PLDT Home WiFi Prepaid Advance Evoluzn FX-ID5 Review: Unboxing, Setup and Comparison

The new PLDT Home WiFi Prepaid Advance is the company's answer to the increasing demand of wireless internet connectivity in our homes and home offices. One of the variants is powered by Evoluzn, a long term network-devices partner of PLDT and its wireless subsidiary, Smart. This PLDT Home WiFi Prepaid Advance is powered by Smart LTE and is pegged to have advanced features compared to the basic Home WiFi Prepaid product line.

PLDT Home WiFi Prepaid Advance Review - Evoluzn

The Evoluzn router variant is FX-ID5. You can buy this on PLDT physical stores and online stores at ₱2,495 but it's now in a ₱1,995 promo price. It is bundled with a SIM card and 10GB of data for 7 days.

PLDT Home WiFi Prepaid Advance Evoluzn Review

This PLDT Home WiFi Prepaid Advance does not need a line installation. It is a plug-and-play product which is equipped with a powerful modem, powered by Smart LTE. So you can use this in any areas that has LTE or LTE-A coverage.

Unboxing and Design

The device is packaged with a PLDT trademark theme, it's a flip-top box with a slide-thru cover. The minimalist box houses the main Evoluzn FX-ID5 unit together with the power adapter and the LAN cable.

PLDT Home WiFi Prepaid Advance

The PLDT Home WiFi Prepaid Advance features a white rectangular body with the PLDT Home and Smart LTE branding on its main face.

PLDT Home WiFi Prepaid Advance Review

On this panel, you can also see LED indicators with the device's basic status for the Power, LAN, WiFi, SMS, Internet and Signal Strength (which has 4 LEDs).

PLDT Home WiFi Prepaid Advance Review

The back side is a perforated panel which is a home to the essential ports like WLAN, LAN1, LAN2, and LAN3. On this area, we can also see the Power Input Port, Power Switch, Reset Button, and WPS Button. The underside has the SIM slot and some important labels for the device like the SSIDs and the WiFi Key.

PLDT Home WiFi Prepaid Advance Evoluzn: The Setup

Evoluzn's PLDT Home WiFi Prepaid Advance setup is just a walk in the park. It's literally a "plug-and-play" device since you'll just have to plug your device to the power source and place it in the best spot for optimum signal coverage.

PLDT Home WiFi Prepaid Advance Review

Once the Internet LED indicator turns blue, you can connect your device to the network. The default SSID and WiFi Key is found at the underside of your device. When your device flashes Blue light, it means you're connected to LTE; when it's Green, you are in 2G or 3G network.

Configuring Your Device

Once connected, you can change your SSID or your WiFi Network name and password by going to pldthomewifisettings.net or inputting 192.168.1.1 in your browser. If it's your first time to enter the URL, you'll have to click on the "Advanced" button and then the "Proceed to pldthomewifisettings.net" button.

After that, you'll be asked to enter your default username and password, just type pldthome in both fields. Then, you can now setup your preferred username and password. You can also change your WiFi network's name and password.

PLDT Home WiFi Prepaid Advance Evoluzn FX-ID5 Review: Unboxing, Setup and Comparison

PLDT Home WiFi Prepaid Advance Evoluzn FX-ID5 Review: Unboxing, Setup and Comparison

When you have successfully changed your Network Name and Password, all connected device will be dropped out of the network, you'll have to connect once again to the new network name and password.

Added Features Using PLDT Home WiFi WebUI

Aside from changing network's name and password, there are many things that you can do with your PLDT Home WiFi dashboard. For one, you can manage your device using the webUI's intuitive dashboard. In the Status tab, you can manage the devices connected in your network.

Performance, Speed Test

You can create a separate network for your guests using the WebUI. You can enable, disable or modify the Guest WiFi anytime you want. The device also allows you to block users. These add another layer of protection to your home network.

The Parental Control will be a helpful feature for parents who want to manage their kids' internet usage. You can set the time in which a certain user is allowed to use the internet.

PLDT Home WiFi Prepaid Advance Review - Speedtest

PLDT Home WiFi Prepaid Advance Evoluzn FX-ID5 Review: Unboxing, Setup and Comparison

I placed the PLDT Home WiFi Prepaid Advance router near our window and I get a consistent 16 to 18 Mbps of download speed and over 10 Mbps of upload speed in my area. I also tested it across multiple locations of the house and got the same speed range. This means that the Evoluzn FX-ID5 has a wide range coverage, and could expand to a significant area for a normal household.

Comparison

Of course, when you go to the PLDT website, you can find other variants under the PLDT Home WiFi Prepaid Advance. There's also the Boosteven and the Greenpacket models.

PLDT Home WiFi Prepaid Review Comparison

On paper, I can see that the Evoluzn FX-ID5 router has more wireless technology fallbacks due to its support, from 2G technology up to LTE-A. The Bootseven model only covers 3G to LTE-A, while Greenpacket only supports LTE and LTE-A.

PLDT Home WiFi Prepaid Advance Review - Evoluzn

In terms of WiFi Bands, both the Evoluzn FX-ID5 and the Boosteven support dual-band WiFi (2.4GHz and 5GHz), while the Greenpacket only supports 2.4GHz. The more bands supported by your router, the better the experience especially if you're using smart home devices which need to be connected to specific WiFi bands.

In terms of ports, Evoluzn has 4 ports including a WAN port for wired internet connectivity such as Fiber and VDSL. While Boosteven has 4 LAN ports, it does not support wired connectivity; and the Greenpacket supports only one LAN port.

PLDT Home WiFi Prepaid Advance Review - Evoluzn

Should You Buy PLDT Home WiFi Prepaid Advance Evoluzn FX-ID5?

As we brace the new normal, the demand for home internet connectivity is in high bars due to the fact that most of us are now working from home and studying from home. And with this, not all of us can have access to a Fiber or a DSL line due to exhaustion of services and wired infrastructure limitations. But the PLDT Home WiFi Prepaid Advance offers a plug-and-play solution that most of us can take advantage due to its wireless nature.

And while you're at it, I think that the Evoluzn FX-ID5 gives the most value among the three routers under this service. It has better reliability in terms of wireless technology fallback. Likewise, it has more flexibility in terms of ports, and of course, it supports dual-band WiFi.

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