Review

Review: Wi-Tribe Plan 998 2Mbps Five Days Speed Test Drive

MANILA Philippines (GMT+8) – Don’t take me wrong about posting this Wi-Tribe speed test review if in the end of this article I’d become too obvious and too biased. I am only writing this article to share with everybody my own Internet connection review based on my location and user-experience. One of these days I will post a short troubleshooting guide on how to fix a slow Internet connection problem with Wi-Tribe 4G – mostly for post-paid subscribers only – a set of troubleshooting guide straight from Wi-Tribe support team. For now, this article will solely focus on testing the speed of Wi-Tribe Plan 998 which promises a speed of Internet connection up to 2Mbps for 5 days.  This test I made started on Monday, May 07, 2012. And from this daily tests, you will see that the tables and this whole article will be updated until the end of this work-week (Mon-Fri) to give us all at least a clear view of how fast really is the Wi-Tribe Plan 998 2Mbps Internet connection.

Update: I thought I will get better connection when we relocated last April 2013 to Quezon City. However to my dismay the signal is even more worse. I only have one blue light signifying that the signal is way too low. My neighbor on the same compound is also experiencing the same issue to the point that he moved his Wi-Tribe modem outside of his window – and only achieved 3 bars. I decided to surrender and finally gave up my subscription. Right now, I am happy back with BayanTel DSL.

[note]

I have now posted some troubleshooting tips on how you can check your and fix your slow Internet connection using Wi-Tribe 4G – How To Troubleshoot Wi-Tribe Philippines Slow Connection.

[/note]

Wi-Tribe Post Paid Plan 998

The test that I will be doing will be done on a daily basis – on off-peak as early as 05:30AM – 06:00AM and another during peak hours starting from 8:00PM – 11:00PM.  I will lay it all out on a spreadsheet below. But before that, here are the specs of my desktop PC and my location.

  • Operating System: Windows 7
  • CPU: Intel Pentuim (R) Dual Core CPU E5400 @2.70GHz 32-bit OS
  • Memory Capacity: 2GB
  • LAN Card: Atheros Internal LAN card AR8121/AR8113/AR8114 PCI-E Ethernet Controller
  • Browsers: Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer
  • Location: Tayuman Sta. Cruz Manila
  • Subscribed to Plan 998 2Mbps
  • Modem provided: Motorola 2.5GHz WiMAX 4G Modem

According to the Technical Support when I phoned then while troubleshooting my connection last week, the closest switch that’s available from my area is somewhere at Rizal Avenue which is a few blocks from my location.

Initially, the decision to acquire Wi-Tribe 4G connection services was never really my first choice; apparently it is the only choice I have aside from Destiny cable Internet (exclusive to where I am living as of the moment). The place where I am staying right now doesn’t allow any cables lying around their condo units so I opted to use and try wireless Internet.  I have been a DSL (wired) post paid subscriber for many years and I have already tried PLDT and Bayantel. So far I am somehow more satisfied with the connection I had before as compared to what I have now with Wi-Tribe – so far.

My Plan 998 subscription started on May 01, 2012 when I finally decided to give Wi-Tribe a shot. I asked them to conduct a demo connection on my place for me to check how stable and fast is the Internet connection. Prior to my request, I have already tried their pre-paid Wi-Tribe USB dongle stick when I was still living at Quezon City, unfortunately, I couldn’t get at least 1Mbps even during their off-peak hours (I used the 2Mbps pre-paid load) – a total waste of money. Also, I am not that really confident and I don’t see that wireless connection is reliable here in the Philippines because of the messy infrastructure we have here. Moreover, I don’t think that a thorough visibility study was made by the aforementioned company.  I maybe wrong, but I have my own proof if in these 5 days testing Wi-Tribe fails.

[warning]

If you have any intentions of pursuing on availing Wi-Tribe’s wireless services (prepaid/post-paid), then I urge and recommend you to ask their agent to give you a demo test first on your place – especially for those tech-consumers who will avail one of their post-paid plans.  You might end up regretting it. And by the way, you only have until May 15 before their “Zero Lock-In” promo ends. This only means that you can terminate your post-paid subscription anytime – sounds fishy to me.

Wi-Tribe allows tech-consumers to buy their post-paid modem/USB straight from their shops/retailers without physical testing – which can put you on the edge because you really don’t know if the Internet signal will be that sufficient enough to provide you a fast and reliable connection.

[/warning]

I have two tables below, one done for the morning testing which is “supposedly” the off-peak hours which means that there are less users connected to the Internet; And another in the evening where it is expected to be the peak hours and lots of Internet users are hooked.

[note]

Note to the Readers:

The tests I made below, I ensured that my desktop computer was freshly restarted and there are no application(s) opened that might connect to the Internet. It’s all about my computer hooked with Wi-Tribe Internet connection.

