Misfortunes of Smart Wifi and Smart Bro Customers
This is my first post in this website and a currently satisfied Smart WiFi/Bro customer (Which is a huge rarity, seeing the angry posts on WiFi and/or broadband related website messages out there.)
I applied for Smart Wifi last year as I thought it was the cheapest (At the time.) broadband option. Imagine my disappointment when PLDT announced their 900 plans weeks after I signed up.
My second disappointment came when they came with LAN cables and such. I thought this is “wireless” ? It seems their are still cables up until a high place (Usually the roof) in which a device would be setup to connect to Smart towers. So this “wireless” is somewhat of a false, gimmick, but it’s ok.
But since I saw the real nature of the service, I actually expected the disconnections, since they use a very unreliable method of data transfer. But they gave on their word, my download could easily reach 30Kbytes up to 45 KBytes. Games do work, but not perfect, especially at peak times.
The best thing I liked about Smart Wifi is that their connection seems to be set to 384Kbps download AND upload. Which is a rarity as all other broadband providers only provide half the download speed on uploads, which is good if you are a “file sharer”.
I actually feel for the majority of the complaints about the service because I experienced the same thing, but only for a short while (About 2 weeks), frequent disconnections, but it doesn’t matter if you’re a downloader, which is my main focus. As downloads still go well.
So, the thing that crept up on my mind was “Why did people choose Smart Wifi? Why didn’t they choose other broadband, nearly all areas in the Philippines has a phone line. My reason was budget, was all the other customers have the same reasons?”
(I’m really interested in this one, what were the reasons you signed up for Smart WiFi/Bro? We can discuss in this in the comments section.)
So, I think, in reality, this service is in a serious disadvantage compared to existing broadband options. Lastly, is this a praise, or a bashing of the actual service? Neither, I think it’s just a rant and a reality check to say the list. But I think Smart Bro doesn’t have a chance of winning or getting good customer satisfaction if they stood on their same ground as before, they need to have an advantage that could overtake the obvious problems of the service.
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7 Responses for "A Reality Check"
What?? simply by reading the title of this blog you’d know what this is all about. many of the subscribers here applied for this service due to the fact that there are no phone lines in our area (myself included). knowing the reason why we chose smart wifi will serve what purpose? please enlighten me.
i am a deranged customer… i turn berserk everytime i talk to their customer care reps. on the lighter side, my contract will end this July 2006, i still have 3 more months to pay, which is not really in my plan right now… i’ll just wait for them to disconnect and disable my account for not paying… hehehe…
For jun :
Well, the “what is this site for” lists this as “Specifically created for subscribers of Smart Wifi to collect information, assistance, technical and legal advice as well as helpful tips.”
I generally asssumed that most, if not all locations in the Philippines already has a phone line, and thus DSL connections. What were the reasons that your place was lacking phone lines?
And my Canopy is facing the wrong direction from the Smart Tower, and my speed can still reach the max 384 Kbps.
But of course the number of complaints proves the service is pretty bad most of the time. But as a person that has seen all the highs and lows of all broadband providers, I don’t think Smart Wi Fi has any advantage at all, especially with the technology they use.
so why exactly did you entitle your post “Reality Check”?
general assumptions lead to bigger problems.
Well for me. My reason for subscribing to smart wifi was due to constraint. I have a bayantel phone line but they said they didn’t have an open port in our area so I took the risk eventhough I heard a lot of bad feedbacks about it. What I found out the hard way was that all these rumors were actually true.
Here are the common problems we usually encounter:
intermittent disconnections/connections – usually caused by improper positioning of the antenna, the root cause would be some contractors don’t position the antenna in its optimal position because they’re already tired or they are in a hurry to go to the next appointment
slow/laggy connections – it all boils down to one thing, bandwidth. In some areas, the alloted bandwidth is simply not enough. For example in my area, Project 4, QC. My usual average speed would be 80kbps which is way below my expectations. I have a friend here in Project 4 who experiences the same thing.
That is reality for me and probably a lot of subscribers out there.
Why did I choose SMART BRO? It wasn’t a choice but rather it was our only solution. I have a PLDT line but there are no more ports available in our area when I applied for DSL. I tried applying for Globe broadband, same reason din, no more ports or facilities available. ZPDEE cable internet is not available in our area. PLDT DSL-W was an option but I was informed it’s the same as Smart Bro.
We had to switch to broadband as my mom has already set an ultimatum to free our phoneline.
I have heard of the horror tales of Smart Wi-fi but when we inquired at the SMART Wireless center, we were told it’s not the same as they have improved their service.
I hope I’d experience the same thing as StriderVM, that our problems with connection will be over and done with in just a matter of a few weeks. After that bliss…..
As I write this, I’m connected to the internet through dial up (Infocom). Unfortunately, my SMART BRO connection is unavailable due to some “technical activity” at the base station.
Whatever that fuck!n’ means! *rolls eyes*
howdy I quite enjoyed this website .
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