UPDATE:

Please see this new blog post on how to register Globe at Home Prepaid wifi promos

UPDATE: FINAL REVIEW: Globe at Home Prepaid Wifi is not worth it

I have wondered why Globe has a home prepaid wifi. For people who are not aware, the Home Prepaid Wifi of is a product of Globe Telecom and it is an LTE modem and wifi router device that currently costs Php 1,999. It is not a plan/contract, but you have to regularly purchase load credits in order to surf the internet.

However previously it used to cost much more but I can’t find those advertisements, I think it used to be about 2,500 or 4,000 (not sure). Unfortunately, there is a fatal flaw with their product. The prepaid data plans are TOO DAMN EXPENSIVE or TOO TIME RESTRICTIVE.

All caps, beast mode.

Globe at Home Prepaid Wifi Promos (GOSURF)

The old promos are as follows

GOSURF50 – 1gb of data, 3 days validity
GOSURF299 – 1.5gb of data, 30 days validity
GOSURF599 – 4gb of data, 30 days validity
GOSURF999 – 8gb of data, 30 days validity

Now you have a wifi modem router that’s meant to be used at home, presumably by a family of 3 or more and then you have these promos. A 30 minute 720p YouTube video is almost 500 mb. It’s actually stupid. You can do multiple GOSURF50 registrations, but you can’t register a lot in one day and they will all have the same expiry of 3 days.

I find the whole thing moronic.

299 divided by 50 = 5gb yet GOSURF299 is only 1.5gb
599 divided by 50 = 11gb yet GOSURF599 is only 4gb
999 divided by 50 = 20gb yet GOSURF999 is only 8gb

Sure the validity is different. Go ahead and register GOSURF50 every 2-3 days. But why subject your customer to such inconveniences when you could just offer 1,000 pesos for 20gb in a month?

The other option is a time based consumption which is available only for Globe Prepaid sim cards. If you don’t have surfalert on, you will be consuming 5 pesos load for 15 minutes of internet. It’s hardly a good alternative for a family of three. On the plus side, Globe promises a speed of 50 mbps for this prepaid service. However, I’ve yet to see even a stable 15 mbps… Oh well….

So I won’t be surprised if the Globe at Home Prepaid modems were just collecting dust in Globe Stores. This leads me to believe that Globe released new promos to entice the public to buy the modems. In fact, most of the modems have sim cards that are set to expire in 2018.

New Globe at Home Prepaid Homesurf Promos 2017

Enter Homesurf! Released to the public some time late September, the promo effectively launched on October 15, 2017. Here you can see how silly Globe Promos are.

HOMESURF 15 – 1gb of data, validity dependent on GOSURF50 registration
HOMESURF 349 – 10gb of data, 10 days validity
HOMESURF 599 – 15 gb of data, 30 days validity

I don’t need to do the math to show the price discrepancies with the GOSURF promos. They can argue that the promos are different or rather they are promos but the fact remains, Globe Telecom can provide data at very cheap prices. Why the subterfuge?

The Problem with Homesurf of Globe Telecom

It’s cheaper so it’s a good thing right? Unfortunately, there’s a big catch. For now, the promos can only be activated via share-a-load.Unlike GOSURF where you can load the prepaid sim card and then access the dashboard and send a text to 8080, HOMESURF is different.

You can either use the app Globe at Home (or Globe Home-fi) to access the promos, or manually use your phone to share the promo to your prepaid home wifi number.

ex. HOMESURF 15 sent to 2xxx-xxxx-xxx

You think it’s convenient? It’s actually a lot of texting. Say you don’t want the HOMESURF 349 because you’d rather do HOMESURF 15 x 10 for only 300 pesos you get 10 gb. You would have to share-a-load it, sending 1 keyword at a time, replying yes to the confirmation messages. And here’s the kicker, prepaid numbers can only share-a-load 5x a day. Then you’re stuck waiting the next day to be able to do HOMESURF 15 again until you’re screwed because the GOSURF50 just ended. And no, HOMESURF 15 won’t work with GOSURF 299, 599 and 999. It’s mind boggling.

Before you Buy Globe at Home Prepaid Wifi

These are the pros and cons(including above mentioned).

Advantages of Globe at Home Prepaid Wifi

No requirements. Just buy the modem (one time payment) and you’re done.
No installation fee
Easy set up
Max 50 mbps
Modem is actually compact and quite powerful
Free 10gb data

DISADVANTAGES OF GLOBE AT HOME PREPAID WIFI

The modem costs Php 1,999 pesos, no refunds of course
No other freebies, has no landline so you won’t be able to enjoy the free calls/text that sometimes comes with GOSURF
Hard to reload
Expensive promos and data
Share-a-load limits prevent you from topping up what you want in a day
Promos are subject to change without any prior notice.
Homesurf may disappear by next year or so just like how GOSURF99 disappeared
Up to 50mbps means you will experience speeds of 0 mbps to 49mbps. But on average you’re lucky to get 15 mbps.
Because it’s prepaid, support is not 24/7. In fact, customer support is only from 8am to 10pm.
Once the promos are gone, you’re stuck with a modem that’s locked to Globe sim cards only.
The free 10gb data is only good for 7 days…. WTF.

Other Stuff the Globe at Home prepaid Wifi can Do

At risk of voiding your warranty, you can actually replace the sim card inside the modem with a regular LTE sim card for Gosakto Promos or use the current sim card and register for tipid GoSakto promos you can find here. The downside here is that you don’t have a phone to be able to use the calls and texts that come with Gosakto Promos.

Overall, Globe at Home prepaid wifi is not recommended for a family. The data promos, even the HOMESURF promos that they’ve advertised might be too expensive for a family of 3 let alone a larger one. However for single people, the prepaid wifi is a budget saver especially if you only need a certain amount of data to do something. The one major downside though is that the promos are not set in stone and can be changed at any time by Globe Telecom.

10/20/2017

Globe at Home Prepaid Wifi 2017 Review