[/note]

 

Wi-Tribe 5-day Internet Speed Benchmarking

(Morning)

TestsMonTueWedThuFri
TestsMonTueWedThuFri
PING Test google.com0% Loss
Min=126ms
Max=135ms
Ave=130ms
[Details]
0% Loss
Min=132ms
Max=146ms
Ave=139ms
[Details]
0% Loss
Min=103ms
Max=111ms
Ave=107ms
[Details]
0% Loss
Min=208ms
Max=253ms
Ave=233ms
[Details]
0% Loss
Min=78ms
Max=132ms
Ave=105ms
[Details]
Tracert google.com14 HOPS
[Details]
15 HOPS
[Details]
14 HOPS
[Details]
14 HOPS
[Details]
14 HOPS
[Details]
Netstat TestTCP = 40
UDP = 13
[Details]
TCP = 28
UDP = 13
[Details]
TCP = 30
UDP = 13
[Details]
TCP = 30
UDP = 13
[Details]
TCP = 38
UDP = 13
[Details]
Speedtest Domestic2.33Mbps
[Details]
0.50Mbps
[Details]
1.44Mbps
[Details]
0.55Mbps
[Details]
2.10Mbps
[Details]
Speedtest International1.46Mbps
[Details]
0.13Mbps
[Details]
1.51Mbps
[Details]
0.38Mbps
[Details]
0.86Mbps
[Details]
Signal StrengthFULL
[Details]
FULL
[Details]
FULL
[Details]
FULL
[Details]
FULL
[Details]
RSSI-56
[Details]
-57
[Details]
-55
[Details]
-57
[Details]
-59
[Details]
CINR34
[Details]
35
[Details]
36
[Details]
36
[Details]
35
[Details]
BS ID0956b
[Details]
0956b
[Details]
0956b
[Details]
0956b
[Details]
0956b
[Details]
My VerdictVERY GOODSLOWGOODSLOWGOOD

 

Wi-Tribe 5-day Internet Speed Benchmarking

(Evening)

TestsMonTueWedThuFri
TestsMonTueWedThuFri
PING Test google.com15% Loss
Min=133ms
Max=248ms
Ave=149ms
[Details]
0% Loss
Min=88ms
Max=173ms
Ave=111ms
[Details]
25% Loss
Min=474ms
Max=546ms
Ave=494ms
[Details]
20% Loss
Min=205ms
Max=536ms
Ave=405ms
[Details]
10% Loss
Min=463ms
Max=458ms
Ave=468ms
[Details]
Tracert google.com14 HOPS
[Details]
14 HOPS
[Details]
No Data14 HOPS
[Details]
14 HOPS
[Details]
Netstat TestTCP = 28
UDP = 13
[Details]
TCP = 58
UDP = 13
[Details]
TCP = 58
UDP = 13
[Details]
TCP = 37
UDP = 13
[Details]
TCP = 35
UDP = 14
[Details]
Speedtest DomesticN/A Mbps
[Details]
0.08Mbps
[Details]
0.13Mbps
[Details]
0.13Mbps
[Details]
0.12Mbps
[Details]
Speedtest International0.13Mbps
[Details]
0.18Mbps
[Details]
0.18Mbps
[Details]
0.11Mbps
[Details]
0.86Mbps
[Details]
Signal StrengthFULL
[Details]
FULL
[Details]
FULL
[Details]
FULL
[Details]
FULL
[Details]
RSSI-59
[Details]
-55
[Details]
-56
[Details]
-57
[Details]
-60
[Details]
CINR35
[Details]
32
[Details]
31
[Details]
31
[Details]
31
[Details]
BS ID0956b
[Details]
0956b
[Details]
0956b
[Details]
0956b
[Details]
0956b
[Details]
My VerdictPOOR
And
SLOW
FAIRLY
SLOW
SLOWSLOWSLOW

I will be updating this until I reached the 5th day of testing. By the end of the testing, you decide if you will still want to give Wi-Tribe a shot. As for me, if Wi-Tribe Philippines won’t do something about this Internet slow connectivity then I will be forced to move into another Internet provider and this time wired DSL connection.

My Own Verdict

Do I really have to say it when the tables above already shows it? In my 5 days user-experience using Wi-Tribe connection, the overall connectivity is “SLOW“.  I was actually phoned by someone from Wi-Tribe trying to isolate the Internet speed connection problem, apparently, I was in the office. He was offering me some assistance by sending a technical person to troubleshoot what’s causing this slowness. I won’t give anymore the details of the whole discussion we had but I told him that I need to finish first this data collection before I decide when I could invite them in our house (let’s say it is because I am at work during weekdays and out of town on weekends).  They even confirmed our discussion through Twitter.

Twitter Discussion

Here are some of the questions I asked them (since I called their support on May 04 and from the one who phoned me on May 10) from which their answer simply implies that they believe that there’s nothing wrong with their system.

