I just got the BSNL Broadband connection a few weeks back and upto now everything has been fine. The connection is fast, reliable and has dropped only once upto now.
I must also comment on how fast the whole thing went; from my application date to the date I finally ’’connected’’ was a mere 5 days.... This should be contrasted with my idiotic BSNL landline that I paid Rs. 5000/- deposit with my application and waited 3.5 years for my telephone.
One problem I did have was with the modem specification. I wanted a ’’Type II’’ modem; this has a UTP port AND a WiFi connection (who would not want to surf on their laptops from anywhere in the house!). This was not available with BSNL. It appears that they have no plans to provide this modem.
The ’’Type I’’ modem that was provided has a UTP port and USB port. I haven’t tried the USB, but the UTP connection was straightforward and I had no problems (I did the installation myself).
Another problem I have is that the whole ’’package’’ came without any instruction manuals. I could manage the whole thing with some help from a guy who had done some installation before... BSNL, there needs to be at least some kind of a (multilingual) instruction/ installation manual with your modem. And this manual should be understandable by the lay person.
Yeah, as expected, their web portal (dataone.in) is a sorry case of ’’sarkari’’ thinking and for everybody’s health, I will not comment on it any further.
Despite the current low prices, I think that BSNL should further drop prices of their Broadband to make it affordable to every household that has a landline. In fact it can even give the connection to its customer’s for free and charge for other services (lots of innovation is required here).