Hello! It's my first time doing an unboxing and I hope this won't be the last one. ( This is not
We have an internet connection at home which is the ACCTN(?) cable (now Converge). Since I was hired in Makati and I stay at my uncle's house in Pasay during the weekdays and I go home on the weekends in Angeles City, Pampanga, and I wanted to stay online or connected to my boyfriend, I decided to get my own pocket wifi.
My uncle's family uses SUN pocket wifi. My room is on the 2nd floor and they stay at the 3rd floor. It's pretty hard for me to connect to their wifi and it's very slow most of the time. But that's another story. So during my first week of stay there, (August 18-22), I had plans of getting one.
I researched, read blogs, reviews, compared the products of SUN, Smart and Globe. By the way, I am a Globe subscriber. Until last week, August 24, I purchased my own pocket wifi.
Here's my experience at Smart center.
Going to the mall, I wasn't still sure what I will get but I headed instantly to Smart. I was there by 4 P.M and I asked about the product that I will get. The salesladies are very kind and are willing on entertain you. I had second thoughts so I said I will first check out SUN and Globe. To make the long story short, I finally decided to get Smart's. ( They were on sale!)
They let me filled-up a form and they gave me a number. There were just 2 sales staff and they took ages! The number was I think 58 and I was at number 68! I waited for an hour and a half already and the number is just at 59! Luckily, the guard helped me process my application. He headed at the backroom and he said to wait. After 5-10 minutes, there was a lady who was assigned for my application and processed everything. So it was so much faster. If I waited, I have stayed there for 3 hours or more!
About the pocket wifi:
Based on Smart's website: http://www1.smart.com.ph/bro/products/pocket-wifi
Pocket Wifi Plan 999
Inclusive Hours: Unlimited
Connection: Via WIFI. Connects up to 10 devices
Speed: 12 Mbps (where service is available, minimum GPRS speed of 12-48Kbps at 80% service reliability rate)
Requirements: I just needed one valid I.D so I just presented my TIN.
Cost: P1,500 (for the device - one time fee) + P999 (for the first month)
Monthy: P899
No lock-in period! Which means I can stop or unsubscribe anytime I want and make it a prepaid plan.
I think that this is a good deal.
Here are the photos.
Comes with:
- Pocket WIFI device
- Sim
- Charger (with very short cable)
- The Guide, which will help you change the passwords. What you basically need is in the guide.
I found it slightly hard to charge. I saw it charging (the battery bars where moving) but after a few minutes when I looked at it again, the bars are not moving. I turned it off, and saw a big battery bars moving and I let it that way. I looked at it on the 3rd hour of charging and the battery is complete. It won't show you that it has been fully charged so I assumed it was.
There's a button at the top which you can browse some settings like the following:
- Device Information
- 2D Barcode
- WPS
- Data Roaming
- InternetWLAN
- Fast boot
We have an internet connection at home which is the ACCTN(?) cable (now Converge). Since I was hired in Makati and I stay at my uncle's house in Pasay during the weekdays and I go home on the weekends in Angeles City, Pampanga, and I wanted to stay online or connected to my boyfriend, I decided to get my own pocket wifi.
My uncle's family uses SUN pocket wifi. My room is on the 2nd floor and they stay at the 3rd floor. It's pretty hard for me to connect to their wifi and it's very slow most of the time. But that's another story. So during my first week of stay there, (August 18-22), I had plans of getting one.
I researched, read blogs, reviews, compared the products of SUN, Smart and Globe. By the way, I am a Globe subscriber. Until last week, August 24, I purchased my own pocket wifi.
Here's my experience at Smart center.
Going to the mall, I wasn't still sure what I will get but I headed instantly to Smart. I was there by 4 P.M and I asked about the product that I will get. The salesladies are very kind and are willing on entertain you. I had second thoughts so I said I will first check out SUN and Globe. To make the long story short, I finally decided to get Smart's. ( They were on sale!)
They let me filled-up a form and they gave me a number. There were just 2 sales staff and they took ages! The number was I think 58 and I was at number 68! I waited for an hour and a half already and the number is just at 59! Luckily, the guard helped me process my application. He headed at the backroom and he said to wait. After 5-10 minutes, there was a lady who was assigned for my application and processed everything. So it was so much faster. If I waited, I have stayed there for 3 hours or more!
About the pocket wifi:
Based on Smart's website: http://www1.smart.com.ph/bro/products/pocket-wifi
Pocket Wifi Plan 999
Inclusive Hours: Unlimited
Connection: Via WIFI. Connects up to 10 devices
Speed: 12 Mbps (where service is available, minimum GPRS speed of 12-48Kbps at 80% service reliability rate)
Requirements: I just needed one valid I.D so I just presented my TIN.
Cost: P1,500 (for the device - one time fee) + P999 (for the first month)
Monthy: P899
No lock-in period! Which means I can stop or unsubscribe anytime I want and make it a prepaid plan.
I think that this is a good deal.
Here are the photos.
Comes with:
- Pocket WIFI device
- Sim
- Charger (with very short cable)
- The Guide, which will help you change the passwords. What you basically need is in the guide.
I found it slightly hard to charge. I saw it charging (the battery bars where moving) but after a few minutes when I looked at it again, the bars are not moving. I turned it off, and saw a big battery bars moving and I let it that way. I looked at it on the 3rd hour of charging and the battery is complete. It won't show you that it has been fully charged so I assumed it was.
There's a button at the top which you can browse some settings like the following:
- Device Information
- 2D Barcode
- WPS
- Data Roaming
- InternetWLAN
- Fast boot
You can see the initial SSID name (wifi name) and password. Also the log in details on the I.P address which I blurred out. In case you reset it, you will see it all here and also on the Starter Guide.
On the screen itself, you can see the details of the pocket wifi.
- The name and password
- Type of connection if it's 3g, 2g, etc..
- Battery life
- No. of device connected
- and the other details I mentioned above when you click the button at the top.
My verdict:
Using it on the following locations: ( Rating from 1 as the lowest and 5 as the highest)
- SM Clark in Angeles City, Pampanga (Dau/ Balibago) = 5/5 (used youtube and kakaotalk) (August 24)
- SM Clark to our home (30 minutes away going south) = 4.5/5 (used kakao talk) (August 24)
- Home in Angeles City, Pampanga = 4 ~ 5/5 (connected my phone and laptop, watched videos on my laptop and on my phone. In the afternoon of Aug. 25, at the back of our house, the connection was kinda slow. Rating is 3.5/5) (August 24)
- Dau Bus Terminal & SM Pampanga Terminal = 2~3/5 (It was raining so hard at night) (August 24)
- Paseo De Roxas, Makati City (BPI Head Office) = 4.5~5/5 (Used it for the whole weekday. Rain or Shine) (August 24-30)
- Villamor Airbase, Pasay City = 5/5 (Used it for the whole weekday. Rain or Shine)(August 24-30)
- Five Star Bus Terminal to Dau Terminal (via NLEX) = 4.5/5 (Used it my whole travel. Pasay to Ayala to Guadalupe to Cubao to SM North way. I watched videos during the travel and it stops and loads for 5 seconds. There are times that it loads fast.) (August 25)
- NLEX = 4.5/5 (Used it my whole travel. I watched videos during the travel and it stops and loads for 5 seconds. There are times that it loads fast.) (August 25)
- Dau Bus Terminal to our home in Angeles City= 4.5~5/5(August 25)
And that's how I rated the Smart Pocket Wifi.
Overall, I like it. It fast, easy to use, easy to customize.
Share your thoughts or questions about this product by commenting below!
~Bianca ♥
