Going thru frustrations of many reviewers on mouthshut made me realise I am having a lovely time on Dataone BBD.
I hooked up to Dataone Broadband on landline with ADSL Modem, at Ahmedabad in 2006. I took up the Home 250 plan right from day1 and have so far managed within the 1 GB limit.
Previously I was on Iqara(later YOU) BBD paying 330/= for 300 MB per month. I could see the vast change in speeds as BSNL increased it to 2 Mbps. Iqara gave a max of 256 kbps. My Iqara exit barrier was low as I was on shared modem installed on top of my apartment.
I went for BSNL’s Type-II W-fi modem for 1900/=, which was a substantial saving over a normal BBD Modem+ Router cost of approx 5000/=.
I shifted to Ajmer in Aug-08 and was apalled to find that broadband capacities were exhausted in the exchanges. Got a priority connection due to my official position. Configured the same ADSL Wifi modem and was back again at 2 Mbps speeds. Sometimes the files download at amazing speeds of upto 230 KBps. I’ve run the speed test offered by Dataone and amazed to find the same consistently going in the range of 1.8 Mbps.
Yes, there are some anxious moments when the connection goes blank all of a sudden. This has happened about 10 times in last 2 years. Not a bad performance. Never bothered BSNL Call centre for that as I know the result(identical to that described by others), from my Cellone experirence.
I’ve configured a secure wi-fi connection in my home. The modem offers this functionality which one must exercise in order not to allow other people in proximity using up your MBs and more importantly to prevent "wardriving".
Further, thru windows, I’ve set up a wireless network between my desktop and the laptop thru the same modem. This gives me great functionality. The wifi internet connection gives great download speeds(same as desktop, i.e. upto 2 Mbps) and the networked atmosphere enables me to manage files between my 2 PCs at speeds of upto 54 Mbps.
BSNL infrastructure is the finest and charges most reasonably. Its like the great work of art by an artist whom you should never meet lest the experience is spoilt. Comparably Iqara helpline was far superior and gave immediate response even in the dead of night. Even the service was fine, but the VFM with BSNL is far superior.
I’d suggest you to find out if the Dataone BBD is working well in your area, if yes, then must go for it with a dirt cheap wifi modem. The download experience is simply mind boggling.