Why was your demo connection fast, reliable and stable but as soon as my subscription plan was activated – it dropped as if I am using a dial-up connection? – They claim that it shouldn’t be the case because they claim that their modem is connected also where I am connected now. I still didn’t know that time that it can be checked by looking into the modem’s BS ID.

Why is it I am only getting an acceptable connection speed during late night until to the brick of dawn and everything else is so sluggish? – I really didn’t get a clear and straight answer from them. The support was telling me that all subscribers are all connected into what they call “shared Internet”. So, does this mean that pre-paid and post paid subscribers are hooked into one same antenna within our vicinity? The support was also telling about that it is possible that one of the users is heavily streaming or downloading over the Internet. This is really unacceptable, first they should have monitored this. Another, if this is the case then I think I should be using a lower plan and hooked into the Internet early in the morning and get as much bandwidth – but of course I don’t want others to experience this as well.

Why is your Internet connection so slow? – The answer was simply a question back to me – How slow is your Internet connection and where are you testing it, my reply is from speedtest.net one test for domestic and another International – U.S.. I was answered by their support with another question asking me why am I testing it against International server just to check. According to her, I should be testing it on local servers only – this is another sign of their support’s lack of knowledge on how Internet works. Any URL you type in the address bar is equivalent into an IP address that goes out int the Internet cloud (this part is out of PH) and determines where is your is that DNS belongs to.  Here’s an example – http://www.pep.ph – do a simple tracert from your computer and here’s mine.

PEP.PH Tracert

As you can see, before it reaches the website from which you think is a local website, it still went out to US before it landed back to the website.

I will give Wi-Tribe a chance by inviting their technical personnel to do their own thing and I hope they could fix it.

 

Here’s another funny thing. We are all aware of this reputable website where we can test the speed of our Internet/DSL connection with graphical representation through Speedtest.net.  This is the tool I am using to test the speed of my Internet connection. Wi-Tribe have the same speed test tool on their website through this link. Look at the difference between the two results and be the judge how Wi-Tribe is showing us their Internet speed test data.

Speedtest.net Internet Speed Test Result
Speedtest.net Internet Speed Test Result
Wi-Tribe Speed Test Tool
Wi-Tribe Speed Test Tool

51 Comments

  1. lol they system is changing your IP.. first i got a trace of my IP near Mandaluyong which is correct. few months later my IP is based on Mindanao.. wtf.. then now its on Pasay.. They are doing something weird with the ports and making the routing long.. i think they want us to upgrade that badly

    Reply
    1. I just wish that if their subscribers upgrade their plan, Wi-Tribe will provide what is expected from them – a reliable, fast, and consistent connection.

      Reply
    2. Bro, almost 1 year na ako gumagamit ng wi-tribe. yes, nung first 3 to 5months it works better. One time nakalimutan ko bayaran pinutol nila connection ko after ko binayaran nagbago na IP Address ko, so from makati which is fuckin wrong cause i’m from valenzuela, it was based somewhere in visayas, after that they kept changing my IP address and i got slower internet connection as well. Streaming’s so slow, kahit youtube you need to wait until tomorrow before you can watch some short video. And that 2mbps is the most uncommon lies I’ve ever heard. Halos araw2 nasa speed test ako just to monitor the speed, it was annoying. Next month I’ll go for PLDT MyDSL and throw that Wi-Tribe away from my house.

      Reply
  2. Hi I just saw your post and i wished I saw it before I got the plan for wi- tribe, I also got the 2mbps plan but have yet to see the speed reach that high. I can’t get through skype or messenger to talk to my family abroad and recently my internet slowed down to a screeching halt and when I called their tech support regarding the problem they said that I am a heavy user and according to their fair usage policy they have the right to automatically cut my internet speed until I can regulate my usage to the normal usage. When i asked them what is the limit, they said that they cannot disclose it. Suffice to say that every time you reach the limit, they cut you off and they can do that too because of the fair usage policy. Bear in mind that although they can’t tell you the limit, they can give you the amount of downloaded data for every single day that you’ve been getting their service. If I remember correctly, everytime you browse the internet, you download the page right? that would mean that every site that you’ve been to you’re just that much closer to reaching the limit of the fair usage policy.
    Just for the record, before getting this service I asked them if there was a limit to the things that I can download and they said none, and after 3 months of constantly complaining about the speed, the fair usage policy pops up.
    I think the reason for the slow internet speed is because we’re all reaching the limit and we have no idea how big it is.According to the customer rep that I talked to a few days ago, he said that it’ll take a few days before the computer can check whether or not your have regulated your internet use. So the question is when will I get the speed back? I am now using another internet service just so that I can check my emails and write about their deplorable service.
    Only in the Philippines….

