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I'm doing some research how internet mobile works in the Philippines and I am finding out how complicate this topic is. So, in order to try to clarify the subject and help getting a good internet mobile connection, I thought to open this thread, where we can discuss the topic and publish some data.

1. Common issues to address:

-there is no good coverage
-Smart works but Globe no, or vice versa
-I am in a black spot where signal does not reach

2. Which provider do I choose?

There are 2 main national providers: Smart (best coverage but lot of problems with wrong billing, etc.) and Globe (worse in rural areas, but better customer service). Now, the new is that since last year a third provider offers nationwide broadband at much affordable price with true *unlimited* plans. That is Sun Cellular.

3. I have a phone SIM card. How do I enable internet on it?

You need to configure the APN settings in your smartphone, in order to enable data connection.

APN Settings for Globe
Postpaid APN: internet.globe.com.ph
Prepaid APN: http.globe.com.ph

Prepaid APN setup 2: http.globe.com.ph
Authentification: pap or chap
All other fields blank except default for
Mcc: 515
Mnc: 02

APN Settings for Smart Bro
Postpaid APN: smartbro
Prepaid APN: smartbro

APN Settings for Smart Buddy, Smart Gold
APN: internet

APN Settings for Sun Cellular
Prepaid
APN (static): minternet
Authentication: PAP
IP address: dynamic

Postpaid
APN (static): fbband
Authentication: PAP
IP address: dynamic

APN Settings for PLDT WeRoam
Postpaid: WEROAMPLAN

4. How much does internet cost on a mobile phone without a plan?

The two main providers cost P10/half hour.

5. Are there unlimited plans?

All providers list unlimited plans, but they are a cheat. They only mean that you can stay connected 24 hours a day, but they limit severely the band that you can actually use. For example what Smart promotes as they best unlimited plan, P995, gives you only 2 gigabytes of traffic a month, which is like nothing. It's good just for exchanging emails, but try to have regular videoconferences in Skype, and you will end up paying 5 times more. Just as a comparison, I had a 10 gigabyte plan in my country, and it was hard to reach the end of the month.
Actually, the only provider that offers true unlimited internet (24 hours a day, no data transfer limit) at 3.6kbps is Sun Cellular.

6. Should I buy a plan?

In the Philippines, most plans are 2 years. Some are 1 year, and very rare to find plans are 3 or 6 months. Better never to take a long term plan, because technology improves quickly and plans cost lower. So, already after 1 year you will find much better offers. But, if you are bound to a 2 years plan, you end up paying a lot for something that is not really worth.

7. How can I do to stay always connected, use all the bandwidth that I need, spend little money and have all the freedom?

You need to use a trick. You should use a double SIM smart phone. On one SIM you enable a cheap internet plan (for example Smart P250). So, you see at once when somebody messages you, and you can chat, reply to emails, and do all those things that require little bandwidth. On the other SIM, you only use internet when you want to use a high bandwidth (for example downloads, Skype, etc.). So, you just pay the few hours that you really need heavily. If you have a doubt that one provider might have blackout moments (no signal), you can differentiate the two SIM cards. So, you always have an emergency backup.

8. Can I use the SIM card of my smartphone with my USB internet stick?

Of course.

9. What are the official bands used by the providers in the Philippines to provide mobile internet? (You can read it as: Which smartphone should I choose? See the next point)

GLobe Telecom

GSM Frequency Band - 900 MHz/1800 MHz (Dual Band)
3G Frequency Band - WCDMA (UMTS) - 850Mhz/2100 MHz
UMTS/3G 1900(uplink)/2100(downlink) (Dual Band)
4G (live LTE, WiMAX, HSPA+, test, license) - 4G Globe HSPA+ WiMAX 1800Mhz (Launch Date: September 2012)

Smart Communications

GSM Frequency Band - 850Mhz/900 MHz/1800 MHz (Tri-Band)
3G Frequency Band-WCDMA (UMTS) 2100 MHz
UMTS/3G 1900(uplink)/2100(downlink) (Dual Band)
4G (live LTE, WiMAX, HSPA+, test, license) - LTE HSPA+ WiMAX 850/1800

Sun Cellular

GSM Frequency Band - 1800 MHz (Single Band)
3G Frequency Band- WCDMA (UMTS) 850Mhz/1900Mhz/2100 MHz
UMTS/3G 1900(uplink)/2100(downlink) (Dual Band)
4G (live LTE, WiMAX, HSPA+, test, license) Testing (Plans To Use The LTE frequency of Smart Communication)

10. What are the real bands used by the providers in the Philippines to provide mobile internet?

Unfortunately, not all municipalities have the same frequency in their 3G tower. Sometimes, Smart uses 850Mhz, 1900 Mhz and 2.1Ghz, and Globe Tattoo uses 900Mhz, 1800Mhz and 2000Mhz. Those frequencies are NOT all covered by the low and middle end smartphones. This is the main reason that there is poor connection, poor speed. The cell phone is off sync with the provider, since the frequency is tuned wrong! Then, if you are within 3 kilometers from the antenna/repeater, all is fine. If you are farther, speed rapidly decreases.

