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Home » How often do you get 3G speeds this great?

How often do you get 3G speeds this great?

One of the ways I do to really measure the peak speeds of my 3G connection is run multiple downloads all at the same time, maximize network connection and monitor the cumulative download speeds.

The results are always mixed — from good to decent to slow. But sometimes, you bump into connections like this and you can hardly believe it’s true.


Yes, that’s a 2.3Mbps consistent/sustained download speed. I was downloading 4 files — one was getting 110KB/s, 2 more getting ~40KB/s and the last one getting just ~10KB/s.

From various tests I’ve made, I’d say the answer is all about location 99% of the time. I’d often compare the behavior of the signal strength to that of the AM radio.

There’s one trick I do that usually helps in speeding up the connection. In the dialer, go to Settings -> Network Settings and select W850M in the Band Settings.

Disclosure: Smart gave me this SmartBro micro-SIM with 6 months free subscription which I can opt to continue using and pay for after the trial period.

  • 36 Comments

  1. kaicho says:

    for some reason, 850mhz works better in different location compared to 2100Mhz. Because the waveforms of 850mhz are slightly larger than 2100mhz waveforms. Smaller waveforms are harder ro recieve than larger ones. So this must be the reason why 850mhz 3g reception is slightly better

  2. kzma says:

    all 3g networks in the philippines are running on 2100 mhz and going out of that frequency cap will make the connection unstable. so how come you say that going to 850mhz band is better. that is one of the reasons why other 3g phones in US is not compatible in the philippines.

  3. strife says:

    Sauce D nmn 22o yan

    khit 4 bars 3g ung smart prepaid ko 0 recieving data

  4. Jonathan says:

    Hey Yuga,

    Just want some confirmation here, is w850m really better than w2100m? How come? I’ve tried switching to w2100m before and found out that it’s very good with youtube. But lately, my signal keeps on changing from hsdpa to 3G, the latter being worse, receiving no data at all. So right now, I’m going to switch to w850m as you’ve adviced.

    Regards,

    Jonathan

  5. H says:

    I used to have stable download speeds of 1 MB/s. Not 1 megabit but 1 Megabyte per second. From time to time, I still touch that speed but SmartBro sucks lately. All the IPs they lease for pluugits are blocked as they are used by spammers and harvesters. XD

  6. H says:

    I used to have stable download speeds of 1 MB/s. Not 1 megabit but 1 Megabyte per second. From time to time, I still touch that speed but SmartBro sucks lately. All the IPs they lease for pluugits are blocked as they are used by spammers and harvesters.

  7. Bert says:

    Kaya pala naga-advertise na naman sa TV ang Globe ng SUPER(kupad)SURF nila, disgruntled ang mga subscriber… kasi ki-nap nila to 1GB ang download… how deceptive their ‘bottomless’ stunt…

  8. Jomar says:

    Smart Bro is so fast here in Pasay…I’ve tried Globe but it sucks! as in super slow..
    SmartBro is the best! Promise…

  9. anne tan says:

    i agree with you permissiondenied. smartbro sucks!

  10. PermissionDenied says:

    I’ve tweaked my USB dongle to try all networks…
    Location: Antipolo Town Proper

    All networks were good for the first week… They all hit their 2MBps mark at some point… I can download a mp3 for a matter of seconds… But after a week of experience using one network, the speed is getting worst…

    The biggest speed dropper award goes to Smart.
    -for giving me an internet connection speed that’s as slow as a dial-up connection (they are also the recepient of my most expensive prepaid broadband provider) :D

    My Globe and Sun experience are almost the same. Both are good on weekdays and fails on weekend :P… But i still can get 1KBps from the two networks. But one thing i hate when using Globe is that, images are shown in much smaller qualities. Isn’t it cheating? they should modified their ads to read “Up to 2MBps speed (with free image compression).”

    And obviously, there’s nothing i can do but to settle with Sun Broadband. It’s like globe minus the image compression.

    3G sucks! all networks! it’s just my opinion :D…
    but that came from experience :D

  11. lupita says:

    i do on mondays hehe minsan nag 3MBPS pa ung receive rate. i use the first gen smart bro prepaid (what a rip off at 4500!) then for downloading i also use IDM (internet download manager) which speeds up my downloads compared pag normal download manager ng IE at FF. satisfied naman ako dahil heavy downloader ako TV shows at movies and i work at nights kaya monday morning lang talaga un time para mag DL hehe

    usually 30min to 1hr ang download ko ng isang 700MB movie, dalawang 350MB tv show (all direct links nd torrent) pag torrent sobrang bagal kaya laging direct links hinahanap ko hehe

    PS. i’m located in rizal, though pag asa kabilang bahay kami sa tuktok ng bundok alang signal halos kaya definitely based sa location din talaga.

