Smart Bro LTE Pocket WiFi (Alcatel One Touch Y800) Hands On Review

· by · in Accessory, Computer, Review, Telco. ·

The need for a better internet connection especially if you’re on the go has become a serious necessity. What’s disappointing is that WiFi access is still very limited and WiFi connection in some areas like malls, office coffee shops, hang out areas are sometimes paid and most of the time crappy. No wonder why LTE pocket WiFi devices remains to be a hot item.

We got to admit, Smart’s LTE network remains to be superior and has better coverage. But our Smart subscription is used mainly for internet and not calls and texts like on our Globe subscription. So we decided to ditch our back smartphone (which Smart is inserted) and bought a Smart Bro LTE Pocket WiFi.

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The LTE pocket WiFi we bought is an Alcatel One Touch Y800. It surprised us since we are used to see Huawei-made pocket WiFi devices being offered by Smart.

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Alcatel One Touch Y800 (Smart Bro LTE Pocket WiFi) specs:

  • LTE Band 800/900/1800/2100 Mhz
  • 3G Band 900/1800/2100 Mhz
  • 2G Band 850/900/1800/1900 Mhz
  • WiFi 802.11 b/g/n 2.4GHz
  • 1,500 mAh battery

The package comes with a dock (nice touch), USB, Adapter and two 1,500 mAh batteries. We do love the extra battery which means the device can take an extra mile. Upon seeing the device for the first time, it looks like a phone from the early 2000’s. Hehehe. It really big since we are used to small mobile broadband devices. It is pocketable and very light though.

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We’ve have been using this device for 3 weeks now including the days that we were in Davao City for a vacation and here’s our take.

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  • It sends out pretty strong WiFi signal! We placed the device on a closed room at the 2nd floor then our smartphone at the ground floor about 10 meters away. Our phone is still getting about two bars of WiFi signal.
  • Idiot proof set up. Setting up the device is a breeze. You do need a laptop or desktop for the initial set up.
  • Forgot your passoword? There’s a reset button at the back near the battery. You just have to take off the back cover first.
  • Of course, we’ve experienced Smart blazing fast LTE connection! Although LTE areas are still limited, 3G and HSPA+ connection remains fast too.
  • The only downside is the battery. Now we understand why Smart included an extra 1,500 mAh battery. The battery lasted 5 hours before it screams to be recharged. But since we have two batteries, we have 10 hours of LTE goodness!

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The Smart Bro LTE Pocket WiFi is priced P4,888 if you opt for a prepaid subscription. You can also get a postpaid subscription from Plan 1299, 1749 to 3,500 with 24-month lock up period. For more information, please click here.

 

77 responses to “Smart Bro LTE Pocket WiFi (Alcatel One Touch Y800) Hands On Review”

      • Hi, you mentioned that LTE Band 800/900/1800/2100 Mhz. However on the website specs its LTE Band 800/900/1800/2600 Mhz. Is there a link to the 2100Mhz? Do you have any idea on the difference from Y800, Y800Z and Y800MA? Thanks in advance.

  2. Hey Mark! I’m considering of getting this and i’m from metro manila pasig. Where did you conduct your test? from your post you mentioned davao.. How about in Metro Manila?

  4. I’ve been wanting to buy one. I’m currently under Smart postpaid 999 unli data plan bundled with iPhone 5, my sim is LTE capable for applicable smartphones. I was just wondering, will this sim I’m using now work on that Smart Broadband WiFi or strictly for mobile phones alone? I like my number now and it would be such a waste if I get another plan with Smart Bro, when my main intent is for internet surfing. Thanks!

    • That was also my intention about it when I bought this. I found out that Smart’s postpaid LTE SIM will not work here. According to Smart, only Smart Bro SIMs will work. I suggest that you buy an unlocked pocket LTE WiFi instead.

