Suntel, Globe DUO and the Samsung C5212

As usual my updates are a bit delayed so I really have a lot of catching up to do.

SUNTEL WIRELESS LANDLINE

First an update about my SUNTEL.

- my call forwarding still doesn't work

- signal wise, it seems to me that my location in QC is a black hole for Sun Signals. I usually get good Suntel performance in other locations even in a moving vehicle. And that's in my NOKIA 3120 classic.

So let me give my final verdict for SUNTEL. While the network is unbelievably unstable in one specific address in QC, its generally pretty good. Network interconnection between different wired and wireless land line networks is particularly good.

GLOBE DUO WIRELESS LANDLINE

Which leads me to the Globe DUO. I got a DUO for my prepaid Globe after seeing the experiences of some friends.

Here's my experience so far:

- the call quality is excellent. This network is immune to the black hole in QC. Excellent quality and no dropped calls.

- interconnection problems are an issue though. It seems to have problems calling bayantel numbers and on occasion, some PLDT numbers. I've seen this act before and it seems to me the old telcos might be up to their old tricks again.


I know that the Globe problem is not of its own doing so I won't take it against the DUO service.

Globe must be commended for coming up with all these promos without excluding current subscribers. Its so convenient to have a landline and cellphone on one sim and now they even have broadband internet in my very same sim!

In my opinion, this will leave Smart in the dust if they don't react fast. Sun on the other hand, while it is to be commended for being the reason for all this radical changes in the telecom industry, it must now seek to provide more innovation and flexibility.

For instance, I don't mind paying for my landline service and my cell but I would certainly appreciate it if they can share the same sim.

Also, Sun should be more flexible in allowing current subscribers to upgrade their plans like for the Sun Surf and Text. I don't mind paying a little extra for my plan to be able to integrate the call and surf on my present POSTPAID line.

SAMSUNG C5212

The readers of this blog must know of my ordeal with the SAMSUNG C5212 when used with the SUNTEL and Sun Cellular Service which led to my selling this unit.

Well guess what? It was SUN PERKS time again so I could get a new phone. When I sold my C5212, the friendly local cell technician told me they can unlock it for a low amount. So when I saw that my plan could accommodate the C5212 on a 30 month contract, I went for it.

So now I have a C5212 again. This time sporting my Smart and Globe Prepaid sims. It's doing pretty good in this role. Except for the small inbox, the phone is practically perfect for my needs there. Truth is, I liked the phone before because of some unique features like the blacklist and some other small touches in the user interface. It was just so weak when it came to the Sun network.

At this point I am a pretty happy camper. My C5212 actually sports 3 lines because it carries my Globe, Globe DUO and Smart. One potential problem would be if I wanted to use the Tattoo feature on my Globe but I already carry my Sun Broadband Stick and a prepaid Smart Bro so I don't foresee any problems there.

Before closing, I am pretty much aware of how hard it was to communicate before. I used a rotary phone for a long time. We were so fascinated with CB radios and VHF/UHF stuff. We even set up 10 meter radios to take advantage of skips to be able to talk to people in other countries. I started data communications with a 2400 bps Dial up internal modem for crying out loud! To be honest I never thought I would see this much technological change in my life.

Fast forward to today, I am connected to pretty much the world. Wherever I go now I can connect at broadband speeds to the net via my netbook or phones. And I sell GPS tracking systems that can track a vehicle here from ANYWHERE in the world.

Nowadays life is one exciting tech trip with new things around every corner. Sure it hurts your wallet and sometime I know I will have to say enough.

But hey I was born in the tech desert and I haven't seen this much water in the first 25 years of my life. So is it any wonder then that I carry 5 phones, 1 netbook, 2 usb modems wherever I go?

SUNTEL AND SAMSUNG PROBLEMS INTERIM REPORT

Well its been a couple of weeks already since I started complaining about the service. As recently as this afternoon, I had to return the call of a client from my PLDT landline as we could not hear each other over my SUNTEL line which was supposed to be my business line.

So in connection with this, here's what we have so far:

1. SAMSUNG - its a lost cause. The offer from their service line to bring the unit in for service was a joke. They said to bring it there but it will just sit there for a few months while waiting for the FIRMWARE and the PARTS to be ordered by the MAIN OFFICE after a request from the SERVICE CENTER. That was the ACTUAL statement of the person on the SAMSUNG HOTLINE!

For those in the know, you are looking at a waiting period of about 3 to 6 months. And that's for them to service my month old C5212. Its a dual sim so its like I lose two phones. This kind of turnaround and concern for customer satisfaction will definitely be the downfall of SAMSUNG here. That said I'm still on wait and see mode...

2. SUNTEL - my good friend who manages one of the SUN SHOPS, has been trying to expedite matters on his side. My suggested solution is still what I mentioned in my first post which is for them to either replace the SAMSUNG C5212 with a better unit, better matched to their SUNTEL network. AND to check how the SUNTEL network could be made AT LEAST AS RELIABLE AS BAYANTEL WIRELESS.

My other solution to him was to replace the C5212 with two phones since it was a double unlimited deal. I am actually willing to take one unit for the Sun Cellular line and another DESKTOP unit for the SUNTEL in the hope that this will give me a more reliable service.

Actually they offered to sell me a HUAWEI ETS3023 for P2,700 which is at least P1k more than the equivalent unit in BAYANTEL. This is terrible!

