Tracking 3G


There’s no 3G signal at our office. Rats.

So last night, armed with a Nokia N70 and a borrowed SMART Gold account, I took it upon myself to find out just where I can catch a decent 3G signal. And to accelerate the process, I decided to do it while riding the EDSA MRT. So here’s my station-by-station account (most stations anyway) of where 3G signals can (and mostly can’t) be found:

Magallanes - Here’s where I got on, heading northbound. 3G? Nada. Zero. Zip.

Ayala - What was that? A faint trace of 3G as the MRT left the Ayala station… but only briefly. Darn.

Buendia - There it goes again! A very quick pop-up of the 3G signal as the train approached the station. But… it was gone in a flash, and was nowhere to be found even as the train waited at the station for some time.

Guadalupe - Still a big, fat zero. Thus far, there was no sustained 3G signal throughout the entire stretch.

Boni - Surprise, surprise! As the train approached Boni, the 3G icon popped up… and was sustained even as the train ground to a halt! Pretty strong here. Hmmm. Could it have something to do with the fact that competitor Globe Telecom’s headquarters is in the vicinity, and SMART wants to show them a thing or two? Hmmm…

Shaw - The force is strong with this one! Lots of 3G pep. You could probably spend the day taking advantage of SMART’s currently unlimited 3G videophone service when you’re at the EDSA Plaza Mall.

Ortigas - Surprisingly, 3G vanishes here yet again. Which is odd because this is where the Megamall and Galleria malls are. Not a peep of 3G.

Santolan, Cubao and Kamuning - Not a single wisp of 3G. Not one bit.

I got down at Kamuning and hoped to get a signal near the GMA-7 station. After all, wouldn’t it be to SMART’s best interest to have powerful media-type people using their service? And yet the most that I could get was the 3G icon popping up, but with zero signal strength.

And that was that. I have scoured Quezon Avenue, Timog, T.Morato and Diliman the previous day and there was absolutely no 3G signal to be had. I decided to call it a day.

Don’t get me wrong. 3G is pretty strong in the commercial areas of Makati. And I suppose it will be strong in the commercial areas of Pasig as well. But the truth is that it’s still pretty hard to find a 3G signal in most areas. Although I’m quite sure that SMART will be doing its best to roll them out over this year and the next.

Meanwhile, there’s no 3G signal at my place. Rats.

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March 3rd, 2006
14 Responses
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Comment Number:
1
Written by:
jgotangco
Posted on:
3/3/2006 at 11:58 am

I have my office at the Katipunan in front of the Ateneo and the 3G signal mothballs indoors but if go up to our penthouse area, I get full strength from a k600i. I use the videocall service with my wife who works in Makati with an N70. At home in santa mesa heights, QC, the 3G signal is nil. Some areas like gateway in Cubao have a faint, but usable signal. Around UP nada.

Comment Number:
2
Written by:
ayumicute
Posted on:
3/4/2006 at 11:14 am

hi, i live at the globe telecom plaza bldg. (pioneer highlands) and you can really get a good signal at the sorrounding areas like robinsons pioneer (which incidentally is offering free mall-wide wi-fi access). but inside the building, nada. my k600 even registers a “no access to network” message.

Comment Number:
3
Written by:
Marissa Balidoy
Posted on:
3/8/2006 at 12:42 pm

Hey, Art, I didn’t know you write for this site. :)

I guess as of now, 3G wireless technology, which is relatively new here in the country, still has its performance problems (in network coverage, stability, etc.) but with the type of technology we have now, I am quite sure, in no time, all the glitches and bugs will be addressed.

Don’t worry your head off since we have a significant number of techno wizards who will surely find a way to troubleshoot the problems, don’t you think?! :)

Comment Number:
4
Written by:
Kenneth
Posted on:
3/11/2006 at 1:27 am

Just bought a smaart prepaid sim to try the smart 3G, Fortunately here in paranque there’s quite a strong 3g signal. You guys at m/ph should try visiting sm bicutan. This were the Smart’s 3G signal is the best. I’m leaving near SM Bicutan were Along the Airport side and i have 3 Bar 3G signal from SMART. The problem is i having triuble connecting to the internet since my SEK608i is still not configure by the Smart 3G girl. She told me that the signal is best found in SM Manila and Bicutan or any SM wireless center with 3G demo. TRY BRINGING YOUR LAPTOP TOO SO YOU CAN HAVE IT CONFIGURED TO YOUR PHONE TO CONNECT TO SMART 3G AS A MODEM. NOW U HAVE A DSL SPEED ON A WIRELESS INTERFACE. PLEASE DO EMAIL ME THE RESULTS. DUE TO A LOT OF WORK IN THE OFFICE I DONT HAVE MUCH TIME EXPLORING THE USE OF SMART’S 3G. Anyway Goodluck on the 3G Hunting signal.