      • Hello, Mark.
        I tried this one with my Smart Postpaid LTE SIM and it has been working as expected. You just need to have an adaptor from Nano to Regular SIM. 🙂

  5. That’s right Mark I have that same issue with my area and napaka bagal talaga. Infact 2G lang lumalabas sa area ko kapag naka 4G prefer kapag naka 4G or 3G only naman ayun No Service nakalagay. Sir, buti nalang napa unlock ko yung unit ko kay Chris? http://www.takeunlock.com ngayun 3.5G nakukuha kong signal here using globe tattoo sim pwede na kaisa 2G

  7. Hi…hope you can answer my question. Just bought a smart lte pocket wifi today. Sa center, wala naman akong naging problem, we used Ipad to set up my password and even registered yung free 7-days trial niya. Pagdating dito sa house, I tried to use it using my MacBook… hindi ako makapag-open ng sites. Nakaka-connect ako, but every time mag-try ako mag open ng sites bumabalik lang ako sa homepage ng smart which is the y800.home (or the 192.168.11). I called the smart customers’ service twice, pero hindi nila ako mabigyan ng definite na reason. I even tried to search the web pero wala naman din akong nakitang solutions. I saw one blog post, and the author also experienced the same problem http://bryanveloso.com/2014/04/03/smart-lte-redirects-to-httpy800-home-problem/
    Please help. I need to know how to solve this problem before Sunday. My work requires me to have atleast 20Mbps… that’s why I bought this thing btw. please please help… thanks.

  8. Hello everyone, i bought one also yesterday, pero nde ko po maopen yung back cover to change the battery pack, pano po ba buksan?,,, tsaka bigla po nde mag-on/off yung unit, pero nagamit ko sya ng konteng oras, nawala ang signal, please advise po… thanks

  9. paano ba to alcatelonetouch yung nkalagay kahit i on at off ko.. ayaw gumana..kahit na remove na ang battery tas ion balik ayaw gumana.. nareset ko na ganun parin.. patulong naman sa smart jan…

  10. Hi Arlene, pareho tayo ng problema, everytime magconnect ako, lagi nalang pumupunta sa homepage y800.home, nakakabuwisit, kailangan ko pang magrestart ng maraming beses para lang makaconnect sa internet. if meron kayong alam na solusyon tungkol sa bagay na to, pakipost nalang. salamat. If wala, try ko pumunta sa smart centre

    • Thank for your input mark. I did a research for myself too… i checked the LTE sites (under smart website) i’m near a LTE site so this made me buy one the next day. It gives me up to 14mbps at past 12mn and day time at around 5-7mbps consistently.
      BUT (theres always that) when driving it goes to Y800 home (no connection) and when at my parent’s house at Multinational Pque i have a really bad signal. It’s ok tho, i was just hoping to get consistent 2mbps (as claimed to earlier 7mbps) so I’m happy with it.

  12. I am also having the y800.home issue even if I have a 4G signal here in Ayala. Is there someone who knows how to solve this? thanks

    • Ive been to the smart office here at sm marikina and they said that a hold (stop Sell) has been put on this units because of problems/ defects from the unit itself, coming from the manufacturer. This probably explains all this glithing and shutting down and non connections complains are coming from. so if your reserching and reading this post…i would suggest not to buy this unit for the meanwhile till the problems are resolved by smart and the manufactures. or else youll just loss your hard earned money.

  13. Update your firmware. It’s on alcatel’s website. Just google for it. Mine is much more stable now. But, Smart’s LTE speed isn’t as fast as before imo.

  16. Hi, you mentioned that LTE Band 800/900/1800/2100 Mhz. However on the website specs its LTE Band 800/900/1800/2600 Mhz. Is there a link to the 2100Mhz? Do you have any idea on the difference from Y800, Y800Z and Y800MA? Thanks in advance.

  17. Yeah it sucks! We bought 4lte sims already we thought its just the sim, and lots of loads! before we avail 4gs but later on we received Madness, thats why i hate smart telecom..its unreliable inconsistent and swindler!

  18. Software Ver: RX1415A2XX

    2 days after kung iinstall tong software version, di ko pa ulit nai-experience yung redirection sa Login Page.

