Carrier Philippine vacation - carrier options?

[rui no onna]

I'm wondering if anyone here is familiar with carrier options for the iPad in the Philippines. I have an iPad Air and iPad 4 (Verizon) which should both be compatible with Smart and Globe LTE (at least according to Apple's website). I saw that Smart currently has a promotion of PhP995/30 days for unlimited LTE. Does Smart allow Personal Hotspot on that plan? Also, which carrier has better coverage (Metro Manila area, in particular)?

Thanks!

 

[MJedi]

I'm not sure about LTE, but I was able to use my iPad 3 on Smart 3G two years ago. And I did use Personal Hotspot on a prepaid plan. They probably will allow it on the prepaid LTE promotion you saw. It does look like the iPad Air supports the frequencies of Smart and Globe LTE according to Apple. Also, Smart has the better coverage than Globe in Metro Manila.

Hope this helps.

 

[rui no onna]

I'm not sure about LTE, but I was able to use my iPad 3 on Smart 3G two years ago. And I did use Personal Hotspot on a prepaid plan. They probably will allow it on the prepaid LTE promotion you saw. It does look like the iPad Air supports the frequencies of Smart and Globe LTE according to Apple. Also, Smart has the better coverage than Globe in Metro Manila.

Hope this helps.

Very helpful. Thanks!

 

[at0miq]

I'm wondering if anyone here is familiar with carrier options for the iPad in the Philippines. I have an iPad Air and iPad 4 (Verizon) which should both be compatible with Smart and Globe LTE (at least according to Apple's website). I saw that Smart currently has a promotion of PhP995/30 days for unlimited LTE. Does Smart allow Personal Hotspot on that plan? Also, which carrier has better coverage (Metro Manila area, in particular)?

Thanks!

Hi, I'm from the Philippines.. living in Metro Manila. Globe and Smart are the two carriers/telecoms here in Manila that offer unlimited LTE and both telecoms cost the same - Php995/30 days. Both telecoms as well support Personal Hotspot.
As for the better coverage, it basically depends on where you'll be residing here in Manila. If you'll be staying at Makati, Globe is okay.

Just buy a prepaid SIM in either Globe/Smart stores and you're good to go.

 

[Mrs. Jobs]

I visit Manila (Makati) often. My experience is that coverage and speed is not good at all with either carrier, to the point where I would often be forced to go to wifi spot in order to get connection at all.

 

[rui no onna]

Hi, I'm from the Philippines.. living in Metro Manila. Globe and Smart are the two carriers/telecoms here in Manila that offer unlimited LTE and both telecoms cost the same - Php995/30 days. Both telecoms as well support Personal Hotspot.

Good to know, thanks! Another question, do you know how to enable the surfing plans on the iPad? Because in the US, the Messages app is limited to iMessage only. You can't use it for SMS.

As for the better coverage, it basically depends on where you'll be residing here in Manila. If you'll be staying at Makati, Globe is okay.

Staying in Quezon City (Eastwood) since that's where my grandmother lives.