Globe Dsl Vs Pldt Dsl, Opinions?

[OnMyWay]

Rather long post but it helps me to lay this out, and maybe get some other opinions.

 

We brought our SMART WIMAX to Subic from Laguna, but it is dead in the water since the storm last week Monday.  It worked sporadically until Thursday, and then the signal stopped.  So I need to move ahead with DSL.  We were hoping to let the WIMAX contract run out (next March) but now we are desperate.  I am using a SMARTBRO stick right now and it has also been iffy.

 

We have two DSL options here in Subic Bay Freeport Zone, PLDT and Globe.  I know someone who has Globe DSL in our area and they are happy with it.  Down in Laguna, Abby's brother has two internet shops with Globe DSL and is quite happy with it.  My landlord in our duplex has PLDT basic and is fine with it now.  He originally signed up for a high speed service for p2500 a month and never got the speed, so he downgraded as soon as possible.  I also know some others who are happy with their PLDT here.

 

Globe is the better deal, financially.  They also offer internet only without a landline service.

 

PLDT here is not exactly PLDT.  It is really Subictel affiliated with PLDT.  Some of the items you see on the PLDT website are not available here, like the Int'l calling p99 add on that was interesting.  p99 a month for 30 free min and then 1 p per minute to the US.  That would have nice to have but is not available here.  Also, the free local calling is really local, not Manila / Laguna.  Those would be long distance.

 

The bottom line is that we don't really need a landline, but if there were some perks associated with it, it would be ok.

 

I have heard bad and good opinions of both companies, but most (like here on the forum) are not about DSL.  Globe is just getting into our area so PLDT is more widely used here.  Here is an interesting thing about PLDT.  After looking up our address, she found that there was a previous balance due of 24k.  After speaking to someone on the phone, she then told us that our security deposit would be p4000 instead of p2000.  Go figure.  It could be the foreigner security deposit I have seen discussed, but I am afraid they might try to keep it when we terminate due to the old balance due.  I’ve seen worse logic applied.

 

I realize that the quoted “up to” speeds are to be taken with a grain of salt.  I have low expectations but I think the real speeds will be fine for us.

 

Here is what I am looking at:

 

                        PLDT                Globe Internet   Globe Plans w/Landline

 

Plan/Cost          p999                 p999                 p1099   p1299   p1599

 

Landline            p540                 None                Included with these

 

mbps                1.5                    3                      1          2          3

 

Lockin (mo)       12                     24                     24         24         24

 

Early Term.       3 mo                 Globe, all 2 mo plus p 2500

 

Install                1200                 Globe all 1000

 

Security            4000                 Globe all 1 month

 

Service Fee       None                Globe all 1000 split over first 3 bills

 

Transfer

(move house)    ?                      Globe all 1000

 

Local calls        Free                  N/A                   p5 per minute, I think

 

Perks:  PLDT and Globe Internet only, none. Globe Landline plans free Wifi rounter, free NDD calls to Globe, free unli calls to Globe and TM mobiles.

 

Thoughts anyone?

[MikeB]

Here is an interesting thing about PLDT.  After looking up our address, she found that there was a previous balance due of 24k.  After speaking to someone on the phone, she then told us that our security deposit would be p4000 instead of p2000.  Go figure.  It could be the foreigner security deposit I have seen discussed, but I am afraid they might try to keep it when we terminate due to the old balance due.  I’ve seen worse logic applied.

What nonsense, they love to pull rules out of the air, don't they? Hard to believe PLDT is still requiring the landline. I would listen to the people who have the service in your area, that's liable to be the best reference. If all things are pretty equal, go with the less expensive. Be prepared to fork over extra to the installers to "run the line" or whatever the jargon is, especially in the case of Globe since it's a new location. If you use "their" cable it's much cheaper, of course. That's the usual one.

[jon1]

I have Subictel PLDT as at the time it was all that was available. I had tried the Smartbro stick and Wimax in other areas and was never happy with it. 

 

For the most part I seem to get the bandwidth that is advertised. I have only had a couple of short term outages in 2+ years (mostly DNS server outages or WAN connectivity only once due to a typhoon). 

 

I made sure that my landline is for local calls only and not able to dial long distance. Long distance in the Philippines constitutes calls outside of the immediate area and/or to Cell phone numbers. We use our landline only for calls within the Freeport to businesses mostly.

 

Now that Globe is here I will have to reevaluate if I will stay with PLDT. I am sure that Globe is trying to make things competitive and that is a good thing as PLDT will have to start offering something better to keep their customers.

 

I do not like the idea of a Wifi router as my connectivity vs a DSL modem. This is based on the performance that I previously experienced with the Smartbro routers. Does the Globe landline have free calling within the Freeport? Free calls to Globe cell numbers is a nice little perk.

[OnMyWay]

I do not like the idea of a Wifi router as my connectivity vs a DSL modem. This is based on the performance that I previously experienced with the Smartbro routers. Does the Globe landline have free calling within the Freeport? Free calls to Globe cell numbers is a nice little perk.

 

Yes, I recall you told me that you had PLDT.

 

A good Wifi router should have no impact on your internet speed.  The newer Wifi routers will transmit the signal faster than your modem can feed it.  However, if your Wifi signal is blocked by a lot of walls you will of course have issues.  I already have my own Wifi router and it covers the whole house just fine.  Backyard too.

 

I think the Globe local calls are p5, but I need to double check.  We are leaning towards the Globe internet only anyway, p999 for "up to" 3 mbps.

