An anonymous fellow commented on my article “How to unlock your Huawei 3G USB modem.” Below is what he/she posted on my article:
“I use a ‘Redbox’ Globe tattoo. It is called such as it came from a red box. Its a Huawei e1552, 3G/HSDPA-capable modem that performs well anywhere. It even reached a max of 2mbps (using the Supersurf service of Globe-the 1-day no limits {almost-it has an 800mb/day LIMIT} surfing service), and 1mbps (using the tunneling service Tor++) But the thing is, it can't be unlocked. I can't use a Sun SIM (in some areas, I detect a Sun signal in 3G. This will work well with those using the SmartBROKE kit (almost all mobile broadband users I know find that SmartBROKE sucks). For Sun users, its good if you're from Metro Manila or in urbanized areas and will travel in the province.”
@Anonymous :)
Unlocking the E1552 modem
The next time I met my sister who uses Globe Tattoo, which I believe is the same “Redbox” variant you’re referring to, she asked me to have her modem unlocked. In her case, she wants to have it unlocked so she can use her Globe Tattoo modem with a Sun Broadband SIM or SmartBro SIM card. I tried to unlock the E1552 modem the way I did with my E160… and I failed. There’s no problem with the unlock code I got from the website. What I got after inserting the Sun Broadband SIM is a popup message that says, “action not allowed.” The thing is, the wise people from Globe might have disabled or used up the 10 attempts for unlocking the modem. Haven’t heard of any work around yet.
Globe unlimited 1-day service
Globe calls it “unlimited” for marketing purposes only. To be fair, it is unlimited if you’re going to surf the net lightly which involves opening web sites and not downloading large chunks of files. But nonetheless, it sucks to have an unlimited service only to find out that you have in reality a 800MB limit. I learned about this when I downloaded a 700MB movie in just 25 minutes and then after a while got a message that I reached my 800MB limit. Then my connection went ppfffttt. The speed though was remarkable compared to other 3G providers and so I went to a Globe center and asked whether their postpaid unlimited scheme also have a cap. To my dismay, the limit is set at 1GB per day. Not enough for heavy downloaders like me. Not switching to Globe anytime soon.
SmartBro, SmartBroke, SmartBulok
If you’re smart, you’re not going to go with SmartBro. This I learned a few years back when I used their canopy service. Back then, I usually get 15 percent of their advertised speeds. Surprisingly the other day, I looked at some SmartBro plans and I noticed that they have lowered their advertised speeds. And if I apply my 15 percent expectation of the service, I might be better off with a dial-up service.
Speed at 2Mbps
May I know where were you and what time of the day/night when you reached 2Mbps? Because if that was during the day, then it is awesome! The E1552 I believe is newer than the E160, however the E160 is also capable of reaching up to 3.5Mbps. Wireless connectivity is really a tricky business. Unpredictable number of clients in an area tends to degrade service but telcos are partly to blame too. Most of their installations are not optimized to handle heavy traffic; their slow back haul links are to blame.
Tor++
I haven’t used tunneling as I am much satisfied with Sun Broadband. But I’ll definitely try it out and play with it in the future.
As of press time
Sun Broadband is still the best 3G service versus cost and data limit. Sun Broadband is, for me, truly the “unlimited service.” Globe may have the largest coverage and the fastest network but they suck because of data limitations. If you’re a heavy downloader like me, you can leave your rig after midnight ‘till morning and enjoy 200+ kBps torrent download speeds (B is to bytes: b is to bits), which you won’t get with Globe.
Good news or very very bad news
Sun Broadband subscribers’ won’t be happy with current developments though. Sun was acquired by Smart recently. Will the service stay that way? Or dark days are upon us? Our last hope is Sen. Joker Arroyo but if he fails… Good thing my lock-in period with Sun is about to expire! Kampai!
