MyBRO or SmartBRO Throttling Down To 0.20Mbps, WTF! Fair Usage Policy Sucks!

PLDT's MyBRO or SmartBRO's Fair Usage Policy sucks!

Last night, I was downloading at 200kbps but, when I woke up this morning, my download speed dropped down to 20kbps and it sucks. The good news is, it's already the last day of the month and, that means, I'll get back my normal download speed of 200kbps tomorrow.

It still sucks though because I'll have to endure this extremely slow internet speed for an entire day. Now, that's an entire day of slow YouTube viewing, slow GMail access, slow Blogger access, slow Facebook access, etc. In other words, it's an entire day of slow internet browsing.

Yes, PLDT's MyBRO or SmartBRO's Fair Usage Policy sucks!

Throttled Down My Internet Speed

Last month, PLDT's MyBRO or SmartBRO throttled down my internet speed in the first week of the month. It was freaking insane because it was too freaking early. It was also an indication that the limit was extremely low. I have no idea what the number is but some people are claiming that they have reached almost 60GB of downloaded data before they were throttled down by PLDT's MyBRO or SmartBRO.

This month, it took PLDT's MyBRO or SmartBRO almost an entire month to throttle down my internet speed which was great but it doesn't mean it sucks less. As long as PLDT's MyBRO or SmartBRO has this un-Fair Usage Policy in effect, it will forever suck and, the only thing that will change that is, if they'll reconsider removing it or even updating it to the satisfaction of their paying customers.

0.20Mbps Is Too Freaking Low

0.20Mbps is too freaking low. In fact, it's so low that it takes me up to 10 minutes just to open my Gmail account. If PLDT can't or is unwilling to remove this un-Fair Usage Policy that they suddenly imposed on their loyal and paying subscribers then they should at least increase it to 0.80Mbps for those with a 2Mbps plan.

We are paying subscribers! Seriously! They're too incompetent to catch all these illegal connections that are congesting their network and, what do they do, they punish us paying subscribers. Put a stop to all illegal connections and that will free a ton of traffic from your network.

Honestly, what PLDT is doing is, it's forcing its subscribers to drop their subscriptions and opt to connect illegally. This is currently happening because why would people pay when they can connect illegally specially now that PLDT chose to burden its subscribers with this un-Fair Usage Policy.

Say NO To PLDT's MyBRO/SmartBRO Un-Fair Usage Policy

If you're a MyBRO or SmartBRO subscriber and you think this so called Fair Usage Policy is UNFAIR then please sign this online petition, https://www.change.org/ph/mga-petisyon/no-to-smart-pldt-fair-use-policy-trash-the-fair-use-policy.

You can also file a complaint at the National Telecommunications Commissions by filling up the form in this page, http://www.ntc.gov.ph/complaintpage2.php.

To PLDT, don't punish your subscribers with this un-Fair Usage Policy. If you truly want to free your network from congestion then you should go after illegal connections instead. If not then you're only forcing them to drop their subscriptions and connect illegally as well.

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WTF! SmartBRO Or MyBRO, Fair Usage Policy Is Not Fair At All

A few months ago, I dialed *1888 on my Android Phone. It connected me to SmartBRO's Customer Service Hotline where I was able to talk to a Customer Service Representative (CSR). The reason why I wanted to talk to a SmartBRO CSR was to ask one question and that question was, "does SmartBRO has a monthly bandwidth limit"?

The CSR gave me a quick and simple answer and the answer that was given to me was, "NO"!

Last week, my internet connection speed suddenly became extremely slow. I didn't took notice of it because SmartBRO likes to perform unscheduled updates or maintenance to their system.

Yesterday, my internet connection speed was still very, very slow so I decided to contact SmartBRO's Customer Service Hotline. After pressing all these buttons, the last thing that I heard was a recorded message that said something like, "Good day. You've reached your allowable volume usage for this month. For more information about MyBRO's Fair Usage Policy please visit http://pldthome.com/mybrofup".

I can't remember the exact words but I think it's close enough.

I was very, very surprised to hear the recorded message because it mentioned "allowable volume usage". What the hell is this allowable volume usage? Well, it has something to do with bandwidth limits and, as far as I know, SmartBRO doesn't limit bandwidth use and, when I asked a CSR about it, the answer given to me was NO.

