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SMART's deteriorating signal

In my use-case SMART's signal has been deteriorating. 

When I turn into my street the signal goes from 3G to No Service or GPRS. When I am in my room it also goes from No Service to fake 3G. Fake 3G meaning the iPhone displays three bars but sometimes there is no data connection. I am quite certain it is not my iPhone because even my Samsung loses it's signal sporadically.

I have four accounts with SMART. 
1 999 iPhone plan for my personal mobile
1 freedom plan for my 3G USB modem when cable internet is out
1 freedom plan for work
1 freedom plan for work

I have two prepaid sim cards with Globe
1 Samsung Galaxy Data SIM - I got this free when I bought my work phone
1 Prepaid SIM card 

Contacting SMART's support via twitter or their hotline they always repeat the same script:

  1. Apologize for the inconvenience
  2. Ask me to reboot my phone
  3. Tell me their network doesn't have any issues in my area.

This is no good. I moved from Globe to SMART in 2011 in the hopes of getting LTE it is now 2014 and still I have no LTE and my signal has gotten worse. 

This of course is compounded by the fact that they are spending so much in useless marketing like Taylor Swift concerts. I have said it before Taylor Swift will not give me good reception and speedy data connection. 

They are also launching streaming service (and spamming me with SMS nagging me to subscribe) which is useless to avail because their data connection is not reliable. Checking their LTE coverage map for Mandaluyong it seems nothing has been added close to my location and that's for 3 years? 

I have service request numbers dating as far back as March. The problem persists and SMART keeps on telling me their network has no issues. When I leave the house and go to other places the signal is ok. So it is just in my house that I am having issues. I am undecided if this would be enough incentive to move back to Globe. Maintaining two personal lines seems to be overkill and a waste of money. 

During typhoon Glenda my SMART lines all went down. Almost no data at all. I had to get a Globe Pre-paid SIM card from a nearby supermarket to have data while the cable internet was out. The problem with Globe Pre-paid is that they do not offer LTE for prepaid. 

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