11. Which smartphone should I choose?

a. Worst choice: If you want very very slow connection, a quad band is enough.
b. Mediocre choice: If you want to use internet decently, you need a 3G phone - i.e. it must have WCDMA. Since all providers use 2100Mhz, a single band (2100) 3G phone should be enough. Some use 850Mhz too. So, an 850/2100 band smartphone should save you in most situation. But Smart and Sun Cellular also need 1900, so the the best is a full WCDMA compliant phone. Same for USB internet sticks. Make sure that your phone specs read 3G, WCDMA, 850/1900/2100. 3G does not only mean WCDMA, but there are many standards. 3G can be WCDMA (UMTS, an evolution of GSM used mostly in European countries), CDMA 2000 (used in America, Japan and Korea), TD-SCDMA (used in China) and others. Only 3G WCDMA phones will work in the Philippines.
c. Optimal choice: Unfortunately, in the Philippines WCDMA is not tuned correctly all the time. So, even you have a decent phone, it might not work properly of have problems. The only smartphones that will *always* work in any condition, even with shifted bandwidths, are the most expensive ones. For example, Apple iPhone 5 has the following bands. 2G Network: GSM 850/900/1800/1900, GSM A1428, CDMA 800/1900/2100, CDMA A1429. 3G network: HSDPA 850/900/1900/2100, GSM A1428, CDMA2000 1xEV-DO, CDMA A1429; 4G network: LTE 700 MHz Class 17/1700/2100, GSM A1428 or LTE 850/1800/2100, GSM A1429, LTE 700/850/1800/1900/2100, CDMA A1429. You can easily see that this phone has every possible band and will work in any condition. It even includes some shifted bands of certain municipalities.

12. I live far from the company's antenna. How can I improve the signal of my phone?

You can get a signal repeater amplifier. That will solve the issue of a bad signal in most cases. You can look up in ebay.ph a "signal repeater amplifier" and find one easily. Same rules for the frequencies apply here, to choose a proper amplifier. In addition, you can place your antenna in the outside of the building you are in. Don't stay behind thick walls, and avoid walls that have metal coverings (they screen out the signal).

13. How do I optimize my 3G connection and avoid sudden drops in speed?

3G UMTS (WCDMA standard in the Philippines) works in a very particular way, which is very different from other standards. The distance between you and the closest UMTS antenna is determining. Indeed, UMTS privileges who is closer to the antenna (1-3 km max) and drops the users who are more distant. So, who is close sees his band grow exponentially to very high rates, and all the others are cut off. This is not fair, since one expect to have a better internet and instead finds himself in a competition to get some band.
So, when UMTS drops you, your smartphone shifts all at once to the slower networks (EDGE, GPRS, GSM). All the other networks are practically hung. Today's webpages are so complex that you will not really able to surf the net with EDGE, which is the fastest among the slow networks. Of course, no heavier service will work, such as Skype, etc.
Fortunately, we have a trick to force our smartphone/internet stick to use only UMTS networks and avoid being dropped off. Indeed, all devices have a default setting that allows them to shift among available networks. When the UMTS network knows you have other options and wants to drop you, it just drops you. But if you have no alternative, the UMTS network is forced to keep you. So, you should find the settings in your smartphone/internet stick and set the network to "UMTS only". That's it. Enjoy your higher speeds now.

14. GPS (Global Positioning System, the system that allows to track your position everywhere with 10 meters tolerance due to civil usage) does not work properly in my smartphone. How do I fix that?

This is a common problem of many smartphone that were poorly designed. Big brands are not immune from this issue. The reason is that the antenna is placed in a small room inside the phone and is subject to the interference of the other inner components. Therefore, it simply does not pick the signal from the outside. Fortunately, there is a solution, but it will require some testing on your part. You should cut some small strips of aluminium foil. Stick a foil at a time on the outside of the smartphone and see if GPS works. If not, move the foil to another position, until you find the sweet spot. Then, you can stick it permanently. Practically, it will act as an antenna extension and will allow you to pick the signal properly.