The thought of buying this unit at THAT PRICE doesn't sound right. I mean I'm doing this to get reliable service in a location that is supposed to be a prime area fully covered by all communication networks. To expect good and reliable communication in this area from a so called WIRELESS LANDLINE is not asking too much so I decided to sit and wait for SUN to do the decent thing and resolve this problem either on their own or with minimum financial participation from their subscriber.

So let's see. I'll give a little more time before I finally throw in the towel and just call the DTI complaint line.

Sun Double Unlimited User Review

I signed up for the DOUBLE UNLIMITED plan of Sun Cellular about a month ago. The deal goes like you sign up for two plans, a SunTel wireless landline AND a Sun Cellular Plan 350 pre loaded with 24/7 Call and Text Unlimited. For signing up, you get a Samsung C5212 Active Dual Sim phone for FREE.

First, a bit of disclosure I don’t work for Sun or any of its affiliates. I have been a loyal subscriber ever since they started. I have 3 lines, all with SUN because I feel they offer the best value in the industry. Had it not been for them, the Globe and Smart giants would be having a heyday charging P1 for text that used to be free. Yes sometimes its hard to call, but for those of us who remember how it was with Smart when it first launched here against Globe and Extelcom, it’s the bargain of the decade.

When I first got my Smart, it would take HOURS before you would get through. It was unbelievable. The phones for some time, were next to useless. Not to mention the mess these telecom companies made out of interconnection and making it difficult for competitors to call their networks. Believe me, Sun, for all its problems, has been and still is the best value for money and it’s a company that we all should sign up with to ensure that the industry will not be complacent and unscrupulous again.

Anyway let’s move on to how my Double Unlimited thing is going.

The Samsung C5212 was highly acclaimed in the preliminary write-ups on GSM Arena so I had great expectations for this unit.

In the interest of brevity, here are the Pros and Cons summarized:

SAMSUNG C5212

PROS:
- Nice form factor, bit large but fits well in your hand
- Good sized screen
- Polished interface relative to the old D900’s
- Easy SIM management
- Good ergonomics particularly the keyboard
- Excellent call handling unique to Samsung, you can blacklist SMS and/or calls.
- SMS alerts is now user customizable

CONS:
- Battery life is quite short
- Dual band only
- Has a problem acquiring and keeping signals
- Quality control issues, unit has two stuck pixels already
- Inadequate bundle, no memory card, no usb cable (which happens to be Samsung proprietary)
- No CD installer


Now about SUNTEL, first of all, it is a good deal. At least on paper.

You get a landline for P450 with unlimited call to numbers in the 02 service area. This beats out the metered service of PLDT and is dead even with the new Bayantel Wireless P450 plan.
However, the signal in quite a number of areas is unstable despite the reassurance of the SunTel Customer Service that the network is ok in that area. In those areas, it’s so hard to connect and when I do, I can hardly hear the other party and they can hardly hear me. It’s embarrassing particularly in view of the TV commercial about such network problems.

Furthermore, the SUNTEL/ SAMSUNG combination is unusable to me. The SAMSUNG could hardly get a signal in the areas I frequent and even in my house where I get strong SUN signals. What is aggravating is I get better reception and audio from my old Motorola Timeport! When I transferred the SUNTEL sim to my old phone, I was able to call from my work area where the SAMSUNG/SUNTEL combo could not.

Going further, I saw that the signal was still not that good despite being able to call so I transferred the SUNTEL Sim to my 3G Sony K810. To my surprise, it was able to get a 3G signal, a strong one at that. So after making a call and establishing that the connection was the best among the 3 phones, I decided to leave my SUNTEL sim in my K810.

So is the SUNTEL network ok now in the K810? It’s easier to make calls now but signal still needs a bit of improvement if they are to approach the usability level of the Bayantel Wireless which by the way was notorious for signal problems before but sad to say, its better. I know because we have one.

I think the network engineers should test the units they provide to SUNTEL users because landline users have more expectations from their units. We expect reliability and accessibility from our landlines otherwise its no different from an ordinary cellular service.

SUNTEL

PROS:
- Low price
- Good audio quality
- Flexibility since its sim based and will work with most phones with qualifications (see comments above)

CONS:
- Unstable signal
- Congested network in my area (Batasan Hills)
- Cannot connect with some food delivery hotlines

So in the end what would I recommend?

Well I would have said if you want a really good deal for a dual sim bundled with landline and cellular services, this is the way to go. But right now I can’t, because as I said, a good deal on paper fades when confronted with the reality of uselessness.

Most people who buy into this deal obviously are into one thing: COMMUNICATION. That is what I expected. I expect to be always (within reason) within reach of my clients and family. And this is what I don’t get from the SAMSUNG / SUNTEL combo.

The network is wanting and the phone reception needs to be addressed because its pathetic when a nearly 8 year old unit outperforms a newly released one in its primary task of making calls.

I have of course relayed my concerns to both Samsung and my local Sun shop. Samsung has relayed that they have neither the parts nor the software yet to service my phone so I can’t take it back yet for another month or so.

Sun on the other hand has not replied yet nor have I been informed about any testing being done in the problem areas I pointed out.

I would expect that the network would be reviewed as well as the suitability of the SAMSUNG C5212 for the SUNTEL network. For existing subscribers such as myself, I would expect that SUN would either recall the handsets to replace them with ones better matched to the network or maybe they can offer the Desktop Handsets such as the Huawei ETS-3023 at a discounted price to serve as base units for subscribers with signal problems in their homes. Actually I called asking about this but there are no units available for sale.

So in the end I suggest that potential subscribers to this service adopt my stand first which is wait and see. This post will be updated as feedback is received.