    *sorry nobela :P

  12. Abe Olandres says:

    Hi Guys!

    Those who missed my previous posts about 3G speeds, can check these out:

    http://www.yugatech.com/blog/telecoms/smart-wants-you-to-stress-test-their-3g-network/

    http://www.yugatech.com/blog/telecoms/bayan-broadband-512-speed-test/

    http://www.yugatech.com/blog/telecoms/how-to-effectively-measure-broadband-speeds/

    http://www.yugatech.com/blog/telecoms/red-mobile-3g-speed-test/

    http://www.yugatech.com/blog/telecoms/up-to-broadband-speeds-are-bogus/

    http://www.yugatech.com/blog/telecoms/road-speeds-hsdpa-edge-gprs/

  13. sherwin says:

    I am wondering why the results from the Smart sponsored SIM came first with outstanding results wherein a prepaid test would come out later. Well, let’s wait for that one.

  14. bruns says:

    oh, also include source and site. so we could compare our experience to yours.

    yes, im planning to get a either usb smartbro or globe or sun. or maybe at least two. yes, i am a future buyer of this product (or the other competing product;-)

    your blog fan base is growing in leaps and bounds everyday. Its impact/influence cannot be denied.

    ” Uncle Ben of spiderman: “Remember, with great power, comes great responsibility.” ;-)

  15. bruns says:

    @abe, im a big fan of your blog and even put it into my RSS.

    suggestion lang/ 1 opinyon lamang: to make this particular post more meaningful and helpful to our fellow (and future) mobile dsl subscribers.

    1) please state what time it was done, and please include your location (so people could relate well, and other readers especially those within your area could probably share their own experience in comparison to yours.

    2) for better comparative analysis (and better appreciation of the speed/value of off-peak hours), its also good (for consumers sake) that you also post results during peak hours like 10am, 5pm, 9pm and 10pm.

    if you can get that. it would be more meaningful and helpful to us all.

    since this post has commercial value in nature (smart’s interest et al), you might as well help consumers too by giving them more data so they can have better overall idea of what to expect from such product (a highlighted info (but insufficient data can be misleading to others, esp. newbies and non-techies)

    who doesnt like pro-consumer blogs? probably none

    —

    @dongkidoodles, you downloaded a 1.5gb file in 4 to 5 minutes? > 1.5gb in 5mins = average of actual 5mb per second! its like having 40mbps plan! anong source ( site po ito?

    (if 40mbps plan / 8 = 5mb/sec maxed out).

    i have a bayanDSL,

    for my plan 1mbps (i usually get a normal 125kb/sec. (if maxed out,fully utilized)

    5mb file will normally take 40seconds to compete.

    offpeak would turn SOD 1.5mbps = i get actual ave. of 185kb/sec (if maxed out,fully utilized).

    5mb file will normally take 27seconds.

  16. borgy says:

    w850M – that’s forcing it to switch to the 850mhz HSPA frequency. 850mhz has better building penetration and generally faster speed than 2100mhz 3G/HSPA.

  17. Nowell says:

    I even got more than 3MB on my Receive Rate reading. My torrent download even went to 300+kbps using my smartbro. I live in Marikina.

  18. Abe Olandres says:

    @jason – I wasn’t doing any math there. The 2336kb is the one in the screenshot provided while the 215KB/s is the one I’m getting from the actual downloads. The discrepancy might be attributed to the fact that the monitor on the dialer is only getting burst readings while my downloads are averaged.

  19. Jason says:

    Your math is off. You’d be closer to 300KB total if you were getting 2336kb. 110+45+45+15=215. Rounding up or down, your numbers aren’t close. That being said. I’d take reliability over speed any day. A sometimes 3MB line that dips below 1MB all the time is worthless for anything but a backup downloading pipe. Gimme pldt always 2MB any day. And digitel can go to hell for all the stress! I get a perfectly capped 256kbit line for 1,500 a month. Just leave downloads running on it 24/7

  20. Abe Olandres says:

    @jay – I actually have a Smart Prepaid Buddy and I am doing multi-testing with both on several locations. Watch out for that one.

  21. Jay says:

    –“Disclosure: Smart gave me this SmartBro micro-SIM with 6 months free subscription which I can opt to continue using and pay for after the trial period.”

    –“Must be a smart sim tagged as VIP. They usually give those to VIPs or let people test it. Similar thing happened to me when another network gave me a test unit/sim/connection for 2 months.

