Smart Bro Rocket Buyers Guide

So I bought the Smart Bro Rocket at Smart’s Wireless Center in Rockwell this morning. They made me sign a waiver that outlines some of the limitations of the dongle and the service. So, here are 10 things you need to know before buying the Smart Bro Rocket.

Some Wireless Centers are still a bit confused with the Smart Bro Rocket so you will have to ask and explain that it’s the new one with 12Mbps. The guard and front customer service both didn’t knew about it but I insisted and the other one in the activation desk confirmed.

1.) The kit comes with Php20 free load and a SIM card. You can use the regular Smart Bro load card to top up.

2.) The internet rate for the Smart Bro Rocket is pegged at Php10 per 30 minutes.

3.) The current rate is just a promo rate and effective until September 30, 2011. After that, Smart will shift to Volume Packages for the mobile internet rate.

4.) Users can subscribe to the Always On plans (see here).

5.) You are not allowed to use UnliSurf50, UnliSurf100 or UnliSurf200 on the account (contrary to my earlier confirmation with Smart’s PR that it can be used for UnliSurf). Update: Note though that I was still able to register to UnliSurf despite this restriction.

6.) Default charging will revert to Php200 per 180MB after September 30, 2011.

7.) When you are out of the HSPA+ coverage, the promised internet speed is up to 3.6Mbps (same as the Power Plug-It).

8.)When you buy the Smart Bro Rocket, you sign a waiver and release that you “given up future legal rights against any misunderstanding about the limitations of the device and the HSPA+ network”.

9.) If an HSPA+ network is not detected, you switch back to HSPA or 3G.

10.) You acknowledge that even if the service offers up to 12Mbps, the minimum speed can be between 12-48kbps.

Will go around and test this device from a number of locations and share with you the speed tests I’ll get. Let’s see if this baby can get to what Smart promised.