OpenSignal just released a report comparing the performance of the 3G and 4G networks of both Smart and Globe and the results are very interesting.
In terms of 4G (LTE) availability, Globe was ahead of Smart at 55.25% vs. 39.36%. LTE availability is the proportion of time that a user has a 4G signal over the total time it is connected to the carrier’s network.
When measuring 4G/LTE speeds, Globe came in with an average of 7.42Mbps while Smart went ahead at 9.87Mbps. This is slightly better compared to the over-all average of 7.27Mbps the Philippines got back in Q3 2016.
Measuring 3G speeds only, Globe and Smart almost tied at 2.24Mbps and 2.12Mbps, respectively. The discrepancy between the 4G and 3G speeds of the two networks is very significant, highlighting the importance of LTE frequencies to bring fast connectivity to users.
When over-all speeds are averaged between 3G and 4G, Globe and Smart are also tied – 3.33Mbps and 3.41Mbps. This measurement not only takes into consideration the 3G and 4G speeds on the network but also the time spent in those networks. This is the reason why Smart’s average dropped to 3.41Mbps despite getting a good 9.87Mbps speed on their 4G network – users spend more time on Smart’s 3G network than on their 4G network, skewing the over-all average towards the 3G speeds.
Lastly, OpenSignal also measure the latency of each network to see how responsive each carrier in both their 3G and 4G networks.
Latency, measured in milliseconds (ms), is the delay data experiences as it travels between points in the network. A lower score in this metric is a sign of a more responsive network.
For the 4G (LTE) network, Globe and Smart are statistically tied at 55.64ms and 53.32ms, respectively. These are pretty good numbers for a mobile network.
However, for their 3G network, Smart got a better latency performance of 157.2ms compared to the 190.4ms of Globe.
These results are definitely interesting and should give subscribers a better idea on the expected performance of their own respective carriers.
The average speeds, especially on 3G, are still very disappointing. There is good promise in the 4G networks, if you’re area has good coverage but based on the results of the survey there’s still a lot to cover.
Both Globe and Smart (PLDT) have announced aggressive expansion plans for LTE coverage in the Philippines, building more cell sites across the country and tapping into more frequency bands like the 700MHz they recently acquired from SMC.
* OpenSignal drew on 512 million measurements taken by 28,972 smartphone users between Nov. 1, 2016, and Jan. 31, 2017, to compare the 3G and 4G experience of our users on the Globe and Smart networks.Â
YugaTech.com is the largest and longest-running technology site in the Philippines. Originally established in October 2002, the site was transformed into a full-fledged technology platform in 2005.
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macxz says:
what? smart wont even work here. im not saying globe is better.
Baleng says:
I think dapat binanggit sa report kung saang area ginawa ang tests. hindi naman kasi parepareho sa lahat ng area.
Abe Olandres says:
This is nationwide survey of 28,972 smartphone users.
Kunsel says:
Based on my experience. Novaliches QC and Makati area. Mas okay ang globe kasya sa smart pagdating sa LTE. Problematic sa akin yung latency ng smart sa house at workplace.
harhar says:
Is that a joke? Why don’t they publish where in the country did they get those tests and what time? It’s just results taken from their app users which is mostly from major cities or posh subdivisions of the country.
Sonofa says:
Bakit lampas 9mbps ang 3g sa ibang bansa? Tapos dito LTE na yun?
Nex says:
Nakakapanduda ahhh. As if naman may ibubuga yang smart. Halos di ko nga magamit sa 3G yan eh. Sistemang bulok… ayaw magkonek yang smart. Olongapo area (Cabalan)
Lelz says:
Hmmm. . . service is crap. too expensive. 50 pesos for 800mb, nc. . The FUTURE of telcos in the Philippines!
callmark says:
not sure what part of metro manila was this tested but i can’t wait for my smart postpaid to expire as 4G is very rare if not non-existent
K L says:
ung sim card ko nga 3G lang 2014 ko pa gusto mag upgrade ng globe sim wala parin amp kau! pero been using abs cbn mobile 4G 7-10Mbps ok naman sa NCR meron lang areas na spotty…
Chelle Lim says:
Mas madali na ngang mag-upgrade to LTE sim these days sa Globe. Dati pahirapan ba kung saan Globe store may stock ng number mo at may pila pa to add to that. Now, mas pila na lang issue than availability. Of course, may Globe stores na mas maraming requirements (multiple ID, original sim body, etc.) na hinihingi compared to other stores na isang ID lang kailangan/
ton says:
walang kwenta ang smart.. sponsored by smart siguro to
Manny_Cavalier says:
Install OpenSignal on your smartphones so your signal stats be included in their future reports. Research more on OpenSignal so you’ll know how they arrived on these results before you complain.
