Smart Bro Broadband Kit

[Panserhansen]

Having a bit of trouble with my PLDT broadband now and then, I decided to get a backup connection. I went down to E-mall to buy the Smart Broadband kit. It's a small gadget with USB stick and sim card which you put inside. Software was easy to install, it also supports Vista which I use. Remember to buy load, and a Smart simcard if you don't already have one.Price is 1995 peso, and they charge 10 peso every 30 minutes. Simcard cost 40 and has some free text included.Before you decide to buy it, check your connection at the place you want to have your computer. On most modern cell phones you can see on your display if it's a G=GPRS, E=Edge, 3G or H=HDSPA. HDSPA is the kind of network you want, to have maximum speed.The speed surprised me. I tested Globe visability kit in their Ayala store a few weeks ago, and the speed was horrible. This was something else. Youtube worked without any delay, which means you also should be able to stream TV. Some say it doesnt support torrents, but it worked fine for me. I downloaded torrents up to 200 kbs. Normal speed seemed to be about 130-150 kb/s. And it may vary.Walk on,Lars

[Mr Lee]

Remember to buy load, and a Smart simcard if you don't already have one.Price is 1995 peso, and they charge 10 peso every 30 minutes. Simcard cost 40 and has some free text included.Walk on,Lars

So Lars, does that mean that it can use just any Smart sim card? I have been thinking about buying a unit for my upcoming trip and as a backup and I was told that the sim expires just like a cell if not reloaded every 180 days, so that would not work great for me because we travel back and forth, unless I can use my cell sim and then put it back in my phone or just let the sim expire and buy a new one each year when we come back. I would like hear more about it.

[Panserhansen]

So Lars, does that mean that it can use just any Smart sim card? I have been thinking about buying a unit for my upcoming trip and as a backup and I was told that the sim expires just like a cell if not reloaded every 180 days, so that would not work great for me because we travel back and forth, unless I can use my cell sim and then put it back in my phone or just let the sim expire and buy a new one each year when we come back. I would like hear more about it.

Hi Lee, the kit comes with a sim card to put in the device before you plug it to your computer. But you also need an additional Smart simcard for your cell phone in order to buy load. This cost only 40 peso and comes with a few free messages, so you don't need any load for this card for a while.If you or your wife already have a Smart simcard, you can use that to send the load message. Buying load for Smart Bro is the same procedure as phone load - scrap the card to see the code. Then send SMS code broadbandnumber(excample 99999999 88888888888) to 1510 and the load is activated immideately.I do not know if it expires every 180 days if you does not use it, but this can easily be avoided. You can have people loading it for you here, 100 peso or so when you're away. I'll be happy to do it for you if you want to, all I need is your broadband number.Walk on,Lars

[Mr Lee]

So Lars, does that mean that it can use just any Smart sim card? I have been thinking about buying a unit for my upcoming trip and as a backup and I was told that the sim expires just like a cell if not reloaded every 180 days, so that would not work great for me because we travel back and forth, unless I can use my cell sim and then put it back in my phone or just let the sim expire and buy a new one each year when we come back. I would like hear more about it.

Hi Lee, the kit comes with a sim card to put in the device before you plug it to your computer. But you also need an additional Smart simcard for your cell phone in order to buy load. This cost only 40 peso and comes with a few free messages, so you don't need any load for this card for a while.If you or your wife already have a Smart simcard, you can use that to send the load message. Buying load for Smart Bro is the same procedure as phone load - scrap the card to see the code. Then send SMS code broadbandnumber(excample 99999999 88888888888) to 1510 and the load is activated immideately.I do not know if it expires every 180 days if you does not use it, but this can easily be avoided. You can have people loading it for you here, 100 peso or so when you're away. I'll be happy to do it for you if you want to, all I need is your broadband number.Walk on,Lars

I was told by Smart in SM that it is just like a phone sim and the load expires every 60 days and the sim must be loaded every 180 days or it expires. I think I understand it now. Thanks for all your help and your offer to load it for me, I can probably buy cards and load it like I do our phone when we are in the USA. This unit sounds very interesting. :th_thholysheep:

[Sampaguita]

We bought one yesterday and it seems to be working pretty good. I am using it now and we hooked up our Magic Jack and it worked too. I think we are all set for our trip to visit my family in Mindanao next week.

[Michael]

Before you decide to buy it, check your connection at the place you want to have your computer. On most modern cell phones you can see on your display if it's a G=GPRS, E=Edge, 3G or H=HDSPA. HDSPA is the kind of network you want, to have maximum speed.

Is this the display that shows when the telephone is turned on or is there a page you have to go to? I have a nokia cell phone my brother-in-law gave us we use when we are in the Philippines. It is dead right now. We leave the states for the Philippines October 1st. This sounds really good if I can use it. I plan on being in the Obong, Dalagete (?), Oslob area. I am also going to bring my lap top with me.If I understand right the network you want depends on the cell phone towers you are using. Is that correct? Edited September 12, 2009 by Boss Man
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[Mr Lee]

Before you decide to buy it, check your connection at the place you want to have your computer. On most modern cell phones you can see on your display if it's a G=GPRS, E=Edge, 3G or H=HDSPA. HDSPA is the kind of network you want, to have maximum speed.

Is this the display that shows when the telephone is turned on or is there a page you have to go to? I have a nokia cell phone my brother-in-law gave us we use when we are in the Philippines. It is dead right now. We leave the states for the Philippines October 1st. This sounds really good if I can use it. I plan on being in the Obong, Dalagete (?), Oslob area. I am also going to bring my lap top with me.If I understand right the network you want depends on the cell phone towers you are using. Is that correct?

I think the above information might be a little confusing to most people who are not cell phone techies. Yes it is usually found right on the display but it probably will not show on your phone if you are not hooked to the service provider in your area, so just charging it and turning it on may not help you. So the first thing you would do it to take out the battery on your cell phone and find the model number and then do a search of that model on the Internet and look at the specifications. Not all models will work in the Philippines and if they will work, not all later models have G=GPRS, E=Edge, 3G or H=HDSPA. HDSPA. Some of the more expensive phones like newer Blackberry's usually do but mine is only 2 years old and does not have them all, so if your phone has them, then it will show up somewhere on the display with one of those letters G,E,H, or 3G with an active sim card. I also made a post here Cell phones that will work in the Philippines and that should give you some more information on whether you phone will work or not. Not all cell phones work in the Philippines and even some that have the correct frequencies will still not work if not unlocked, so please be sure to read the other post I made to make sure yours will even work. Also it is never a good idea to store a cell phone with the battery in it, charge the battery and remove it because once the battery is totally spent, it will usually no longer charge back up. Next, I found that if my cell phone with a Smart sim in it had full meter for reception, even one without all the fancy features, then my BigBro worked well for us while traveling around the Philippines and in major cities but not always with the fastest speed. The BigBro has lights on it and will display different colors for the different types of signal being received.

Edited September 12, 2009 by Mr. Lee

[Michael]

Thanks for the additional information Mr. Lee. I know the cell phone works in the Philippines. Ester's brother gave the cell phone to us with all the familys telephone numbers in it. He gave it to us when we were there in 2007/2008 for the winter. I will be checking it out when we get there.

[Panserhansen]

Hmm, I must say I cannot any longer agree with my old post.This is a shared connection, and it seems a lot of people have purchased this kit the last months.The connection is very variable, sometimes almost dead and sometimes up to 1MB.

[Jollygoodfellow]

I know this thread is old but is any one using the Smart Bro USB stick at the moment?Anyone have any idea if it would work OK in the Banilad area ?