    Napansin ko rin mas mabilis na rin sya magconnect. Yung icon na “4G” napalitan ng “4G-LTE”.
    Then yung madaming profiles sa RX1413A2XX version nawala lahat. Isang profile nalang naiwan sakin.. “Smart LTE”.

    • Waiting din po ako sa magiging feedback nung mga nakapag update na sa Software Version RX1415A2XX.
      I’ll start po base sa experience ko.

      1. Wala ng redirection sa Login Page.
      2. Bagong signal icons.. 2G, 3G, HSPA, 4G-HSPA+, 4G-LTE
      3. Stronger signal reception
      4. Isang profile nalang naiwan SMART LTE
      5. Umabot ako ng 79gb usage pero hindi pa rin bumagal connection (gamit ko smart lte postpaid plan 2000).

      Malaki din ang posibilidad na opposite yung mga results sa ibang susubok.
      So, upgrade lang po kung sigurado na talaga kayo sa gagawin nyo.

      • mabilis nga ito nag increas speed ko from 15 to 21 pero na notice ko na madalas xa madisconnect..
        gamit ko na settings:
        – 4G only
        – Automatic
        – 1800+ 2100 band

  20. What’s the use of that charging adapter? I mean that indirect charger? Is that what you should use when you want to use it while charging?

  21. can anyone please reply me i really need help naka connect ako kaso wala akong internet connection hindi ko alam kung bakit? sira na ba yung wifi pocket ko?

  22. Hi i jst bought LTE device sa smart website.. After 4 working days nsa kn n ung device.. So i test agad yung lte device dto sa offce .. Nag ok nman po.. However pag kauwi ko ngaun sa bhay at try q ulit mag browse ng internet, na didirect ung any browser n gwn q sa y800.home ng smart.. May prblm po b sa device? If mern san ko po pwede i return ung lte kc sa webste ko po sya ni purchse.. Pls help.. Thanks..

  23. I’ve had mine for about 2.5 months now. It’s really unstable for me. It’s ok sometimes, but lately it’s been shutting off unexpectedly….sometimes just 1-2 mins after rebooting. And then I get cases where the speed seems ok for about 1 min. (you can see the download meter moving in increments by the Mb) But then after, it will just practically stop counting, or just moving by ‘kb’ instead of ‘mb’. I read that there officially is a bandwidth cap for Smart, but not as strict as Globe. In my apartment, there’s only 1 bar for 4G connectivity. Which i can understand would affect my speed. But even when I’m at work, where it’s full 4 bars of signal, it clocks in around 1mpbs on speedtest.net. Pretty pathetic for LTE. I don’t know if it’s a monthly cap issue, even though i just activated 995 LTE unli 12 days ago, and pretty much use only for my phone apps, no downloading movies. F*cking pissed and when I went to the store i bought it from, they told me to take it to the Alcatel service center. Bullsh*t. Anyways, hope it will go back to working half decent, cuz for a period of time, I was satisfied, but this past week, it’s turned to shit, and that’s why I’m on this site posting, to see if others are having same issues. That’s my rant from Cebu City. Fuck you Smart and Alcatel, just make a product that works as its supposed to.

  25. why i cannot connect to 4g signal? nasa LTE area naman aku after na expired ung LTE 299 ku nagpa register aku ulit di na aku makpag’sagap nang 4G. bakit kaya? kahit nasa labas aku. wala talgang 4g hanggang 3g lang xa. Alcatel po model nito LTE.

  27. Brought this last month…
    nung una umaabot ng 1MB/s yung dl speed niya pero ngayon sobra naman yung pagkabagal niya…mga around 100KB/s lang yung speed pag nagdownload ako…may LTE naman sa area namin tapos full bars yung signal pero bakit mas maganda pa yung speed ng 3G pocket wifi ko?last year kasi umaabot ng around 500KB/s yung download ko pag gamit yun

    SMART wtf happened?

    kayo po ano po average speed niyo?