My niece and nephew asked me favor to get them plan at Globe as their mom requires to submit proof of income etc. While me, I do not need to because I have a prepaid plan at 500 a month. And also, the globe convince me to get another 2 plan long time ago. I refuse not to get plan in my name and they will be the one to pay anyway, the monthly bill. It took more than a year and lately, somewhere in March, my niece convince me and visit me in the office and brought those papers from globe.

To my surprise, their bill amount to 3,000 pesos each being sent to me in my name from Globe, and until lat month, the total bill is already more than 8,000. I told my niece to tell her mom pay the due amount or else my name will be compromised. It saddened me a lot that sometimes, I should not be too lenient when it comes to this. My mother also get angry to my sister why they did not settle their payment for two months.

Their plan comprise of text to all network, internet surf and it is flexible. The more you use the internet mobile, the bigger the bill would be.

That is why, I only have a fix mobile plan so that I cannot exceed the allowable amount to use which is 500 pesos. I am already using it for 2 years and I can get another plan smaller to the amount I get with free phone but I did not able to get one because of the standing balance of my niece and nephews phone.

I try to be thrifty. Usually, in a month, i cannot use all those 500 pesos load.

m&m wrote:My niece and nephew asked me favor to get them plan at Globe as their mom requires to submit proof of income etc. While me, I do not need to because I have a prepaid plan at 500 a month. And also, the globe convince me to get another 2 plan long time ago. I refuse not to get plan in my name and they will be the one to pay anyway, the monthly bill. It took more than a year and lately, somewhere in March, my niece convince me and visit me in the office and brought those papers from globe.

To my surprise, their bill amount to 3,000 pesos each being sent to me in my name from Globe, and until lat month, the total bill is already more than 8,000. I told my niece to tell her mom pay the due amount or else my name will be compromised. It saddened me a lot that sometimes, I should not be too lenient when it comes to this. My mother also get angry to my sister why they did not settle their payment for two months.

Their plan comprise of text to all network, internet surf and it is flexible. The more you use the internet mobile, the bigger the bill would be.

That is why, I only have a fix mobile plan so that I cannot exceed the allowable amount to use which is 500 pesos. I am already using it for 2 years and I can get another plan smaller to the amount I get with free phone but I did not able to get one because of the standing balance of my niece and nephews phone.

I try to be thrifty. Usually, in a month, i cannot use all those 500 pesos load.

its nice to used plan for smart or globe or sun, you can save if you count it every now and then you load P30.00 a day. if you used to have business call's or text just get some plan it might help you about your budget but if you dont have business or other agenda you better not to get some plan because its waste of money. me i dont have plan sometimes i have load sometimes im not.

im only using prepaid sim and i dont have plan. i only used it when my restday. i can save a load because i used to load once a week. my company has a company phone with sun cellular, so i though ishouldnt get some plan for myself why i have to.

angel wrote:im only using prepaid sim and i dont have plan. i only used it when my restday. i can save a load because i used to load once a week. my company has a company phone with sun cellular, so i though ishouldnt get some plan for myself why i have to.

That is good that you are given free load for your sun cellular phone. We have no free here but we have two cellphones on standby at operation section for emergency use.

M&M Good Luck on getting that Phone bill Fixed .. I Did almost the same thing for a friend of Mine that I had been Friends with for 30 years ,, He Did not Pay the Bill and We are No Longer Friends anymore . It Cost Me more then 400 Dollars American to get it Paid off . I wish You the best of Luck

wayne208 wrote:M&M Good Luck on getting that Phone bill Fixed .. I Did almost the same thing for a friend of Mine that I had been Friends with for 30 years ,, He Did not Pay the Bill and We are No Longer Friends anymore . It Cost Me more then 400 Dollars American to get it Paid off . I wish You the best of Luck

Hi Wayne208! I guess I need not to be lenient when it comes to this. I talked to my niece one time we had the chance to see each other to tell her mom, my sister, fix this. She did not say anything anyway. And last Saturday while at home, my mother told me she talked to my sister how come she allow this to her children to get cellphone which is expensive. Mom got mad to my sister I guess. It creates a unhealthy relationship for me and my sister because she said she will pay the monthly bill for 2 years contract. How sad.

I do not like the internet connection at home. It is hard to get a signal and I needed to go out when my family call me. I am using globe subscription. Some areas at home, smart is really good signal. So I am thinking to shift to another subscription.