    Reply
    1. @john, Actually according to Wi-Tribe once a user was identified as a heavy streamer or heavy user then the Wi-Tribe system automatically removes it from the pool and place them on another server along with other heavy users. In that server the connection speed, download and upload, is limited. In short, you will surely experience a degraded and slow connection.

      Reply
  3. Hi, i live in a condo, no windows, nasa gitna kasi ng building, naka witribe ako, okay sya for light browsing, pero youtube vids, torrents, even pdf files take forever to download.

    What do you recommend?

    Smart Wi-fi? PLDT myDSL lang pinagpipilian ko eh

    Reply
    1. @James, first my personal recommendation is for your to opt wired internet connection and as much as possible avoid wireless services. As per my research and personal experience it’s not everyday you’ll get a stable connection with wireless internet. Taking my test above for example, I was informed that the tower where I am connected is just in front of our house but I am not getting a stable connection thus not achieving 2Mbps at all.

      I haven’t tried Smart Wi-fi so I can’t comment on that. As for PLDT myDSL, I’ve tried their wired for a year and I haven’t experienced any connection problem from them unless their experiencing some system hard downtime. Another small issue I experienced with PLDT as compared with BayanTel which I had for 5 years is their support. I must say, BayanTel tech support is better and faster than PLDT.

      I suggest you roam around your area and check what’s their Internet connection and ask if the connection is OK. Good luck!

      Reply
  4. Wow this is really interesting and smartly written.. What are your inputs about globe or pldt? Have you heard of pldt 4g? I guess witribe has this new 4g stuff around. I live in pasig and would wish some recommendations from you.

    Reply
    1. I haven’t tried Globe yet. As for PLDT I have tried their myDSL plan and it’s not bad actually. I guess it’s because the service is wired. The only problem I have with PLDT is they came short in terms of support. Oh yeah, I forgot the service is not cheap. 🙂

      Reply
  5. Me too, I am so disappointed with their service. super bagal. 2 mbps din yung samin. mabilis daw ang connection. pero mahirap pala talaga maniwala agad lalo na kung magaling mambola na highest speed ang connection nila. e mas mabilis pa nga ang dial up namin nuon sa PLDT na worth hundreds lang. 11 na nga ng gabi mas ini expect ko na makakagamit ako ng maayos ng internet dahil may pasok sa araw.paputol putol ang connections ng WI TRIBE! hindi lang yun, pag umuulan halos hindi na sya makahanap ng signal. location ko pala FIlinvest East Cainta, Rizal.naglalaro lang sa isa, dalawa ang nahahagap nyang signal. knowing na nasa 2nd floor na halos nakalabas na sa window namin yung pangkuha ng signal. pero napaka poor ng service nila. ang napaka grabe pa dun, once na hindi ka lang makabayad sa kanila ng 1 month putol agad. pero ang connection service nila mag susuffer ang gagamit dahil hindi mo maenjoy, lalo na at mas mabagal pa sa dial up ang service nila. yun namang agent syempre ganado magpunta may pupunta para daw ayusin. tapos pag andyan na at nakita lang na walang signal at hindi maka konek tatawagan nya pa daw yung marunong sa pc na taga ayos nila. tapos maghihintay ka nanaman ulit dumating yung tech nila tapos after a few more days ganun nanaman ulit ang problema, alam mo yun, nakakaloko. tapos syempre hihingi pa sayo ng pamasahe yung agent na nagpunta sayo. o diba san ka pa? hay kaya nga aburido ako halos araw araw. kaya plan ko na din talagang tapusin nalang yung binayad namin then GOODBYE na sa WI TRIBE na HIGH SPEED KUNO! Bulok naman pala!

    Reply
  6. Hi! I have also opted to try wi tribe just a couple of days ago because of the convenience of having an internet connection as we have just recently moved to a new house. I have ran speed test and to my surprise I get a whooping 2mb above speed with a 2 digit ping which to me is very acceptable. However my disappointment falls on downloads and streams. Youtube is okay, but talking about video streaming thru other websites moreover torrents will never download at all. What do you think is the reason for this? The speeds are correct but the downloading even during the said off peak hours will still not do the trick. I will appreciate your insights. Thank you! 🙂

    Reply
    1. I think this is the trick they are doing, or maybe it is not a trick but this is what’s happening behind the Wi-Tribe modem we’re using. For each location where you use their services we as a subscribers are being connected into the nearest Wi-Fi services Wi-Tribe liaised. You can verify this trough Tracert command. There will be times that you’ll be hooked with Globe, Smart, Eastern Telecom, and many others and sometimes to Bayantel. They don’t have their own Telco that’s the first thing you have to bear in mind. The company buys bandwidth from these different ISPs. So I won’t be surprised if our connection will go up and down from time to time. I think they’ve optimized the connection to Google services like GMAIL, Google Search, YouTube and many others. But they’ve limited the connection on some other sites. It could be intentional because of their Internet Fair Usage policies since all of the users within the area are sharing the bandwidth. The unfortunate thing that is bound to happen is that if someone from your area using the same Wi-Tribe connectivity but paying a much lower plan gets the most of the bandwidth – this will pull your connection down even if you are paying the highest plan. And worst if the total bandwidth consumption you all have accumulated in that certain users, even if you are not a heavy user then you will be affected as well. Why? As I have said they only buy bandwidth from other ISPs so if the bandwidth they bought were all used up then what will they do (the NOC) will redirect some of the bandwidth from the next nearest antenna/source from your location which is intended for the users of that other location. Meaning, the users will be doubled, hence, a slower connection. This is what’s happening.

