This review is going to be long, so please bear with me as I have tried to put all possible information. I apologize for the same in advanced.
I stay in mumbai city & I m writing this review on MTNL’s Triband (Broadband) Services in MUMBAI . This broadband Service is available in MUMBAI & DELHI CITY under the Name MTNL’s Triband (Broadband Services) WHILE in Rest of India it is under the Name BSNL’s Dataone (Broadband) Services. THIS REVIEW WILL ALMOST BE APPLICABLE TO BOTH MTNL & BSNL.
Around last year in JAN. 2005 MTNL started its services in MUMBAI. They have definitely lived up to peoples expectations.(which u will come to know in later part) AS Mentioned by them Download @ speed of Thought, it is Synonyms & fit well for their services. This service is provided at ur door steps thru ur MTNL/ BSNL Landline phones. A ROUTER MODEM (D-LINK 502T) which is connected to PC by Ethernet Cable LAN CARD OR USB CABLE(lan is advised by MTNL, Don’t know why!) connects u to net thru ur phone. EASY INSTALLATION.
INSTALLATION & INITIAL REGISTRATION CHARGES
One time registration charges, now waived off completely (earlier it was Rs.1000/-)
DSL Installation & testing charges Rs. 300/- which will be charged in the next bill.(non refundable)
One time non refundable deposit for DSL CPE (Router modem) Rs.500/- will be charged in tel. bill.(If u rent a router modem from MTNL, monthly rentals will be Rs. 80/- extra per mnth., but my advice would be to purchase the router modem which costs around Rs.1800/- now in Mumbai. As this connection will definitely be for life time, so u will be saving the rentals of Rs.80/- per mnth).
Purchase a modem & visit ur respective exchange to configure modem (this is free of cost)
INTERNET PLANS
There r many plans available , u can get information regarding it on their website or in ur nearby tel. exchange.
I am mentioning 3 plans which r & will be used in most households.
(all 3 plans have 256 kbps bandwidth & one free E-Mail ID of about 4MB )
There r also 512kbps & higher bandwidth connection but for household use 256kbps is more than enough.DUE TO LACK OF SPACE I HAVE MENTIONED PLANS IN COMMENTS, PLEASE CHECK
PLEASE NOTE:
They have advertised as surfing free but keep one thing in mind that normal surfing for 1hr. will consume 10-15 MB ( depending upon number of sites visited & without any download). If u stick to 1 or2 sites then hardly 5-8MB is consumed per hr.
IMP. POINTS (ALSO INCLUDES ADVANTAGES)
u need to have MTNL landline phone (OR BSNL depending upon ur region) & Lan Card in ur system
It takes 10 -15 days(nowadays much earlier) to reach ur house after registering by filling a single page form.
Download speed is stabilized at 25 kb per sec.(that’s amazing) sometimes it can go down a bit to 17-20 kb /sec. No other service provider can give u such speed(Download @ speed of Thought) I downloaded a file of 55 MB within 28-30 min. exactly.
Connect to the internet using ur main line phone as it give max. speed & not thru parallel line
Download speed is stabilized at 25 kb per sec thru main line &
Download speed is stabilized at 15 kb per sec thru parallel line
- For DSL.399 & TRiB 200P use ZONE ALARM SECURITY SUITE (best rated) & SUPER AD BLOCKER Softwares simultaneously as this will block all pop ups & all types of ads.& finally less MB’s will be consumed. ZA & SAB s’ware will reduce ur surfing speed a bit(still good) but it will not hamper ur download speed.
6. If hesitant, U can start with lower plan & then shift to higher plans as shifting from plans is possible .
7. uploading speed equal to downloading speed i.e. for 256kbps line 256kbps.
8. Suppose u r going on a long vacation, intimate to the exchange & just by paying Rs.100/- per mnth. as SAFE CUSTODY CHARGES u can keep ur connection going on & u need not have to pay unnecessarily ur monthly rent.
9. Accounting is transparent as u can keep check on ur regular usage on their website.
10. U can take ur calls while surfing on net(not available in dial up )
DISADVANTAGES
poor services , Durability of Modem(if taken from them)& Customer service dept. lacks knowledge of product
SORRY FOR A LONG REVIEW, MY APOLOGIES FOR THE SAME.
HOPING THAT THIS REVIEW WILL HELP U.
I tried to include all possible information, if I have skipped any u r free to comment on it.
PLEASE CHECK COMMENTS AS I HAVE MENTIONED 3 PLANS
ONE MORE THING, I ’m using it since MAY 2005 without any serious prob.
It takes time to connect to their HELP LINE i.e. 1500 &1504, but after lodging complaint ur querries will solved within hrs. GOOD FOLLOW UP FROM THEIR SIDE. MOST PROBLEMS R SOLVED AFTER RESTARTING UR PC & CONNECTION.
DURING THE MONTH OF JANUARY MY PHONE WAS DEAD FOR ABOUT A WEEK, BUT MY NET CONNECTION WAS WORKING FINE.