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Smart Bro Rocket Speed Tests (Metro Manila)

We’ve been doing a lot of speed tests in a number of areas around Metro Manila using the Smart Bro Rocket Plug-It and I’d like to share the results we got in the last 3 days.

The areas we managed to get speed test results include the following:

– SM Mall of Asia, Pasay City
– Park Square 1, Makati City
– Bonifacio High Street, The Fort, Taguig
– Bayani Road, Taguig
– Heritage Hotel, Pasay City
– Evangelista St., Bangkal, Makati
– Makati Cinema Square, Makati City
– MegaMall, Mandaluyong City
– Wendy’s Boni Station, Mandaluyong City
– Guadalupe MRT Station, Makati City
– Buendia-EDSA MRT Station, Makati City

As expected, the speed tests showed varying results between 500Kbps up to 7Mbps, depending on the location and the time of day.


This is the result of the SpeedTest.net taken in Bangkal, Makati at around 2AM in the early morning.

This is the result of the SpeedTest.net taken around Heritage Hotel, Pasay at around 4PM in the afternoon.


This is the result of the SpeedTest.net taken inside MegaMall, Mandaluyong at around 1PM in the afternoon.


This is the result of the SpeedTest.net taken around Mall of Asia, Pasay at around 11AM in the morning.


This is the result of the SpeedTest.net taken around Makati Cinema Square, Makati at around 1PM in the afternoon.


This is the result of the SpeedTest.net taken at Wendy’s near the Boni MRT Station in Mandaluyong at around 3AM in the early morning.


This is the result of the SpeedTest.net taken near the Guadalupe MRT Station, Makati at around 4AM in the morning.


This is the result of the SpeedTest.net taken near the Buendia MRT Station, Makati at around 4AM in the morning.

This is the result of the SpeedTest.net taken around Bonifacio High Street, Taguig at around 4PM in the afternoon.

The worst speed tests were taken around Boni High Street in Taguig City. The results were mostly under 1Mbps and sometimes, the net is very slow or un-usable.

Doing the entire tests, we only managed to get WCDMA, HSDPA and HSPA signal and no HSPA+. We’re still trying to look for areas where there is HSPA+ signal. Server used is Smart in GreenHills.

We’ll be doing more speed tests around Metro Manila to add to these results.

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Avatar for Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

46 Responses

  1. Avatar for lol lol says:

    wahahaha! din ang bagal nyan bulok talaga….kahit anong plan o product ng smart mabagal talaga

    nakakapangsisis bakit pa ako kumuha ng canopy ang plan 2Mbps ko ni hindi man lang umaabot ng 512 from 12pm to 7pm yung oras pa naman na kelangan mo ng maayos na speed tapos paputol putol pa, pag tumawag ka sa hotline ang ipapagawa sa yo tangal kabit tangal kabit ng cable para lang masabi na marunong ang kausap mo tae.

  2. Avatar for makariosakay makariosakay says:

    hahaha taenang smart yan…hahaha! may naniniwala pa pala sa ganyang klaseng telco na walang ibang alam kundi maging vacuum cleaner ng bulsa ng mamamayang pinoy? shit kayo smart! idol ko pa kahit paano si globe eh. hinto nyo na yang trabaho nyong pang unggoy!

  3. Avatar for Lance Lance says:

    dapat yung ginawang speedtest pare-pareho ng oras para makita talaga difference.. kasi siyempre magkakatalo-talo talaga yan sa location at kung peak hours.. dapat sana pareho lahat ng oras..

  4. Avatar for arrowgreen arrowgreen says:

    gud day…need to buy a 2nd hand smart rocket broadband..txt me if u sell it..thank you..093273*****

  5. Avatar for dan dan says:

    SMART ROCKET PLUG-IT = TOTAL WASTE OF MONEY. WAG NA KAYO BUMILI. I BOUGHT ONE AND IT’S ALL WASTE. taningang smart, na-raket ako.

  6. Avatar for jmr jmr says:

    SMART Bro Rocket HSDPA in Marikina: 6:15am: http://www.speedtest.net/resul​t/1436068869.png

  7. Avatar for jmr jmr says:

    I was able to get an HSPA+ signal in Katipunan Avenue, Q.C. I got 6.75 mbps maximum by streaming a 1080p video on YouTube.