      Reply
      1. i wish i knew before hand that there was a catch with this UNLIMITED INTERNET no usage allowance/ no lock in period promo of them.. poor connection, plus agents will not let you know what you must know, what they all said in their promo was a lie. i only reached 900Kbps of bandwidth speed to far from what they told me atleast a minimum of 1.5Mbps… frequent disconnection they would not even tell you that you’ve reached the usage allowance, unless your the one to call them and ask then why the pages wont load..

        Reply
  7. Wi-Tribe Review: salesmen are liars. And you will never get your money back unless you bring a barangay tanod in their office along pasong tamo. I wish companies like this will burn in H3LL.

    Reply
  8. wi-tribe is very slow here in my location. The maximum speed I got from their own test link was only .21 Mbps and I couldn’t get higher than that considering I susbcribe to their plan 998 scheme.

    I switch to wi-tribe because I had problem with my previous broadband ISP. The tech support was always telling me I had a good signal in my cannopy antenna but the ISP never bothered to check their network.

    The truth is you can not trust a single ISP here in the Philippines. Those big bandwith they have is reserved only for those big companies that pays big and need to meet the subscribed bandwith while we, the home consumers, are left with a small one – configured at their own pleasure – to share with each other. They don’t really care since we really have no choice.

    Reply
  9. mga taga witribe ma awa naman kayo sa mga customer nyo… hindi kayo macontact at maka chat para mag complaint.. pero tuloy parin ang bayad ko sa inyo..mabagal ang internet ko parasa 1000 peoso na bibibayad ko sa inyo…sobrang bagal… verry slow… too slow… poor connection…upload test and upload test mabagal din

    Reply
  10. plan 998 2mb, free cpe wi-fi no lockin, unlimited internet

    tama yung review nag apply ako last nov. 28, 11 nung una ang bilis nakakatuwa sa youtube walang buffer 3bars signal ko pero after 1 week nagumpisa na problema mataas na ung 1mb hanggang sa bumaba pa habang tumatagal nakaka asar laluna ung alam mong niloloko ka at wala kang magawa dahil na test ko naman daw at pumayag akong ikabit. parang kasalanan ko pa masmasakit pa kasi na capped yung connection ko ng first week of the month at end of the month pa daw nila ibabalik malakas daw kc akong mag download.

    Reply
  11. tama po kayo mga sir at mam.. gumamit po kami ng plan 998witribe.. pero ang bagal nag switc kami sa plan 1998 ng witribe at may nagbago nman.. nagbago yung bill namin pero yung serviceis the same.. sudggest nman po ng matinong net connection small time internetshop po me..

    Reply
    1. @jbaylon, sad to here about that. From my experience and word of mouth from my other colleagues they could only recommend PLDT for Internet Cafes.

      Reply
      1. alam nyo po mga kaibigan, ang mga engineer ng witribe ay puro outing lang. hanapin nyo po sila sa facebook at makikita nyo na puro picturan, party, outing, etc sila. doon napupunta mga ibinabayad nyo. at sila silang mga engineer nagss*x sa loob ng kumpanya. kaya ganyan ang sistema at koneksyon nila. hindi na ko magtataka kung bat hanggang manila lang sila.

        Reply
  12. Hi I am from USA I also had witribe for 1 year
    I am proud of you and your so CLEAR examination
    Witribe is a SCAM. I am a Programmer actually,dotNET,C
    I develope software for many US companies

    WI TRIBE indeed is using technical systems procedures
    To LIE and. Diseieve you. Its not a “program” but
    Its how they Specifically configure there system.

    They should not be allowed in Philippines as its illegal business
    Everything 100% you said happen to me.
    If you google India were wi-tribe is from you will see
    the EXACT SCAM there as well.

    FAST demo POOR right after. And they train/keep call center
    Oblivious to the truth. Just to make money of filipnos. Ruthless

    SUN internet does a similar scam if u notice they use a DIFFERENT
    Modem at all the sun shops USB hub like one wich gives u good speed
    And the dinky modem you take home does not compare.

