I was blessed by the LORD JESUS with a new GLOBE AT HOME Prepaid Wifi which only costs about P1,999. As a token of appreciation, I would like to give a review of this modem.

The model that I got is a B310 LTE CPE Globe At Home Prepaid Wifi modem, shown as the second image, which consists of 5 lights in front. The only differences between the two is that the first one has a classy stand that looks like space-age wings.

This model B310 LTE CPE Globe At Home Prepaid Wifi modem has 5 lights in front, from left to right, are the power indicator, network status indicator, wi-fi/wps indicator, LAN indicator and signal strength indicator respectively.

The network status indicator needs to light up at all times while you're using the modem and it shows a sky-blue light.

All of these five lights needs to light up when you're administering the modem. I always made sure to connect the yellow LAN cable to my computer just in case I need to administrate it on a rush.

At the back it shows you your mobile phone number and a SIM card slot with a sticker that says Do not tamper and below shows you power plug input and a network port. You need to connect it via LAN yellow cable which is also included to a pc or laptop where you intend to administrate and manage the B310 LTE CPE Globe At Home Prepaid Wifi modem/router where it shows your administration panel.

This is how your B310 LTE CPE Globe At Home Prepaid Wifi modem/router administration panel looks like, your so-called dashboard. More on that later in the review.

The signal at our house is only on the second bar and even at that kind of weak signal I was able to enjoy it's speed.

Features: - Plug and play, no installation needed - No monthly fee, just load and surf - Connect multiple devices - Fast internet powered by Globe LTE

Yes it's all true, that it needs no installation for the administration and management is browser-based and the address is this http://192.168.254.254. But by the time I got my B310 LTE CPE Globe At Home Prepaid Wifi modem/router they are encouraging everyone to download their app and they have given a deadline of 7 days for you to avail their free 10gb that comes with the app, which at the time of this review I haven't find time to download it.

You can load and surf it in three ways: (1) via app or QR code, (2) via sms - I usually use GS50 and send it to 8080 or you can text GOSURF50 and send it to 2 + 9171234567 for example: Text GOSURF50 and send it to 29171234567 whichever you prefer and (3) via *143# which I found to be not applicable at the moment since you can't take out your SIM card since it will tamper the validity seal, meaning Globe does not want you carrying the SIM card with your bare hands transferring it from a mobile phone back to the modem again.

Setting up

Setting up is easy and a breeze, it's all just plug-and-play. I bet nowadays, the gadget age, even a five-year old can do it faster, they only need assistance so that they will not drop the device. You plug the yellow LAN cable to the back of the B310 LTE CPE Globe At Home Prepaid Wifi modem/router to the computer, making sure to keep the clip aligned where it should be. Connect the power. Load up the SIM, text the command GOSURF followed by how much you want to avail. It's all clearly instructed in the manual that comes with it. It's just like any other home appliance that needs to be connected to electricity and the yellow cable connected to the computer where you plan to manage it's through it's browser-based administration panel.

The Browser-based Administration Panel

You can use any type of browser on it, so far I've used Mozilla Firefox to administrate it and I found no trouble with it, and it's fast and does not need or require any internet connection as long as the yellow LAN cable is connected to your computer. Always remember that you still have no internet connection even if you're connected with the LAN cable whose main purpose is to administer the B310 LTE CPE Globe At Home Prepaid Wifi modem/router. You still need to modify the SSID and password so your devices can connect to it.

For security reasons I won't talk about the usernames and password used, the default are all in the back of the B310 LTE CPE Globe At Home Prepaid Wifi modem/router.

As you can see from the screen shot of the B310 LTE CPE Globe At Home Prepaid Wifi modem/router Administration panel, it comes with 5 main or major menus namely: Home, Wifi Settings, Statistics, SMS, and Advance.

The Home is where you have an overview of your current connection including upload/download speed and the duration. You can also see how many users are currently connected and previous login information.

The Wifi Settings lets you change your SSID and password so that the people you only wanted to connect are given access which is placed strategically just in case you're in a hurry to change both of them.

The Statistics shows your data plan, meaning your mobile network consumption.