Drew says:
Sir kung ang area mo is 4g and you tested your sped is above 4mbps…and then you dwnload movies but the actual dwnload speed is just 400kbps…how is that called 4g?…i mean what am i missing here?pls help me understand po…thnks
Manny_Cavalier says:
Downloading movies using Torrent? The download speed will also depend on the number of seeds and peers of that particular file , not only due to the speed of your connection.
Bhen says:
Please share user statistics, time and place the measurements was taken. i mean please. do a comprehensive report, like an infographic maybe, on these sensitive issues otherwise this article is a crap or it will look sponsored.
tito crew says:
yun sinsabi nyo na okey ang smart is sobrang mali naman ata nun smart user ako and i know how smart works
Zoids says:
No problem with my Globe mobile signal at all while am at home. Based sa SpeedTest, nag aaverage ako ng 20Mbps and max of 78.94Mbps. Sa OpenSignal its somewhere between 25Mbps to 28Mbps. Download speed.
John Piedad says:
Puro survey kayo mabagal padin internet nyo. Mataas ang specs na binibigay nyo sa custumer den pag ginamit sa actual hindi na, mabagal. Globe and smart same strategy, especially new applicant galing mag sales pag problem na sa signal iwan ka na sa eri.
jake says:
both network sucks they cant deliver a stable signal in the internet causing lags and problems on the connection ….I hope new company will be invited and operate in our country so all consumers will benefit.
bluff says:
yang speed na yan kaya lng ng 3G dapat yan. yan ba tinatawag nilang super bilis?
zarihan says:
..naku kaaaply plng nmin sa globe. Pr gmitin sa tutorial online. Anong network ba ok sa plaridel bulacan? Pls?
Manny_Cavalier says:
Here are the links you can read for both Globe and Smart –
https://opensignal.com/networks/philippines/smart-coverage
https://opensignal.com/networks/philippines/globe-coverage
Manny_Cavalier says:
Here are the links you can read more for both Globe and Smart –
https://opensignal.com/networks/philippines/globe-coverage
https://opensignal.com/networks/philippines/smart-coverage
Hope that helps.
Manny_Cavalier says:
Seems the moderator won’t allow us to post links here. But for those who are asking the 2G/3G/LTE speeds in their area, just to go opensignal(dot)com and enter your network’s name and your location. You can be able to see there the upload, download, latency and signal strength in your area. You can select either 2G/3G or LTE speeds, or both.
Manny_Cavalier says:
Go to the opensignal site and you will be able to check their your area’s network coverage and signal. Just input your address and choose which network provider you want to see. You can also either select just 2G/3G or LTE speeds, or both.
Manny_Cavalier says:
Go to opensignal.com and you will be able to check your area’s network coverage and signal level. Just input your address and choose which network provider you want to see. You can also either select just 2G/3G or LTE speeds, or both.
Manny_Cavalier says:
Go to opensignal.com and you can check your area’s network coverage and signal. Input your location and choose which network provider you want to see. You can also either select just 2G/3G or LTE speeds, or both.
Haruki says:
3G lang yung na try ko sa Smart at Globe. Same2 lang yung speeds ng dalawa. Pero mas preferred ko ang 3G ng smart kasi consistent yung speeds. Nasa Iligan City ako nag aaral, ang hina ng 3G ng Globe dito, nasa 30-40kbps lang yung speeds, yung Smart ko nasa 200+kbps. Pag uuwi ako sa probinsya namin, same lang yung dalawa. Pero mas preferred ko 3G sa Smart kasi nasa city ako palagi, kahit Facebook ang hina i-open sa Globe.
Yung LTE naman, di ko pa na try sa Smart pero sa Globe sabi ng mga kaibigan ko okay naman daw, mabilis.
Depende lang talaga sa area.
Litolindo Labalan says:
This comparison isn’t fair! Comparing 3G vs 4G is definitely not the best comparison. May I suggest to present the number of users of 3G and 4G at the moment the survey is taken. My point is that, the numbers of devices connected to 3G has a big impact on its speed vs the number of devices connected to 4G network. That could be a hasty conclusion. Example, we can say an average speed of 3G is 9.8mbps with 100 number of devices connected to it while an average speed of 4G is 7.4mbps with 1,000 number of devices connected to it. Now, this is what we call network efficiency…
John Jones says:
Bulok ka man nga pota ka. Pagbasa nim iroy
Nicole Evangelista says:
Where is the 3G vs. 4G that you’re talking about, it’s network vs. network. Get your facts straight.
Will Gab says:
I have an LTE capable fone and two sim card globe and smart. In all places na pinupuntahan ko tinatry ko kung sino mas mabilis sa kanila.. laging kulilat ang smart.. lalo pag nasa loob na ng bahay.. hindi masyado nakakatagos ang signal ng smart.. in my experience i recommend globe..