    Why do they not use the DINKY modem? Its all programigly designed
    To do EXACTLTY wht you posted. Delivery good speeds at there
    Point of Marketing/Interest so that u commit to paying

    Then run u in circles with usles tech support about disable firewall
    High usage, Temporary upgrade etc. there is 100 Million filipno
    (not all internet users but you do the math, they just scrw them
    batch by batch.. until people like u post these blogs and show the truth

    u know if thye were HONEST and said hey we have 300 peso intenrt
    for 20KBPS even thoug that SUCKS so many people wodul say
    “hey that’s cheap, and there HONEST about the speed “GET WITRIBE”
    but there such LIARS

    Reply
  13. I had my defective modem replaced today with a new one and the CSR told me I would be able to use my connection in 2-3 hours. It has been more than 3 hours and I still cannot use my internet connection and I am unable to reach a customer service rep via phone nor chat. When I try to login to my acct info on the wi-tribe website it tells me that my acct is no longer active. I just settled my entire balance yesterday 10/12/2012. If this issue will not get resolved then I would like to discontinue my service and receive a prorated refund. And I do not think that I should be charged the Early termination as my intention to disconnect is because of bad service. My modem was changed more than once because of defects, I was receiving a constant speed of less than 1mbps out of my previous plan of up to 4mbps prompting me to downgrade my service plan and I had previous problems with the bill not being sent to me more than once even when I already stated such concern more than once. my experience with Wi-tribe has been frustrating and tiresome. I am very dissatisfied with the service and I would like to be released from my commitment since I do not have service at all at this moment so I can switch to a different ISP.

    Reply
  14. Arsie, I definitely agree with what you post it is not a form of biasing but it is the truth.. you know what even if I tried to call them and ask for their assistance in resolving this f*king internet connection. They are not responding or making an action on it. too much route, slow internet connection.. Even if I am at plan 998 they are only giving me a speed of 128kbps average or as fucking low as request timed out… well i don’t know what to do ’cause i had this connection last sept which is I am locked in for about a year

    Reply
  15. ako satisfied naman ako sa wi tribe ko na plan 998 nakakakuha ako ng speed average ng 1.33-1.54 mbps 2 signal bars lang yun….. pag off peak pag peak mga .89 lang naman…… happy ako sa pagdl ng torrent umaabot ng 164kb/s yung DL speed sa torrent yun lang….

    Reply
  16. wooooooppppssss! Para ako na “WRONG TURN” neto ah ^^,. Just got a Wi-tribe 4g USB dongle because I was looking for a Globe Tatoo or Smart Broadband para sa emergency purposes sa 7 Eleven but they only got this. They don’t even know if this has a sim card slot at kung pano loadan. Hope to not get a very “Irritating” experience.

    As they said:

    wi-tribe Pure 4G Prepaid internet is the 1st and only Prepaid internet service that is truly designed to fit your internet needs:
    The most flexible – You can choose how fast you want to go with 3 different speed options

    Fuss Free – no connection manager installations needed. Just plug, play and enjoy!

    Most affordable – Real unlimited internet service for as low as P25/day

    Product Features

    Only and always pure 4G guaranteed!You will never be downgraded to slower 2G or 3G technologies
    Unlimited Surfing and Browsing
    24/7 Customer Support
    Minimum of 56kbps with 99% service reliability i covered areas(The highest in the industry)

    Tempting… Again I hope di ako ma disapoint. Thanks for the input.

    Reply
  17. Hi. I’m a WiTribe user for almost two years now. Since day one, no problem. Speed is good and very consistent. I live in Batasan Hills just infront of Congress. In fact, I testd my connection for a week without turning off the modem and set my PC to AFK mode while playing GodsWar online . Result – no disconnection at all and speed did not change. By the way, WiTribe has done away with their usage cap. Even tested it with multiple connection by adding a router. Still I do not get any problems at all when it comes to speed or connectivity issues. So I do not gt it when people keeps on complaining about their connections and does not even have a clue about speeds, bandwidth, or network congestion. I work at a call center that caters to Clear 4G in the US – similar to our WiTribe here and all of you guys sound like those Americans complaining the same issues. Only way to resolve such is “educating” customers regarding 4G connections – it’s advantages and disadvantages. We even offer to cancel their service if we found out that the service is not really working on the area after exhausting all troubleshooting steps. So far so good with WiTribe. Even heard a rumor that they will be implementing the next phase of 4G technology – 4G LTE. And soon will expand service to the provinces like Cebu. Happy and very satisfied customer of WiTribe.

    Reply
    1. Hi Robert,

      Good for you! Unfortunately, I don’t think I need to explain further but if you really wanted to we can talk about the technicalities and respond directly from Wi-Tribe’s management to me after our meeting late last year. And like you I’ve been into call centers and ISP BPOs for almost 10 years so I think I know what I am saying here. Wi-Tribe already admitted that they have issues on “SOME” areas in the metro and the upgrade and investigation is still on-going. As I’ve said on my article the antenna/tower of Wi-Tribe is just across our street and still I encounter these issues. They already visited my house for 3x still to no improvement at all. I even know that they don’t own the towers nearest to your connections. They liaise it from other ISP – did you know that? There are so many information that was shared to me after that meeting with Wi-Tribe and even with their BPO. I just can’t say everything you know.

