I have been using sify "cable" net for one and a half years, and has it tired me and exhausted me beyond frustration sometimes. But I will still give it an average rating, because I didn’t have to pay the maintenance charges any month, and after a perseverant complaining, I finally got more than a temporary fix to my connection problems.
Technical Details from a layman’s point of view:
>Sify "broadband" is the most widespread private broadband service provider in india, or at least they claim it so. The reason is that they don’t have any central operating point. They have almost "franchised" their service to every cable provider in india who seem to have influence and control over their territories.
The positive point of this is that sify is available practically everywhere, but the negative point is that the quality of the service in an area is solely dependant on the service provider, who, in many cases, might be a criminal, in police books(no kidding, you can google it, there are a lot of forums that exist on "hating" sify)
>They charge 1000 rs as an intitial installation charge, which is exclusive of LAN card charges(fortunately I got my LAN card hardware free from my PC dealer)
>There are various packages you can avail of. But they can be discontinued at any point of time later, as and when sify wishes.
I’ll list down a few I remember:
Disclaimer: Viewers are suggested to verify the schemes and rates from sify.com, as they are known to frequently change the rates/discontinue them
100 rs "night pack"
Unlimited surfing @ about 5 kbps from 12 am to 6 am(their way of ensuring resource utilisation like what telephone lines did for STD in the pre-mobile age).You are requested to verify it from the dealer, as this scheme isn’t "popular"
400 rs "unlimited" pack, 64 kbps
Surf @ 7 kbps(if there are only 2 people to share that line) unlimited 24/7
640 rs "unlimited" pack, 128 kbps
900 rs unlimited pack, 256 kbps(dload speed 32 kbps)
640 rs 500 MB monthly pack
900 rs 1 gb monthly pack(both @ 256 kbps I think)
LAN connection is charged seperately, when they began it was 700 rs a month, I think over time and with competition they have reduced it greatly. With LAN you can enjoy sharing huge files and playing online with other users near your location at mindboggling speed.
You can change the scheme on a monthly basis, i.e. if you feel 400 rs pack is very slow, go for the 640 rs the next time the sify guy comes to collect the money.
>They offer wireless connection for laptops too. I haven’t used it.
>If you use over 150 mbs a day on unlimited connection, they will reduce the no of days left for renewal by one day.
Pros I have experienced:
Unbelievably though, I did have good experiences sometimes.
>Consistency in connection speed(My friend had this huge complaint against hathway over this matter, also, my triband using friend faces this problem MANY times)
>Ease of reach and friendly customer care(chennai based BPO)
I have always reached the customer care number quickly, and if I am comfortable with technical issues, they can communicate with me efficiently.
>Good connection during monsoons
>Recently they shifted the switch/router to my building’s terrace, and my net has disconnected only rarely since then
>Doorstep collection of money. They even renew your account with the default package and pop up a page when you log on to sify. On this page, you can fix an appointment at your convenience, and the money collecting guy will come at the time specified. Although the actual follow up to this happens rarely.
But.:)
>Sometimes the problem with connection persists for 4 5 days. As there is no technician available to solve the problem.
>I have had bad experience with connection reliability over the period. The only permanent solution to it is to insist on having the router at your place/your building’s terrace. This will remove dependancy on the routers that are on the way(between the server and your pc)
>The anti-virus that comes with the package is pathetic, out of date and completely incapable of removing/detecting anything.
So if you don’t have any option but to install sify, do take a back up of all your valuable data, upgrade your operating system with patches(e.g. install service pack 2 if you are using windows xp), and reject the option of installing the anti virus that comes with it. Better to use a free and strong anti virus like AVG or pc-cillin
>If you use over 150 mbs a day on unlimited connection, they will reduce the no of days left for renewal by one day.
So as far as the summary of my recommendation goes, go for sify if you are a regular user and don’t get an unlimited schemer providing ISP(Your PC, your operating system, your web browser, and un detected and harmless worms and viruses keep using the connection, so even if you use 5 mbs, an extra mb is used by these hidden agents, and you end up using your limited data much before the month is over).
Or if BSNL/MTNL is available around your area, go for their schemes, I have heard that they are reliable enough(not perfect though)