⌛ ISP: anybody using Smart Bro Or FilProduct Cable Internet?

Hi Guys,
As we are having Smart if they can get a signal next week,i was told we may need a extra pole to raise the cap to get it to work better but no cost was mentioned any ideas?
Cheers Di

 

Using Smart Bro up here in Balugo Valencia and running 3 desktops and one laptop by a router all at the same time without any trouble.

 

I had a 100 feet pole fixed by a contracter from Smart who did the job on the side for 11.000php.

 

Thanks for that i dont think we will need one that big as we are allready up a hill but we will see. Cheers Di

 

Wow! You got a great deal! Ones that high here in CA are WAY more expensive! :D

 

Hi Ejboerma,
Can you tell me what speed are you getting ?
And what package do you have.
Cheers Di

 

My dowload result 2 minutes ago :

:::.. Download Stats ..:::
Download Connection is:: 228 Kbps about 0.2 Mbps (tested with 512 kB)
Download Speed is:: 28 kB/s
Tested From:: Broadband Speed Test | Bandwidth Speed Test (Dallas, TX USA)
Test Time:: 2010-11-05 00:04:09 GMT -7
Bottom Line:: 4X faster than 56K 1MB Download in 36.57 sec
Tested from a 512 kB file and took 18.42 seconds to complete
Download Diagnosis:: Running at 65% of hosts average (Smartbro.net)
D-Validation Link:: Speed Test Stats for test ID WE9LO7TBH
User Agent:: Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; Trident/5.0) [!]

My package is Smart Bro 999

 

SmartBro Slow, Fil Products LONG delay, Sky Cable ??

Unfortunately the speed test reported by ejboerma up here in Valencia is REALLY SLOW for what they claim.

SmartBro advertises that their SmartBro 999 package is 2000Kbps. Nobody actually gets full speed from any ISP and the SmartBro sales lady I talked to admitted that "most of the time you will only get about 1500Kbps." A few people on the internet in various places reported actually getting about 1200 "most of the time". Other people in other locations reported the service was so slow they would rather cancel and pay the early termination fee.

BUT.... ejboerma is reporting only 228Kbps or about 11% of the advertised speed so either her signal is marginal or the service is over sold up here in Valencia.

I'm getting the same actual download speed out of ITQest (Formerly ITOutlook) and I'm only paying for 384Kbps although the price is now P2200/mo.

Still, based on nearly identical "actual speed" but less than half the price, SmartBro looks attractive. The only hang up I'm still having is the 24 mo. minimum contract. Like all PH communication businesses, they will drastically over sell the capacity of their service if they can. That means slow, slow, slow and you're still stuck with that contract.

BTW - It appears that if you sign a 24 mo. extension to the mandtory 24 mo. contract they'll give you a free PC (Intel Atom 1.6Ghz, 1 GB RAM, SATA HDD, keyboard, mouse and wide screen monitor) Or you can choose one of two other "free" packages that include a cell phone or a printer or some other stuff. Look on the back page of their flyer. Be cautious. I've seen companies still advertising promo's like this a year after the offer expires.

The CATV Internet Service (Cable TV) that Fil Products is bragging about but not yet delivering looks to be "fantasy ware". My wife's brother is an attorney and he says that, as of a couple years ago, there was a law preventing cable TV companies from offering telephone and/or internet services. It may have been repealed but he hasn't heard about it yet. He say's he'll "ask around".

So this so-called service may just be hype for now while they lobby the government to change the law. I'm not going to hold my breath. They may have some help since I read that Globe wants to offer CATV Internet in some places too.

I spent some time this morning researching Sky Cable. Their satellite internet service is "up to 512Kbps" UP and 1000Kbps (P999/mo) up to 12000Kbps (P6000/mo) down depending on your plan. Comments on the net say to look for more like 144Kbps sustained UP if that's important to you. Doesn't bother me, occasionally my wife uploads a bunch of photo's to Shutterfly but it's so rare that I don't care if it takes all day. Otherwise 144Kbps would work for me.

The P999 plan is 512/1500, for example. They throw in a 15% discount on a package deal if you are also a Sky TV customer. I'd need the P999 TV package to get the channels we like the most although I admit there would be a dozen or so great new ones in the package. On the other hand, I presume the Sky TV deal is for one TV only unless everybody wants to watch the same channel. That would be a bummer since I have one TV for my wife and I in the bedroom and another for everybody else who mostly want the Tagalog channels.

Anyway, for me Sky would work out saving me about P500/mo over my current hookup of ITQest Internet and FilProducts TV although that will almost disappear when FilProducts raises the prices for basic hookup plus per TV with the new system. That's still OK if I actually experienced the faster internet speed.

A Google search brought up lots of people unhappy with Sky Cable Internet.... although they all were in Metro Manila where the service may be oversold. A half dozen people using it in the provinces couldn't be happier and a web site that claims to rate overall PH ISP user satisfaction says that Sky is "overall the most reliable service in the PH".

Can anybody comment about Sky Internet around DGTE?

 

Danger!------- warning about fil products digital tv.

We have had it for two months in bantayen and it is horrible to say the least. A lot of the stations are not available on a day to day basis. No sound, scrambled picture, or goes of totally with out warning.

They told us that it will be this way until all of dumaguete is converted and that could take a year or more. If you insist on converting i have a box i will sell you for 700p

we have changed to sky and the service man said they can not keep up with all of the people that are switching to sky from fil products

 

Internet connections

Be careful when signing up contract with Globe Wimax, Its never been unlimited internet like we saw advertisement on TV, plan 512 is limited to 10 to 15 gig download use per month and plan 1mb is limited to 20- 25gig use per month of download. Dont be fooled guys...