As the world turns itself into a techno savvy community, people like Reliance and TATAs find new ways to earn their bread. Sometimes they come out with cheap cars and sometimes data cards like this. I purchased this 21.6 mbps Huawei Dongle thinking it to give me at least 50% of claimed speed.
I had a choice between ZTE 7.2 mbps device also, but ZTE’s products are not so good, my previous experience with BSNL EVDO which was ZTE’s product was a nightmare, so landed up with 21.6 mbps e-stick.The sales package was good though.The device cost was 4000/- at Jayanagar 4th block outlet and came with;
1. A Free Reebok wrist watch worth 2500/- (this watch is given away by many big shops, maybe worth 250/)
2. A discount of Rs. 500/- in every month bill for 8 months, which will recover my initial investment of 4000/-
3. First month 5 GB free and no bill at all (this device stopped loading even Google home page after 2 days of purchase)Box packing came with 1 meter USB extension cord, user manual, and a beautiful looking 3G dongle, which is a dark blue in color.
Installation was done on my laptop at the Jayangar outlet itself but they said they don’t have 3G coverage in Jayanagar area for 21.6 mbps device, but will get around 5 mbps speed, which I really got actually in Jayanagar, so I thought I should get at least 10 mbps in my area in Bannerghatta, which has a very strong 3G signals of upto 95% speed.
My laptop says that it is now connected to 3G at 28.8 mbps, so there is contradiction with what advertisements actually say at 21.6 mbps. Tatas need to be sure what they are going to offer in the first case.To my sad surprise, when I started using this device in my area, the speed was very very low, not enough to load Google pages also.
Speed test and Speed. I always shows speeds of over 4 mbps but none of the common websites like Youtube, google, gmail, yahoo, etc. will load properly. The speeds were worst than my old Photon Plus connection.I don’t know if Tata Docomo can really keep up to its promise over the speeds that it claims to give, if it can, then nothing like this device.
Huawei devices are the best dongle’s I have seen. Never go for 7.2 mbps device which is a ZTE product.I think this concept of 3G with TATA Docomo is still in its teething stage and hence so many goodies are offered for free with the product, so that at least the device keeps moving in the market and then the technical feasibility will come into place.
Personally, I will not recommend this product at this stage to my enemies also. People who are adventurous and risky kind, go for it and follow up with service technicians everyday to check your mail on a so called infamous 21.6 mbps 3G e-stick.