John says:
Tama ka globe talaga ANG malakas base on my experience visayas NCR up to pangasinan Hindi fair si yuga
Lanzlot says:
I both have the Globe and Smart Cellphone with unli internet. Before I connect my laptop to access the internet, I speedtest the two. A year ago, smart usually wins. But lately, the signal of Globe is more consistent. I also noticed that Smart is strictly implementing its cap while Globe is not.
Smart says:
Amierc
Joe says:
On my experience dito sa cebu, lalo na sa amin, mas malakas si smart na try ko na both 3g and 4g on both network,, mas marami lang siguro gumagamit kay globe kaya bumabagal, lumalakas lang si globe sa amin tuwing madaling araw hanggamg umaga. Pero si smart kaya umabot hanggang 6mbps using 3g kahit gabi, pag 4g aabot hanggang 23mbps, si globe I only got 7mbps using 4g, kung 3g ayaw talaga gumalaw,, depende lang talaga sa lugar.
Mirana says:
may i know saan ka normally gumamit ng smart lte? I’m currently using Globe Lte, mapa city proper, mabolo or IT park ang speed ko nasa 1 point something mbps mapa araw o gabi. Laging 3G ang na cacapture nga signal. Worth it ba ang Smart lte kahit saan sa cebu?
Giovanni says:
In our area at province only 3g available signal on both globe and smart everytime i seach for the signal availability manually, but they have a very big difference in download speed, globe reaches more than 800kbps while smart reaches only at 100plus kbps early morning. Aloguinsan, Cebu, sana lagyan na ng 4g/LTE dito. At sana mag offer sila ng Promo na no data Cap, kasi yang 800mb per day, hindi manlang nakakadownload ng Movie. UNFAIR!!!
Julie Anne says:
Bili ka bagong Globe sim tapos paloadan mo… Kung may surf alert.. i turn off mo ng isaw araw. 5 peso = 15 mins. Mag download ka Mga 3:00 AM ng madaling araw. Malakas down. Speed yan kahit ilang Gigabytes mo pang e download. Gamitin mo lng yang bagong sim for downloading… wag mo yan e register ng mga promo.. mag gap talaga yan sa 800mb cap.
Bennysbarn says:
which is faster and better here in Mandaue City? Smart Router or Globe router? I plan to buy a network provider but I don’t know which is better Smart router or Globe router?
Dana says:
medyo nagulat ako sa “I plan to buy a network provider”. sorry, di ko lang mapigilan.
JULES says:
lol ‘network provider’. It depends, check the cell sites for each network on the internet, because sometimes 4G/LTE isn’t available. Therefore buying LTE broadband/Router wouldn’t be compatible
& could be useless.
Julie Anne says:
Yep check your local area if may 4G/LTE. naku masasayang png pera mo. I’m here at Mindanao visiting some of my friends.. walang 4G/LTE 3G lng … nung pabalik ko sa Quezon City.. Malakas kc 4G.
Pasitimus says:
Any other sim besides SMART or GLOBE that has no DATA CAPPING? Heavy youtube user here T_T
Stephen Roth says:
I am VERY familiar with both Globe and Smart. I live in Bacoor Cavite. I have an Android and am only interested in personal service. I think Globe and Smart are in a fight to the death to see who can provide the WORST service. Right now they are gridlocked…. I have NEVER seen a worst ISP in my entire life !!!!! Thank you for your time !!!!!
Hoping says:
Ngayon lang ako nakaapak sa cavite.. Worst si Smart dito.. favorite ko pa naman smart kasi smart user talaga ako simula nauso ang cellphone at sa Cebu , Lapu-Lapu the best ang LTE ko na smart.. back to cavite.. zero as in kulilat si smart.. si globe naman mabilis kaso pag pasok mo ng bahay nawawala rin signal.. kaya thumbs down ako sa dalawa kasi parang very worst ang internet sa lugar na to…hoping for faster service…
April Marie says:
For me Globe and Smart is both a good network. Nakadepende kasi yan sa place kung anong network ang mabilis. Dito sa amin mabilis ang Globe, consistent ang speed niya at narereach yung 700 kbps. Pero kapag pumupunta naman ako sa ibang lugar may times na mabilis ang connection ng smart.
hortillosa1234 says:
We can’t deny that they are good network, but sometimes it depends on your location. For me when I’m away from the city, my smart network has no signal, but my Globe network have. My internet connection in globe is constant and I have a good connection.
heero says:
eh kahit nga tnt ng smart walng data, sayang load q 100, hindi man lang makaconnect, walng lte signal, dinalupihan, area, luacan, dapat tlga may isa pang telcos hnd yung cla nlng bgal ng sistema walng unlad
emBoss says:
In my situation I transferred from globe to smart kasi di na umaabot globe lte dito while smart is im using Band 3 , 4/5 bars pero congested. So I used Band 1 (2/5 bars) 18mbps dl speed pag gabi, 8mbps naman kapag umaga. Try considering the band channels if mag test. Peace