Comment Number:
5
Written by:
Diego
Posted on:
3/11/2006 at 12:47 pm

Hi, I’m also a nokia n70 user. I inquired from the smart office when 3g was launched last feb 14 regarding their coverage. Basically, what they told me is that, they cover where the 3g market is, high-end subdivisions and villages, malls, offices, and coffe shops. Oo nga naman, who would do video calls or connect to the net while in mrt? even if you have a 3g phone, yo’ll think twice before doing so. i’ve tried using 3g to browse the net using my laptop and my handset as modem in iloilo, boracay, cebu, alabang town center, terminal 3 naia, gorietta, starbucks 6750 and most of the time in my office in ayala. and as expected no 3g in my abode in baclaran. :)

Comment Number:
6
Written by:
Glenn
Posted on:
3/13/2006 at 10:27 pm

Hi, I tried using 3G using my N6680 while on a moving vehicle in SLEX. That was from Magallanes to Calamba. I set my phone to use UMTS network only using NetMonitor. I tried browsing. Never lost my signal except in Greenfield Exit Area (Cabuyao). Have at least 1-2 bars. Here at home (Calamba) pretty descent signal though. Tried video calling to a friend. Tried using my phone as a modem. Tried streaming using my phone. Features are cool. Tried downloading a large file to my laptop. Speed attained is up to 45.5KBps so thats 364Kbps. N6680 supports up to 384Kbps. Time will come signal strength will boost up. Goodluck 3G. Make it affordable to us. Globe, offer your 3G to consumers like what Smart did. And please make your 3G rollout as fast as Smart. They got the provinces covered already. Heard Tagaytay also has 3G signal.

Comment Number:
7
Written by:
Horatio B. Bogbinbdero
Posted on:
3/22/2006 at 7:18 pm

For the folks in the Katipunan area there should be a pretty strong 3G signal in that area because there is a full UMTS RAN (3G BTS) inside the Ateneo de Manila.

Comment Number:
8
Written by:
Rene Canlas
Posted on:
4/2/2006 at 4:59 pm

Can anybody confirm that you *can* use a prepaid Smart Buddy SIM and a 3G phone (like the Nokia 6680) as a modem for a PC/Laptop?

I have two SIMs, one postpaid Smart Gold and one prepaid Smart Buddy. The Smart Gold SIM lets me connect to the Nokia 6680 successfully, but the connection fails when I use the Smart Buddy SIM. Both SIMs are 3G enabled and I am able to surf the new and do videocalls from the Nokia 6680 using both SIMs.

I have tried both the wired (DKU-2) and bluetooth connections. Same result.

Comment Number:
9
Written by:
Rene Canlas
Posted on:
4/2/2006 at 4:59 pm

Oh, BTW, my parent’s place in Kalookan, near MCU has a strong 3G signal :)

Comment Number:
10
Written by:
godie
Posted on:
4/8/2006 at 12:38 am

This is because SMART 3G uses EDGE which is not very good in covering tight spaces. The same reason why your Wifi speed access varies depending on your location (fast on open spaces, poor on crowded commercial area).

If your interested on the technology there is a yahoo mailing lists that serves developers and the enthusiasts at ph-mobileapps and ph-mobiletech. You can check out one my post also about 3G on http://corruptedpartition.blogspot.com/2006/04/why-do-i-need-to-buy-new-phone-to-use.html

Comment Number:
11
Written by:
Naps Austria
Posted on:
4/18/2006 at 5:29 am

Be patient folks! 3G is basically in its infant and trial stage. Even here in the UK, the first year or so was really terrible and there were a lot of customer complaints. But now everything it’s as smooth as silk. The signal is always on high gear since “new” mobile sites were established around the country, not just upgraded equipment. 3G uses a different frequency, it’s much higher. GSM on the other hand is nearing its phase out stage, just like what happened to the analogue phone almost a decade ago. The question is, how far are the big networks (Globe and Smart) willing to cover 3G?

The speed of 3G is amazing, here in UK we can download at a rate of 1mb in 20-30 seconds! Connecting your laptop or PC is just plug and play even if you use a bluetooth dongle. Just ask for your providers’ customer care to send you the settings if you are using pre paid, BUT usually monthly plans have the settings pre-installed. I currently have an N70 and it’s performance is amazing. What more if you get the latest handsets like the N80.

3G services here also offer News, Weather and Sports on telecast; MTV and Music Track downloads; surfing; GIS map browsing; TV drama recaps (like Lost, DH etc) and a lot more! Its one heck of a roller coaster ride, and just like that, after each round trip you will end up wanting for more! And for the Pinoy consumer, a little patience. Once 3G starts rolling, there’s no stopping it!

Good Luck guys! Welcome to the 3G world! I hope it is also possible to make international video calls from the Uk to the Philippines! This is the moment I’ve been waiting for!

Comment Number:
12
Written by:
Anonymous
Posted on:
6/6/2006 at 1:44 pm

hi… i won’t plug in my comment because, i’d ask a question… my dad sent me an n70 mobile form england. til now, i could not use it because i can’t have it open line… i don’t know how and i don’t know why… i went to globe telecom and smart… they can’t openline the phone… so how can i use it then… can anyone help?

Comment Number:
13
Written by:
Ryan
Posted on:
8/3/2006 at 10:28 pm

Go to any cellphone stations near you. They can do that, I think…

3G reached bataan since smart activated that service. Galing! I am using 6630 at that time.

I use nseries at this time. haha!

For those who want to enjoy High Speed Internet using smart 3G.. I suggest that you choose (Opera Mini) instead of (Web) You may download that for free…

If you use (Web) definitely you will not be satisfied because you only browse yahoo, click the city with default mobile pages and other sites will not be downloaded because most websites contains large files. Imagine that its 10.00 per 30 minutes.. sayang..

On the other hand (Opera Mini) will compressed those files before the page has been seen on your opera browser…

One more thing! smart convinced me that they are the leading wireless company in the philippines… Im a loyal Globe subscriber kasi…

Galing naman.. I am able to use it on my laptop..

It helps me a lot especially sa campus!

Comment Number:
14
Written by:
cris
Posted on:
2/18/2007 at 9:10 pm

hirap magpa-openline, magpapaopen line ka nga sa cellphone, may bayad naman at ang mahal paH.