  28. I just bought this baby today and the author is right, the setup is completely idiot proof. I gave up my LTE account with Globe because I’m struggling with its signal at home (where I need to be constantly connected). I haven’t had any issues with the Alcatel mobile wifi, with the Smart signal, redirection to website, etc. Actually, I took it out of the box, inserted the prepaid sim, and I was connected in in a few seconds. I’m hioping the positive experience will continue.

  29. Hi, I am trying to update my unit but both my xp and vista couldn’t detect it. Please let me know where to find the drivers or if anyone can email, I will appreciate it, thanks!

  30. this url works:

    http://www1.smart.com.ph/Bro/support/downloads

    click the download button then mag redirect sa site nila
    click product then mobile broadband
    then click ung sa y800

    then support

    then dun sa lower right you need to choose sa tatlo …
    need mo tanggalin ung cover (battery)., and see if ung sa iyo is y800ma
    then click mo link na un

    then viola … download and continue ung instruction dun sa link ng smart.. 🙂

    so far mabiliis sya base sa speedtest 🙂

  31. Thanks. For some reason itvwas easier to update by going to the 192.168.1.1. It installed drivers and did everything. Unit is now better than before. Either by the update or the fact that i just learned you can set it to 4G ONLY. Before it was on “4G and 3G”. Everytime it switches , it disconnects from the network which was a total PITA.

  32. I need help, my ip address switches everytime the load gets larger. can anyone help me with this? it constantly disconnects and reconnects.

  33. anyone experiencing slow torrent download speed (10 KBps) even though speedtesst shows 1.2 MBps DL speed? kahit sa dsl ko ung torrent ko nasa 100 KBps ung download. Topak ba LTE ngayon?

  35. My connection for almost 3 months is so slow that I can’t even have my google docs load. At first I thought it was just the effect of having bad weather for consecutive days, but up until now my lte connection is flagged below 1 mbps for both uploads and downloads… ping too sucks. Please I need your help.

    • Hi Darwin, it happened to me too… i called the hotline and there’s such a thing as “misalignment” they align your sim card remotely and they always say 24-48hrs observation period that period may not be true (i always ff up) but they were able to fix it after 2 weeks. i hope that should help you in your case.

  39. ang bagal ng smart lte ko nung unang kong bili mga 2 months kung gamit subrang bilis umabot ng 10mbps yung speed nya ngayon subrang hina hindi nga maka download ng torrend 10kbps lang ang download speed ng device ko …someone help me . i try to update but wlang ma detect na update.

  40. paano po ba mag upgrade ng y800 ko pwede by steps ang hirap kasi intendihin. d paren ma detect yung device ko

  41. Hi Guys, my Alcatel one 4G LTE Broadband (same model reviewed here) now have an intermittent connection. i have no connection when we were in nasagbu, batangas a week ago and my SIS-IN-LAW (who has the same model) have- 4 BARS pa (btw, i recommended her to get this). So, i’m thinking maybe i need to update firmware. Issue is i called in the SMART BRO hotline and they don’t know how to walk me thru the firmware update. So i tried following some of your advice under this thread but usually have .EXE file which is for windows so i fired up my old windows XP netbook and it can’t detect the device.

    Now i’m at this website: http://www.alcatelonetouch.com/global-en/support/download/one_touch_y800.html
    and there are WIN_MAC version (which is good) but i don’t know what version to download. Any MAC users out there?

  43. hi, i also have the problem of redirecting to the lte homepage.

    I know I have to update but my laptop cannot seem to find the required drivers.

    cms

  44. How did you guys get the ADSU to recognize the Y800 device? When I start the ADSU it doesn’t detect that my Y800 is connected to my computer’s USB. Help a brotha out! Thanks.

  45. throttled pa rin ba ang torrent nyo guys? both my 2 smart bro devices, one lte and one non lte are both throttled sa torrent. Stuck at 20 kBps pero pag speed test nasa 600+ kBps

  46. I recommend not buying this product.. after many months nagamit mo papahinaa nila ung connection no na halos d na pwdedng mag view ng 1 min na youtube.. d nn lng maka open halos ng facebook..

    DONT BUY THIS UNIT!!

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