The SMS is where you do the commands and the GOSURF, BAL, to get in additional promos by keyword availability. You can also use this as a mobile phone for texting or sending SMS.

The Advance page is something for the advance users only which I discourage using it especially if you don't what you're doing. It also has VPN, WLAN, DHCP and system. Important for me on this page is the Device Management under Security where you can literally block unknown users. Better be prepared and have a scheduled plan of changing your SSID and password regularly like every 2 weeks is not cumbersome for me. Other settings are really for the advance users which will benefit us both if we leave it untouched. On this page, you can also change the admin password for the administration panel by going to Advance page/menu, then click on System, then click on Modify Password make it 8 characters include capital letters, small letters, numbers and special character and it will be rated as high on the modify password panel. You can also access your VPN (Virtual Private Network) accounts here by going to Advance then click on VPN, be sure to know the settings of your vpn's.

Where's the Globe At Home Prepaid Wifi App?

For those of you are who are wondering where's the app download link? it's on the home page of globe at home prepaid wifi and I took that extra mile to place it here:

Download at Google Play Download at Apple App Store

I never bothered downloading them, though there's an incentive in downloading it, you can get free 10gb access available only for 7 days at the start of activating the app.

To get the free 10gb just follow these steps from customer support:

Wishlist

A way to contact *143# from the admin panel, though there might be a link on the app. A way of subscribing to a browser notification that notifies you when you're nearing consumption of your load.

PROS and CONS

Both a pros and a con, it has faster upload speed than it's download speed. I think this modem is intended for web publishers who uploads videos, photos and files on the internet. So it suits me well, since i can upload a lot of programs on my freeware list and ebook.

Pros

• Two times faster, stronger signal, and with wider coverage if you're coming from a pocket wifi user. The speed was amazing for me but it has faster upload speed compared to download speed. Good for people who upload images and high definition videos.

• Space saver, portable and quick to setup and the whole family can enjoy the internet.

• Practical if you're not into unlimited internet. Just pay for the one's that you use.

• Faster access. My ip transferred from the Philippine provinces node to Makati City node according to myip

• Helpful customer support via Globe.com.ph support via twitter Do you want to avail of the 10gb for free? Okay I have attempted it, I thought at first it's a Windows program but obviously it's not since Globe uploaded it to app playstore of google and also app store of Apple Itunes. It's an android app by the way, to remove the confusion. It will first try to detect the modem you are connected in, so at the time of testing, of course, I'm connected via wifi to the Globe At Home Prepaid Wifi modem/router. First try, and last try, it was not able to sense the wifi modem I'm connected in, then second option is to send a code to the wifi number, it never worked as well. I'm stucked with an app that does nothing. Not intentional on their part I hope but with this review they might be able to fix it. So bye bye 10 gb. But not yet, hold your horses.

In the meantime, I'm not done yet with this review. I've contacted Globe.com.ph support via twitter so they can fix this issue for me and so that I can take advantage of their freebie of 10gb. I got it I've screen shot the instructions.

Cons

• Setting it all up requires some basic experience of modem set up or experience with pocket wifi.

• The power chord is a hassle for me since I'm always on the move, I must like it better if i can connect to USB of your pc.

• Hard to reload if you're in a hurry. You still need a secondary mobile phone with Globe on it to do it via share a load. What I do is buy a card, load a card on my mobile phone and share a load to the prepaid SIM since you can't touch the SIM and transfer to another phone. Yes, it's all good so that the life span of the SIM card will be increased. Still no way to access *143# on it.

• Only 5 people can connect to it simulataneously unlike the pocket wifi which can connect up to 10 people, I don't see the logic behind it. If they are saying Globe At Home Prepaid Wifi modem/router beats the pocket wifi then they could have upgraded that. Anyways you can get it all as they say. Very illogical, I don't see the point of it all.

CONCLUSION:

If you are coming from being a Globe Pocket Wifi user, then Globe At Home Prepaid Wifi modem/router is for you and you will enjoy it's speed, but if you're coming from a broadband or fiber connection this is slow compared to them. After all this is only wifi, you might want to upgrade to a wired or landline ISP connection.