    Generally, what’s surprising that HSDPA can spike up to 6 mbps, but averages at 3-4 mbps. I wonder why the older modems of SMART can’t attain this speed even if they’re all using HSDPA…

  8. Avatar for Doc Nato Doc Nato says:

    It’s ok to pay higher if the service offered is what you’ll get. I bought the smart rocket because I thought it would give a speed boost from the regular 3g plug its, but I was really disappointed. I’ve tested it on the 15th floor of st luke’s hospital in global city and I only got a speed test result of 0.45Mbps, in SLMC QC i got 2.7Mbps, in Eastwood City i got only 3 Mbps… I got excited for the first time when I first saw the “HSPA+” signal in e. rodriguez sr blvd Q.C. but was really surprised that I only got a 0.15Mbps!!! “W.T.F!!!.” ganda ng signal lalo ang bumagal! I’ve noticed that I was more faster in HSPDA the HSPA and HSPA+. and to top it all, I’v never got to use torrent anymore because it literraly doesn’t move! has mobiles pa ang regular plug it. what’s wrong!?

  9. Avatar for Yogiboy Yogiboy says:

    Globe Super surf broadband (unlimited) also does not have quality broadband service. Even in their own turf, Makati, 3G signals are hard to find and connect continously. As they say,
    “get unlimited, cause it takes forever to load even just one page…” I believe they are all the same…

  10. Avatar for sinoo sinoo says:

    Smart is worthless and here’s why.
    They offer these products and 9 times out of ten they don’t live up to the company’s claims. When you are dissatisfied and call their customer Disservice you are on hold for a near lifetime and then when you finally get to talk to someone all they can do is say “I’m sorry”. They never refund or make up for any inconvenience or mistake. If you are online and lose the signal because of their lack to provide good network reception you have to pay. If you do business with this entity be prepared to be let down. notice how they don’t advertise on how good the network is and how happy their customers are.. They just say that they are the largest. Big doesn’t mean quality. Smart is stupid. They don’t back up the products and services they offer it seems that their corporate mantra is “I’m sorry” but still the problems never get solved.

  11. Avatar for mike mike says:

    i do not understand why you guys even bother with this. This product is metered, limited, and very expensive. So what if its fast and reaches above 2 Mbps? You are burning money every time this thing downloads data on the internet.

    My wi-tribe is cheap. Only 900 pesos a month, it is accurate to the advertised download speed, and it is unlimited and unmetered. Forget this stupid smart “raket”.

  12. Avatar for Azerda Azerda says:

    Data Plans lang ang ba ang pwede sa Smart Bro Rocket? Sabi kasi hindi daw pwede ang *ilang* surfing promos ng Smart sa bago nilang dongle?

  13. Avatar for Jared Jared says:

    Sir Abe can you also post results whenever you pass by the Las Piñas area, particularly in SM Southmall? Thanks a ton!

  14. Avatar for nikosite nikosite says:

    ung speedtest sa megamall madaluyong malapit lang sa speed ng sun broadband ko na 2.25mbps.. P888 lang bili ko nun d2 sa baliuag..

  15. Avatar for ty ty says:

    not impressive

  16. Avatar for jmr jmr says:

    Hi Sir Yuga,
    Would you know if the indoor signal boosters are HSPA+ capabable?

  17. Avatar for Abel Abel says:

    Sir, hindi kayo aakkyata ng baguio at mag text?

  18. Avatar for csseyah csseyah says:

    Hindi pa rin pala talaga fully cover ng Smart 4G ang Metro Manila… worth thing pa talaga maghintay until next year.. Thanks po sir sa info na ito..

  19. Avatar for Jonaflormicfren Jonaflormicfren says:

    Speed differs from places, but what matters most is the continues connection.

  20. Avatar for Mr.A Mr.A says:

    I think it would be better if the test would be to download a 10MB file and graph it’s flow. That will gauge the stability, and the max and min speed that area has.

    • Avatar for Kev Kev says:

      base on my experience using HSPA+ signal on rocket. its not that stable like the line DSL, while downloading. example mediafire 100mb = bursting to 800kbps then will go back to 500kbps.

      Time of download 12 PM.

  21. Avatar for Jason Jason says:

    Sa simula lang naman ‘to, after next month, saka maglalabasan ang mga problem nito.

