Did a research of past postings on this topic and most of them are relatively old. Finally relocating this November 2 in the Talay area. Looking for the best internet provider based on your experience and cell phone service provider with unlimited text and data plan. Am interested in using our phones (iPhone 7 plus; and Samsung S8) as GPS using Google Maps, email, and some social media access. Appreciate your feedback. Thanks.
Any postpaid Globe or Smart mobile plan will likely serve your needs. Most modern smart phones are going to have GSM 900/1800 and LTE radio capabilities. Just make sure you have them unlocked by your carrier prior to leaving.
Need to find out beforehand how the signals are in your house and area for both. Globe has better coverage but I find Smart has better working service when within their coverage. First thing buy a smart and globe sim for load (like 40p each) and try them in your phone at and around your house seeing how service is and if showing as 3G and 4G. IF Smart works they tend to have the cheaper and better working plans for data (its what I went with but I do find some spots get no data signal usually outside the city). Globe is more bogged down on their network. You also though need to decide what your using your data for. If its messenger, some chat apps, playing online games, some fb browsing that's easy to cover. But if your wanting to watch video's and download things regularly that's a whole new ballgame and you'll want to look for a plan with a LOT of data. As a note I have a 3Gb plan with smart with some extras and have never come close to going over playing games, chat apps, dating apps, fb (I don't fb much though but endless fb browsing is different) and this has worked great for me with unli texts any network (not much for calls on my cheap plan though). Last thing to consider though is many people are loaders and those people are usually limited to how much they can text other networks. Most people are Globe/TM in the Dumaguete area so if your doing tons of texting with tons of others they may run into the problem of running out of free texts. But hey, that is what messenger is for imo.
Another thing you could consider is Google Fi. It uses most local networks (whatever is the best at your location) world-wide and is rather cheap. If you have a compatible phone you won't need a SIM card, if you don't have a compatible phone you can request a SIM card. $20/month for call and unlimited text to any number. $10/GB up to 6GB. After 6GB there are no additional charges. You would have to be in the US to sign up and it would be a US number but most locals use some messenger service (WhatsApp, Viber, IMO, Facebook) to send texts and place calls. I have learned to pair it with a cheap local prepaid sim card and available wifi for best results (and to avoid those expensive voice calls). The downside is that the US number will certainly confuse the locals and stop them from sending you text messages...the good thing is that the US number will definitely confuse the locals and stop them from sending you pointless text messages.
Both Globe ad Smart are good, but have different coverage. Check the area where you need it the most and then check out the coverage around your stay (house). There are many apps nowadays where you can check the signal strength(like cellmapper etc.) You can also spot the cell towers in your vicinity (they are painted differently - Smart and Globe easy to spot). Best is at night: Smart has one light on top; Globe one on top and one in the middle).