 

Our friend has Globe in West Kalayaan and they are happy with it.  He said they have had a few minor outages of just a short drop of a minute or two.

[jon1]

I was referring to the Wifi router (WAN/LAN) that runs on the Cell Phone network. Not the LAN wifi router in your house. The Wifi routers that run on the cell network seem to drop packets quite frequently (noticeable especially when doing VOIP calls) and appear to have no QoS for that. A good way to test out the coverage would be to see how well a Globe Cell phone performs in your house. If it is choppy or low signal, you will have the same for the Globe Wifi router.

 

I have a Wifi LAN router and also installed a Wifi bridge for the far side of my house. All of it is hidden and runs quite nicely without any intrusions from the neighbors :)

Edited October 1, 2013 by jon1

[MikeB]

Does the Globe landline have free calling within the Freeport? Free calls to Globe cell numbers is a nice little perk.

I just got off the phone with Globe, the landline calls to Globe cell phones are free, there is a charge for calls to other carriers. 

[Markham]

Wow! Subictel (PLDT) is shorting you. I pay PLDT Php999 a month for 3MBit here in Davao.

[Americano]

I haven't used PLDT but I can tell you some things about Globe since I've been a customer for almost 3 years here in Carcar City Cebu. We opened our account in Carcar and we can pay our bills here but after that they are almost useless. They can't answer any technical questions and when we have an Internet problem all they tell us to do is call Globe in Manila.

 

When Globe says up to 3mbps that is exactly what they mean. Your speed can drop down into the kbps and they are still fulfilling their contract. And, your Internet is only required to work 80% of the time, but there are ways to get around this problem though.

 

(1) Keep calling the main office in Manila until your problem is fixed. Sometimes the technician(s) will close the service order before the problem is corrected. If this happens, call Manila again immediately to report the problem again. The technicians will get tired of coming to your home and will eventually fix the problem.

 

(2) Request a different connection which may work or do like I did, close your account and open a new account and when the technicians come to connect you tell them where you want to be connected.  Sometimes the technicians don't know how to fix the problem or what is causing the problem.  The last few month my Internet was going off and on frequently and the speed would slow way down too. It finally got to the point that it was off more than it was on. Three technicians came to our house, which are contractors by the way, and did a speed test on my computer which showed it was about 3mbps so they said it was good and where about to leave,  but while they were still standing in our living room I said look its off again, pointing at the modem. Then they blamed the problem on the building wiring without testing anything. They called Manila at that time to close the service order.

 

I knew that one of our neighbors had recently opened an account with Globe and opened a small Internet cafe. I went to the cafe to see how his service was and its speed. I tested the speed 6 times using speedtest.net and each time it was 2.95 mbps or higher and I noticed that it was connecting to a server that I had never seen before.

 

For the past 3 years my Internet came from the telephone pole which is West from our house. The Internet cafe was connected to the pole which is East from our house so I decided to close my account and open a new account and ask to be connected to the same place as the Internet cafe. Everything worked out fine and now I have fast and reliable Internet and it connects to different servers from before which may have been the problem. I don't know for sure but I suspect some servers are overloaded which causes some problems for customers.

[jpbago]

Everything worked out fine and now I have fast and reliable Internet and it connects to different servers from before which may have been the problem. I don't know for sure but I suspect some servers are overloaded which causes some problems for customers.

The new modems from Globe are dynamic, meaning if the server that you are on is overloaded and slow, reboot the modem and it will pick a better/faster server. The older modems were static, set to one server.

[OnMyWay]

I haven't used PLDT but I can tell you some things about Globe since I've been a customer for almost 3 years here in Carcar City Cebu. We opened our account in Carcar and we can pay our bills here but after that they are almost useless. They can't answer any technical questions and when we have an Internet problem all they tell us to do is call Globe in Manila.

 

When Globe says up to 3mbps that is exactly what they mean. Your speed can drop down into the kbps and they are still fulfilling their contract. And, your Internet is only required to work 80% of the time, but there are ways to get around this problem though.

 

(1) Keep calling the main office in Manila until your problem is fixed. Sometimes the technician(s) will close the service order before the problem is corrected. If this happens, call Manila again immediately to report the problem again. The technicians will get tired of coming to your home and will eventually fix the problem.

 

(2) Request a different connection which may work or do like I did, close your account and open a new account and when the technicians come to connect you tell them where you want to be connected.  Sometimes the technicians don't know how to fix the problem or what is causing the problem.  The last few month my Internet was going off and on frequently and the speed would slow way down too. It finally got to the point that it was off more than it was on. Three technicians came to our house, which are contractors by the way, and did a speed test on my computer which showed it was about 3mbps so they said it was good and where about to leave,  but while they were still standing in our living room I said look its off again, pointing at the modem. Then they blamed the problem on the building wiring without testing anything. They called Manila at that time to close the service order.

 

I knew that one of our neighbors had recently opened an account with Globe and opened a small Internet cafe. I went to the cafe to see how his service was and its speed. I tested the speed 6 times using speedtest.net and each time it was 2.95 mbps or higher and I noticed that it was connecting to a server that I had never seen before.

 

For the past 3 years my Internet came from the telephone pole which is West from our house. The Internet cafe was connected to the pole which is East from our house so I decided to close my account and open a new account and ask to be connected to the same place as the Internet cafe. Everything worked out fine and now I have fast and reliable Internet and it connects to different servers from before which may have been the problem. I don't know for sure but I suspect some servers are overloaded which causes some problems for customers.

Thanks for the tips!