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BSNL Experience/Review I am 1 day into my new BSNL connection and am here to give you a first hand review of my experience. This whole review is divided into 4 main parts:
1. Application
2. Installation
3. Experience
4. Summary
1. Application:
Well the application process is very simple. You need to go to your nearest exchange and collect a free application form. This same form is available online too but the quality of printout is very poor. There is an option of online submission of application and unlike popular belief, this system still works (well in principal at least). I first applied online and within 2 days I received a call from BSNL asking me to come over to the office and submit the application manually. So I can say that atleast the online system works.
There was an exchange just 500 meters away from my place and that is where I collected my form and went to submit. But they told me that my number does not fall into their area and I needed to go to an exchange about 2 km from my place just to submit the form. So keep this in mind while submitting your application. Your exchange information is usually printed on your phone bill. They asked me to bring along a previous telephone bill, but did not even have a look at it when i submitted the application. My advice, bring it with you - just in case.
The lady asked me if I wanted the connection on a new line or on an existing line. I, for one, have my PC in a separate room. So I preferred a new line but she told "In that case you need to wait at least 15 days for the new line to be installed and then you can have broadband." I was in urgent need of connectivity and so opted for connection on my existing line after her assurances that the lineman will do the necessary wiring to my room.
The submission was relatively very easy. I handed over the form to the lady, she asked me about the modem I wanted. I specifically mentioned that I wanted a type 4 modem. She told me that it was not available and so suggested a type 2 modem (you can check the differences b/w them by visiting the BSNL website). Since I had no choice, I opted for that and paid the 1872 bucks for the modem as outright purchase option (I prefer to purchase over monthly rent). She then did some clicking on her PC and told me that my phone line is active for internet use but I need to wait for the modem (router) to arrive at my place. I asked her about a rough time frame when I can expect the delivery. She said "about 10-15 days" and handed me over a printout of the bill.
That was the end of application.
2. Installation:
Barely 3 days after my visit, I had 2 ppl deliver the modem to my place in the evening. I was surprised to find such a speedy service by BSNL. These ppl were supposedly the technical dept guys and sat at my place for about 30 minutes explaining the benefits of BSNL (for crying out loud, I already know it). After reading through the posts at indiabroadband I did inquire if I can later shift my connection to my nearby exchange as it might provide me better speeds. His reply "Well there is no need for that, as I am sure you will get decent speeds with this exchange too. Plus if you shift to another exchange, your phone number will change".
They left soon enough after providing me with the contact information of the lineman who would come to my place the next day to complete the wiring. That was really nice, I thought.
The next day I waited up to 3 PM and then called that number to inquire if they planned to come that day. Unfortunately their schedule was tight and they rescheduled me to the next day. I thought this could go for ever. The next day, however, they did turn up. They asked me where I want the line to be installed. After reviewing the place, they told me that I'll need some extra wiring and they needed 300 bucks for materials. I knew that BSNL provides free wiring and they were asking for a bribe but after going through the delay experienced by a few members of indiabroadband, I decided it was not worth the wait. So I paid them 300 bucks and they started working (after going out for a few minutes to make me think that they're away to purchase the wiring).
I must say they did work pretty hard as I am not a person easily pleased. I asked them to make sure that none of the wiring should remain open. Everything must be concealed. It took them nearly 2 hours to do the work which usually takes only 10-15 minutes but they did not complain (I guess I can attribute it to the 300 bucks I paid them). So finally they provided me with the contact information of some guy who will come to my place for the configuration of the modem.
Interestingly 30 min after they left, I got a call from the configuration guy to check if he can come over in 10-15 min. He turned up after 1 hour (but I'm not complaining) and it took no more than 5 minutes to configure the router. He showed me how to check my usage and he was off. So my connection was up and running
3. Experience:
Well the speeds sure was fast as far as the daytime browsing is concerned. I got decent speeds and almost all the web pages opened in a second. I did a speed test at DSL reports and the results are as follows
DL speeds = 500 kbps approx
UL speeds = 250 kbps approx
So the speeds were sufficient.
The only thing I did not like about BSNL the dataone usage page. It requires only IE to function properly. That was a shock for a firm supporter of open source software like me. I had to install IE core and used a IE render plugin in Firefox to open the page. Nevertheless, I had to install IE. I run on a dual boot PC with XP and Ubuntu and I couldn't figure out how to check my usage on ubuntu as it only has Firfox by default and I cant install IE core on linux. So any suggestions are welcome for that aspect.
I know that downloads can be scheduled to use the night unlimited bandwidth but since it was my first night of testing, I was awake till 2AM yesterday and added my first torrent download to utorrent. I was totally shocked by the download speeds. A paltry 5KBps (i.e. about 40kbps). I thought maybe it was just the beginning and so I went to sleep and this morning I checked my downloads - the results are not that encouraging
Total time = 6 hours 0 min
Total Downloaded = 120MB
Total Uploaded = 15.9 MB
Avg Download speed = 5.7 KBps
Avg Upload speed = 0.7 KBps ( I actually limited my UL speeds to 1KBps )
The torrent cannot be at fault because there were more than 50 seeds and 78 lechers (It is a very popular game). However I cannot rule out the possibility that torrent might be choked... Or there could be an issue with a software firewall that I am using. So tonight I will try it with another torrent download (ubuntu linux distribution) with the software firewall disabled and see if the speeds still suck.
After this shocking incident I checked my data usage and was in for another treat. At 1.20AM in the night my data usage was about 4MB, followed by "unlimited download" of 120 MB, my PC automatically shut down at 8AM. But my data usage is something like this
Unlimited usage = 12MB approx (as BSNL give usage in the format of 0.012 GB)
Total chargeable usage = 35MB (including UL and DL)
This calculation makes no sense. It seems that their system is flawed and I am taking no risks today. I will program my PC to turn on at 2.15 AM and shut down at 7.50AM to be on the safer side of the spectrum and will let you know if this tactic works.
4. Summary:
To summarize my experience, BSNL does provide fast internet access during the daytime and is suitable for most novice users who rely on using the internet for communication purposes. However, if you are a heavy downloader, like me, give it a thought cause you might land up in a tight situation. I can give you a final summary only tomorrow morning because by that time I would have surely ascertained whether my abysmal DL sppeds are due to a faulty torrent or a sloggy connection.
I hope this helps for all those users who plan to apply for BSNL experience
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