  22. Avatar for petken petken says:

    I’m getting 5Mbps using huawei e5836-1773 HSPA signal using an ordinary Smart Prepaid Sim.
    http://www.speedtest.net/result/1427522009.png

  23. Avatar for carl ordena carl ordena says:

    I think this one has a glitch.
    Second to the last place:
    This is the result of the SpeedTest.net taken around “Makati Cinema Square, Mandaluyong” at around 1PM in the afternoon.

    Is there such place as this? “Makati Cinema Square, Mandaluyong?”

  24. Avatar for Les Les says:

    Salamat sa speedtests. Unlisurf ba ginamit mo sir?

  25. Avatar for JP JP says:

    Kelan kaya magkaka HSPA+ sa Pampanga :)

  26. Avatar for kev kev says:

    Sir Yuga you can try sa may Manila zoo. or Leveriza Pasay. kasi sa amin na detect ko yung HSPA+ sa smart bro rocket ko, kahit walang advice na may signal sa lugar namin.

    max ko lang na speed test 8mbps lang at7am. Yung download naman thru hosting site the best na yung 700KBps. yung regular speedtest throughout the day under HSPA+ signal about 5-6mbps.

  27. Avatar for Steve Jobs Steve Jobs says:

    Hindi nila kaya tapatan Globe Tattoo 5Mbps ko.
    Unlimited na, hindi pa bumabagsak ang advertise speed.

  28. Avatar for Gian Gian says:

    That’s a whooping 7mbps, but 2am in the morning. Based on the tests, not very impressive. I bet that you won’t get above 5mbps most of the time.

  29. Avatar for vince vince says:

    The test is nice but not perfect. some criticisms

    1. no HSPA+ tests
    2. Speedtest.net may be convenient but SOMETIMES it can be inaccurate. The throttling of torrents is one example. Ideally real world downloads should be tested. But we’ll allow it since that takes time
    3. different places were tested which is good but the times are wildly different. ideally you would test at least 2x in each location, one peak and one off peak. Although that would be cumbersome

    but hey, thanks for the information anyway. This was probably a spur of the moment quickie test, not a detailed scientifically rigorous one

  30. Avatar for vince vince says:

    The test is nice but not perfect. some criticisms

    1. no HSPA+ tests
    2. Speedtest.net may be convenient but SOMETIMES it can be inaccurate. The throttling of torrents is one example. Ideally real world downloads should be tested. But we’ll allow it since that takes time
    3. different places were tested which is good but the times are wildly different. ideally you would test at least 2x in each location, one peak and one off peak. Although that would be cumbersome

    but hey, thanks for the information anyway.

  31. Avatar for huh huh says:

    makati cinema square, mandaluyong?

  32. Avatar for ken ken says:

    @sir abe:pa try nman po sa starmall(metropolis) alabang even though its included in the list. juz to make sure =)

    PS: nu nga po pla yung radius ng each base station ? thanks

  33. Avatar for mike mike says:

    not good test. Kindly test it in Bangkusay Tondo

  34. Avatar for Mike Mike says:

    I saw this last night and I’m planning to get one. My only worry is that my area is not listed as supporting HSPA+.

    Yuga, if you can pass by our place to test – Tungko, San Jose del Monte, Bulacan. Sagot ko Jollibee for you. Hahaha.

    And by the way, I wonder if their UNLISURF promos also applies to the 4G?

    – Mike

    • Avatar for Abe Olandres Abe Olandres says:

      @mike – Bualacan? Sure basta eat all you can sa Jollibee ha? :D

      I am using UnliSurf 200 for this one.

    • Avatar for Info Info says:

      to sir abe, if the smart bro rocket is openline as uv said in your previous blog using globe, is it possible also to try using a sun broadband sim and to make a 3 days unlisurf. if yes, how? thanks for your reply.

    • Avatar for Mike Lopez Mike Lopez says:

      @Abe, sure sure. Unlifood din. :)

  35. Avatar for mike mike says:

    The speed is nice but it would be better if Smart decided to stop throttling bittorrent and Steam downloads and we could actually *use* the speed.

  36. Avatar for JustAThought JustAThought says:

    hmm i wonder what is an accurate speed test for ISP speeds in general.. testing the connection with a server located within the country or outside?

  37. Avatar for JopethDanio JopethDanio says:

    Wow, I like That Internet Speed :D

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