    Similar to how Postpaid and Prepaid broadband internet subscriptions that doesn’t have the same speed, this is the higher kind.”

    I agree with Cheftonio.. why not try it with a regular sim? Bias kasi binigay ng SMART for you to “try” it out.

  22. Leo says:

    sun 3g usb sucks big time here in zapote las pinas. i opt for 3-month lock-in period and yet maybe i just use it less than 2 days in total use. ipapa-disconnect ko na. so if you’re in this area, forget sun 3g.

    globe wi-max have a decent connection here though. never tried smart bro yet.

  23. dongkidoodles says:

    I usually download several files at the same time and speed varies from 10kbps to 400 kbps a file. There was one time I downloaded a 1.5gb file in 4 to 5 minutes. Download speed for the others did not change while that file was also being downloaded. After that one file, everything returned to the usual download rate. I guess download speed depends on the source as well.

  24. IC DeaDPiPoL says:

    found this while checking my GMANews.TV rss

    http://www.gmanews.tv/story/201946/house-probe-on-substandard-broadband-internet-services-sought

    A lawmaker representing the youth sector has filed a resolution urging the House of Representatives to look into standards that are supposed to be followed by broadband Internet service providers in the country.

    Kabataan party-list Rep. Raymond Palatino filed last week House Resolution 407 asking the House Committee on Information and Communications Technology to conduct an inquiry “on the quality of broadband internet services delivered by commercial telecommunications companies” in the country.

    Palatino, who used to be a blogger before his youth-based group won a seat in Congress, said consumers continue to complain of problems related to broadband Internet access, including limited area coverage and slow connection speeds.

    “Most of the promos, packages and features being advertised by broadband providers are deceptive. Thousands of Filipino internet users complain of substandard services, slow internet speed, limited coverage, unfair fees and hidden charges,” he said in a statement.

    He added that the House body should call on the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), telecommunication firms and various consumer groups in its hearing to help Congress draft appropriate laws to address Internet access problems.

    “Communications and access to information is a public good… The government should be stricter in monitoring whether services are complying [with] standards,” he said.

    The Philippines currently has an estimated 30 million Internet users. A recent study by a global media agency said that the Philippines has the highest percentage of Internet users that watch videos online, even though the country has relatively low number of households connected to the web. (See: Filipinos are world’s top Internet video viewers)—JV, GMANews.TV

  25. Jon says:

    Generally, Smart’s connection is really fast. However, congestion is a really huge factor/problem. Next is signal strength. I used to get consistent and stable speeds even faster than yours sir Abe. I’d be getting up to 3mbps speeds. I am aware that people who even have a HSPA/HSPA+ capable modem get even up to 7mbps or more.

    However, now I would only get around 1mbps on peak hours. I guess a lot more people are using Smart in my area.

  26. Jhay says:

    Globe Tattoo works well at our location in Silang, Cavite. Though signal strength fluctuates, the connection remains consistent 80% of the time.

  27. Teknisyan says:

    wow! Now that’s why I call optimum speed!! Heheh…

  28. IC DeaDPiPoL says:

    why not test that sim side by side against a postpaid and prepaid smartbro?

  29. Andre Marcelo-Tanner says:

    its fixed duh

  30. tantra2gadget says:

    ok naman sa akin ang globe here in bulacan
    i did not try pa other network inet connection nila
    may downtime lang tlaga
    i think its normal lang pag minsan mabagal

  31. Jiro Yan says:

    Im downloading using hotfile premium… Both Globe Tattoo and SUN Broadband umaabot ng 2.5Mbps. Wala naman ako problem for both network sa speed ng internet nila. Ayaw ko lang sa Globe is the image compression nila. Kaya SUN Broadband lagi ko ginagamit. I try SMART Bro, naubos na load ko hindi man lang ako makapag surf sa net. So, di ko nalang try ulet.

  32. Cheftonio says:

    Must be a smart sim tagged as VIP. They usually give those to VIPs or let people test it. Similar thing happened to me when another network gave me a test unit/sim/connection for 2 months.

    Similar to how Postpaid and Prepaid broadband internet subscriptions that doesn’t have the same speed, this is the higher kind.

  33. Richard Benedict says:

    it happen to me once or twice when buffering a video or downloading

  34. techny says:

    NEVER…still it depends on user’s location…here in bulacan i use SUN BROADBAND.so far ok naman ang SPEED stable except on P2P…SMART and GLOBE are slow here…

  35. Marvin says:

    The peak speed i experience is about 1.5mbps. And it’s not even stable; fluctuates from .6mbps and up to peak.

  36. Kvn says:

    Doesn’t work for Globe Broadband though. Any fix us Globe users?

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