is because most internet cafes uses this as their ISP.

Greendot : This would be the best overall, games and download, unfortunately, they have a tendency to disconnect just about every hour and has a whole day of downtime every two weeks. Not good if you’re on the cafe business.

Digitel : Now this one is wierd, just like Smart Bro…. Why? Because this provider seems to choose between places AND actual users for the performance you will get. If you have “connections” to this ISP, expect to pay less than 2000 Pesos for an 8MBPS connection. 8 MBPS!? It’s the backup of Digitel for business lines when their normal lines goes down or has some problems. People inside can get you “random access” to this connections. But what if you’re the “naggy” guy? They can actually change your connection so you’ll get worse service than everyone else. My friend is a living testament to this.

So the main point is, although it is expected to have the problems being a Smart Bro user due to it’s technology, the other broadband providers are not the garden of Eden compared to them…..

But of course, this will NOT change the fact that Smart Bro bites more than your other broadband providers…… =)

Popularity: 2% [?]

For those of you out there who are tempted and fooled by their promises of 7x faster than dial-up, and for those of you who are tempted to apply or subscribe, don’t even think about it… you’ll only suffer for 12 excruciating months of complaint, calling *1888, restarting your PC or router, troubleshooting, pinging, etc… this ISP is a crap!!! C-R-A-P!!!

Popularity: 2% [?]