      Reply
  18. Witribe is still new. They are in the baby phase in the business. People here just need to know their “consumer rights”. If the service does not work then have it cancelled. If the company demands payment then let the DTI and NTC do the arbitration. Enough said. Same thing we do at CLEAR. Sales people are trained to make sales and that is their business. Blame them for the misinformation and misconception. But they will still continue to do so to make more money. As for the technical support, we do all we can to help plus critical thinking. I believe Witribe’s BPO do not practice that. But in CLEAR, we do. We make sure that customers are well informed and educated in how to use the service. As for the speed test, we just learned that if you ping your ISP’s own server it will give you the correct data. But if you try to ping a competitor it is throttled down. Try it now and see what I am talking about. At the call center I work our provider is Bayantel. Did a speedtest by pinging their server in QC – result is 40mbps. Did speedtest again but this time pinging Smart server in Greenhills – result a throttled down speed of 10mbps. Why? Because in the business world would you give something that will not benefit your business? Same thing we ask CLEAR to have a server in everyplace in the US to be placed so that customer can ping it through speedtest.net and will get a better and accurate speed as opposed to pinging Comcast or Verizon servers were they get an inaccurate throttled down speed from their servers. Hence the reason why Witribe shows their accurate speed as opposed to pinging a server in Hawaii. It is the same logic as asking what Catholics believe to someone who is not a Catholic. Would a Muslim tell you accurately what Catholics believe? Of course not. 4G technology uses cell towers to broadcast wimax signal and only serves internet data transmission. It is totally different from 3G technology were it utilizes the same spectrum as voice and sms thus having congestion 90% of the time. It does not matter if Witribe leases a tower from other ISP or not. What has weight is the technology itself and how it works. Even in the US and Australia, ISP’s like ATT, Comcast, Verizon, Sprint, CLEAR etc(US) and Telstra, Optus, Dodo etc (AUS) are sharing facilities like towers to provide wimax 4G services. And since this is wireless internet, of course it is subject to elements like physical obstructions – material density, Radio Frequency interference, Electro-Magnetic interference, distance/location, other devices that causes interference, water in liquefied form – includes bodies of water and rain, climatic and weather conditions and other things that might arise and impact your coverage to the network. Such as technical problems, outage, power black outs, damages, acts of God etc. Good thing about Filipinos is that we are not that really too dependent on the internet to do a living. Unlike Americans that they demand to do something to have their service back up well in fact a storm just passed by – example was the hurricane sandy. Wireless 4G has it’s advantages and disadvantages – this is not a perfect world. Even other providers do have theirs. What I do not like here are the rants that people can do for themselves. If it does not work, then find another one that does. Like what I did with Globe. I signed up and was misinformed of my upcoming bill. When I tried to pay it I was overwhelmed that the bill was much bigger than I thought and I said oh well then I will cancel service because this is not what the sales agent told me and I will not pay the bill. Then walked out and let the service get disconnected. Got bugged three times by collections to make payments due from me but I simply ignored it. And if ever they filed a suit against me then I will formally ask arbitration from DTI for misinforming me during the sale. If all Filipinos are like this then there is no need to rant here and there and telling the company sucks. It will not do anything. It will not change anything. The key here is “consumer rights” and “educated” consumers – know the product thoroughly before making any purchase.

    Reply
    1. wow a very good educator you r!!!! but yo still dont get it do you?
      i think your are ur working in wi tribe ur defending them.but as ou read all of the post here these are regular people what i mean they need to be transparent in terms of fare use policies etc .they need to inform people the clear facts whats they are getting into.they say upto 2 mbps? for what time ? whats place? what area? they need a disclaimer every ads they show

      Reply
  19. Wi-tribe is stealing our money. They will give you many excuses but the truth is they are using packet shaper… youtube and even certain iphone/android games, it there are heavy users, they will trim down your bandwith. Big liar too re speed test.

    Reply
  20. Wi Sucks? Yeah im an ex subscriber. Just recently switched to PLDT DSL and so far i’m more satisfied tenfolds against WI SUCKS. And hey, my pldt subscription is only 1mbps compared to the advertised 2mbps of Wi Sucks. Why i call it Wi SUCKS? Because Wi tribe SUCKS Bigtime man!

