Hi Guys! It has been couple of weeks that I subscribed to Reliance broadband. Previously, I have been using their usual NetConnect data card for few months.
Before I give out my "judgement" as a user, I would like to mention that we must not forget the ease of use with which one can connect to internet using Reliance. We must also not make a mistake of comparing Reliance broadband with traditional broadband at home(e.g. Airtel). These are two different technologies we are talking about.
In a country like ours, I would appreciate Reliance for making it happen. wireless broadband.
Now coming down to its effectiveness, this is where Reliance broadband falls short of expectations. When you expect 3 Mbps speed, you feel like kind of cheated. But in reality, the actual speed never matches your "subscription speed", even for other ISP’s the world over.
I usually get 35-50k download speed, which occasionally goes to 250 kb during downloads. While surfing, I get an average of 15-30kb speed, which is not so bad. If I compare it with the 3 mbps "subscription", I feel its worst. In last 2 weeks I have seen it drop to 7kbps download speed on one occasion. But it is not the usual case. So, it depends how you look at it. Practically, this is very usable internet connection.
I have used broadband at home in UK, S’pore and Denmark. For instance, I subscribed to 2 Mbps broadband in S’pore last year. I could only get 40-50kb effective download speed. Occasionally I would get download speeds of 200-300 kb which was too good for any practical purpose, whether online video streaming or music download. In UK, 5 years ago, I had 512kb broadband and hardly got more than 75k download speed. Do remember that, I am talking of traditional residential broadbands, not the ones "on-the-go" like Reliance broadband. Although developed countries have broadband on their mobile phones, this is a clear technological barrier that Indian telecom companies need to break.
Let me however compare apple to apple i.e wireless broadbands. If I compare Reliance’s "wireless" broadband with mobile broadband that I have used in UK/Singapore, I think reliance is not behind. I had LG KS20 HSPDA 3MB mobile phone in S’pore so I had the required hardware to make use of broadband on mobile phone.
Reliance broadband is an amazing "wireless" technology that gives us a practical internet service but fails to deliver as much at it promises. Its only competitor Tata Photon, is far behind.
I have also heard some noise about inflated bills for data usage from Reliance. The reality is(after speaking with some people), that users don’t realize the amount of data used because of higher speed compared to older cable internet or even Reliance’s old netconnect data cards. So people don’t realize that they used more data in a given time interval. My advice would be to check the data usage on rcom.in site. I do it every week. You need to activate that service with broadband customer care number 180030005555 . Once activated, you can check your data usage every day. I have opted for 3GB data plan which costs Rs. 850 per month as it is enough for me. I am not heavy downloader.
I do video chatting every 2-3 days with my friends over the globe and the experience has been decent. My internet experience has vastly improved compared to my previous ones, in India.
So overall, Reliance broadband is decent with its ease of use but falls short of what you expect in terms of speed. I recommend Reliance broadband for want of better and practical solution in market.