I tried many, many times to talk to a SmartBRO CSR but the option to talk to one of them was no longer available in the Customer Service Hotline. I tried all the options but none of them connected me to a living and breathing CSR.

Today, I went to a nearby Smart Office and complained about it. The person I talked to confirmed the newly implemented Fair Usage Policy but, when I asked about my monthly allowable volume limit or monthly bandwidth limit, the answer I got was very unsatisfactory.

I went home dissatisfied because I never got any information about my monthly allowable volume or bandwidth limit from Smart. For some reason, the staff or people handling the customers complaints and problems have no idea as well.

To find out SmartBRO's newly implemented allowable volume usage or bandwidth limit, I search Google and found it. According to this post titled Smart Bro Canopy (myBro) Slow Connection (2013), SmartBRO's monthly bandwidth allocation per user is only 15GB. WTF!

15GB a month is very, very small. If you look at closely then Globe Tattoo's 3GB/5GB daily bandwidth allocation is much, much better compared to SmartBRO. Seriously, if Globe can offer their subscribers 5GB daily then why can't SmartBRO or MyBRO offer us something much better. Better yet, why even implement this Fair Usage Policy when SmartBRO existed without it for many, many years.

I don't mind having this Fair Usage Policy but SmartBRO or MyBRO should at least make it fair for everyone specially the old subscribers like me. 15GB a month is extremely small. They should at least offer us something like 8GB - 12GB a day not this ridiculous15GB a month.

Anyway, if you are a SmartBRO user like me and you also find this 15 GB montly limit UNFAIR then please sign this Online Petition titled No to SMART/PLDT FAIR USE Policy: Trash the Fair Use Policy.

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My SmartBRO Canopy Got Hacked

Last week, my internet connection suddenly went haywire. It was timing out like a madman and because of that my internet connection was very rocky. This made downloading and uploading files bigger than 1 MB impossible.

When this happened, I was receiving new images to work on from my employer in Australia. I needed to process and return the processed or edited images back the next day but, because of my rocky internet connection, I failed to do my job.

Fortunately, my employer or at least the person who was working with me understood my problem but, for that week, I wasn't given anymore images to work on because of my internet connection problem.

I called Smart's Customer Service Hotline and reported my problem. The customer service representative or CSR said my canopy was misaligned and that was causing the rocky or intermittent internet connection. I was given a service request number and was asked to wait 24 hours.

Unfortunately, my internet connection didn't get better. After calling them back a few more times, a CSR scheduled me for a visit from their technician but I'll have to wait the day after the next because they don't have any technicians close to my area.

A few hours later, my internet connection suddenly went dead. It was totally out and there was nothing I can do about. When I called to report it, I was simply told to wait because technicians were already scheduled to come.

 Two days later, SmartBRO's contracted technicians arrived at my place. They tested my internet connection and even brought down my canopy. When I asked them what happened, they told me that my canopy was hacked.

I also learned from them that it was very, very common with SmartBRO canopy subscribers here in San Pablo City.

I asked them how it was possible, they told me that those who are doing the hacking were previous SmartBRO contracted technicians. They even said that one of these hackers is in our neighborhood but they didn't tell me who.

This particular experience made me think about ditching SmartBRO because I was no longer comfortable using their service. If my canopy was hacked once then what will prevent it from getting hacked again?

According to the technicians, putting a password will prevent my canopy from illegal access or remote access but, as far as I know, my canopy was already password protected.

After the technician's left, my internet connection was working again. I was again able to download images from my employer but it was still not perfect because my connection was still timing out regularly. The only difference than before was, it wasn't terrible enough to drastically affect my internet usage.

Anyway, the thought of getting hacked again still looms inside my head and the only real solution that I can think of is to just abandon my SmartBRO connection.

Now, the problem with my SmartBRO subscription is that I'm locked in a 24 months contract and I still have 11 months left. Unfortunately, after getting my canopy hacked by hackers, I'm no longer happy nor comfortable with their service.

I've been a SmartBRO subscriber for more than 3 years and I've had good and bad experiences with them but this canopy hacking problem is very hard to overlook specially now that it happened to me.

By the way, I googled "smartbro canopy hacking" and there are websites and forums that are teaching people how to do it.

If you are a SmartBRO canopy subscriber, will you feel comfortable knowing that your account or your canopy can be hacked by hackers and used by someone else? Seriously, SmartBRO should find a way to prevent people from hacking their paying subscribers canopy.

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