    Reply
  21. Was a witribe way 2010… at first their service was good and then I had to move to MAkati. I was told that my house was just behind their tower but I was never able to get a good signal, it is was always intermittent or none at all. I even had to put the black box thing on the window sill just to get a signal. I complained several times, they even sent a technician an yet nothing happened. The technician even said “ma’am napapaligira kyo ng building” GRABE!! what a lame excuse…to think that I was in a residential area of makati. I told them that they need to refund me on the days that I was not able to use the net. They said they looked into it..I told them that I will only start paying my bills when they have finally fixed my connection. For several months they kept on telling me that they are processing my request until they disconnected me. They got the black thing back…WITRIBE sucks…poor service and unreasonable..They even threatened to bring me to court for not paying. I think as a customer I have the right to get good service and the right not to pay for NO service received. I hope NTC will look into this.

    Reply
  22. Hi sir RC can you suggest best broadband provider for my shop. I’m currently using Wi-tribe and I’m also experiencing what you are saying in your blog. Wired connection in our place is not really possible. I’m residing at baseco, port area, manila. I badly needed a great response on what internet provider to avail. thank you and more power to you.

    Reply
  23. is the data cap removal still in effect at this very moment ? the csr i talked to said they slowed down my connection bec.. i used up my limit for the month.i was only aware that there is this lifting of data usage cap by wi-tribe when i stumbled your review.iv`e got slow connection more often than not. i haven`t reached the 2 mbps they`ve promised since i subscribed to wi-tribe two months ago. by the way im from batasan hills, q.c.and just a stone`s throw away from wi-trbe center which i assumed has the tower above the convergy`s building.

    Reply
  24. Just got my second notice that I have been in “extreme high level of usage” that my activities have negatively affected the use of others in the area. WiTribe has a usage cap. They should have explained clearly from their flyers that they had usage cap just like the other isp’s do.

    I like what robert said about disconnecting from witribe and let ntc and dti do the arbitration. who else has tried this?

    thanks RC for starting this and providing resource on this irritating issue. 🙂

    Reply
  25. Good thing there’s a page like this, now I can post my dissatisfaction with Wi-Tribe. (Thanks RC by the way).

    Just like Satur and other subscribers who shared their disappointment with wiSUCKS here, this company failed big time in informing their consumers that they have data usage cap. You keep on saying to me that I have violated the Fair Usage Policy but you did not make things FAIR in the first place.

    I wonder why you are still in business?

    Reply
  26. Hi:

    Merun ba nagbbenta ng postpaid wi-tribe modem dito? Yung nasa plan 998.. kase yung sa akin nanakaw nung nilagay ko sa labas ng bintana nmin kaso nung nireport ko sa kanila sabi nla nd daw nla papalitan yun

    kung merun kau na hindi ginagamit benta nio nalang skin. Thnx!

    Reply
  27. I just noticed that absolutely no download happened last night. It was as if it was shutdown or blocked. I still had internet but I couldn’t download anything. Did anyone else experience this? Is this a permanent thing or not? Thanks!

    Reply
  28. I am using the wi-tribe 598. and since medyo heavy user ako they subjetc my plan to fair usage cap. as per law daw. now, I am thinking to go back to GLOBE DSL wired for Php 998. May contract with Wi-tribe ends this September 2014.

    Reply
  29. Happy kami sa Wi-tribe connection namin for the past 3 years and siguro depende talaga sa location. Sa bahay ng parents ko which is 1 street away from us, mahina signal ng wi-tribe. Ang ok naman dun eh yung signal ng globe. 🙂 🙂 🙂

    Reply
  30. 4 years na ako sa wi-tribe, Wala pa ako na meet na may positive na sinabi sa services offered ng Wi-Tribe. Pero nga dahil nuon wala masyado choices. Recently nag complain ako sa customer service at ganun din ang style. Palalabasin na ang deficiency ay sa customer palagi. Pero nga alam ko naman na ganyan talaga ang style nila. Kaya nga kinukuha ko din mga employee number ng mga CS rep nila. Pero finally after 2 weeks of constant calling ng CS, nagpadala ng technician sa bahay ko at yun na nga. Servers nila ang may problema. Palagi napuputol ang connection. Matagal kasi ako sa abroad kaya naka lusot lang sa akin ang bad service. Pero ngayon madami na choices. Eh sa iba na lang pag talagang hindi pa naayos eto. Matagal na din naman sila nandaraya ng mga tao and they get away with it. Ayaw din mag bigay ng danos perwisyos or kahit na courtesy payback like free subscription. Nakaka pagod at tension makipag deal sa Wi-Tribe people.

    Reply
  31. As an addition to my comment, I think that if any company who is not capable to deliver the equivalent services promised in exchange for the money charged, should not continue to do their business. I is tantamount to fraud and deception. Companies like Wi-Tribe seems to have lost any sense of shame and ethics and the corporate culture appears to have passed on to their customer service staff as well. I think our government officials should seriously look into these kinds of company who are bleeding our consumers and are getting away with it. Bad leadership equals bad followers equals bad service. I hope Wi-Tribe will shape up or ship out.

    Reply

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