Smart LTE Sim
This is my backup internet. When I need faster internet and Globe is slow, or when Globe has no signal. Even in Makati CBD, I actually get faster internet on my prepaid Smart than on my prepaid Globe, go figure.
No question about it, Smart definitely has the faster internet in my experience.
When I visited relatives in the province a few months ago, Smart saved the day. My Globe internet found a signal, but the internet was just slooooow. As in Edge. At least I could surf on Smart on 3G. I had to stand by the window to do so, but at least I could surf on 3G speeds.
As with my prepaid Globe, I don’t keep prepaid balance on my Smart prepaid. I have a Smart Money account on my main Smart number, and I just reload my Smart prepaid whenever I need internet and register to an appropriate promo. When our DSL modem died a few weeks ago, I used my Asus Fonepad as a wifi hotspot, and used my Smart prepaid registered to Unli Surf 50. The internet was as fast as DSL, I didn’t even notice that it wasn’t DSL. I could watch YouTube videos on 720p without stuttering. I didn’t notice any capping while I was on Unli Surf 50 every day for 3 days except that torrents were unbearably slow.
The downside is that Smart’s internet is more expensive. P300 only gets you 250MB, whereas you get almost 3x more internet with Globe.
To register to Unli Surf 50, text Unli 50 to 211
I bought the Smart LTE SIM even if I didn’t have any LTE device so that it would be “future-proof”. It works well with my non-LTE devices, and I will still be able to use it in the future once LTE becomes available in our area and LTE devices become more affordable.
Conclusion
This combination keeps me connected to the internet at an affordable cost and I can easily scale it up if I need to. I also get discounts for reloading my prepaid SIMS using GCash and Smart Money.
For some reason, my postpaid Smart is so much faster compared to my Smart prepaid. With the Smart prepaid, I generally get 1-3 Mbps on Speedtest and torrents are awful. Globe is the slowest but most value for money. With Globe, I get 2-4 Mbps on Speedtest but that just doesn’t seem accurate compared to real-life experience. It seems like I’m actually getting slower speeds than 2-4 Mbps.
