Hello all. I have been using this god awful, horrible, and atrocious Siti/Indinet (more like S*ITTY) broadband for 5 years now at this point. When I first got the connection, I wanted to opt for something like Airtel or Alliance broadband as I heard from my friends that they are pretty good. Airtel straight up denied and Alliance LCO redirected me towards the Indinet LCO. I simply got a cat5e cable to my house from a switch hung up on a pole by a road near my house (it's still the same). Nothing else...
My Experience With Indinet:
Now packet loss, downtime for days, bad routing, request timed outs (both from LCO and the ISP side), in-game packet loss, and more got me pretty fed up. Netflix doesn't go to 4k, Prime video doesn't hit the highest resolution available and stay there, Hotstar keeps buffering... I am just done with this BS. The LCO is also extremely rude, always says it's my router's or PC's fault when the problem is in his end (I have an Archer C9, so should be a decent enough router), and has done many more bad things. We paid for a Siti cable set-top box while installation, and when we switched to DTH, he simply came to our house and took the box (that WE paid for) and went away. No one said anything.
He used to take 35 rupees higher than what he actually recharged for the plan including GST and warned us against doing online recharge (their portal is bad enough anyways). So how did I figure it out? I don't know how, but one day, on the play store, I stumbled upon the My Indinet app (pretty astonishing stuff). So I logged in using my mobile number and OTP. On the invoice section, I could see all of my invoices and my neighbors invoices for whatever weird reason (seems like a massive breach of privacy but whatever I'm getting offtopic). There I saw what was the actual amount he recharged for every month including GST. When asked for it, my LCO replied it's taxes. He stopped replying when I reverted that those recharges were including the taxes. But whatever 35 rupees right? No big deal so my parents kept on paying him that. He kept up the malpractice for couple more months until I sent Indinet a long email with screenshots of my actual my Indinet app receipts and LCO given receipts. Even then, forget a refund, a rude employee called me from Indinet and said, "It's a common thing within operators. They take this for a 24x7 service. Stop crying like a lil bitc* (they used some Bengali swear words and this is the best translation I can provide). And a 24x7 service my as*, I didn't even get internet 15 days out of the 30 days I pay for.
They shut down their services as soon as they see some clouds on the horizon. And all the users here in Kolkata would know about the thunderstorm around evening most days in this season. And once the internet goes down, it ain't coming back till next day noon. And I had a static IP at first. When I didn't need it anymore, I decided to stop paying the 3000 od rupees I pay every year for it, thinking my nat type would at least stay on Moderate, enabling me to play online multiplayer games on consoles. But NOPE, Xbox and PC jumps between Teredo unable to qualify and Strict and server connectivity blocked (with high latency and packet loss), nat type 3 on PS4, and D on my Switch. I can't even join any Minecraft server on PC. CSGO, Fortnite have become unplayable because of the packet loss. Rainbow six siege, division 1, and 2, pubg lite, COD, Battlefield IV, and V, Battlefront II damn near every multiplayer games I have played regularly on PC, I have faced problems. Forget about console games as they won't even connect...
Me and my friend used Parsec and when I had a static IP, it used to work perfectly fine. Then my friend moved and got S*itty broadband (previously he was on Alliance). And around the same time, my static IP package finished. And we couldn't normally connect to each other on parsec. We started using Zerotier and that worked for a while. Then my friend had to move again and got back to Alliance broadband. Since he switched to Alliance, the latency has always been above 500ms (unusable) on Zerotier for some reason, and without Zerotier it doesn't even connect. I know that it's a Siti broadband's problem because my other friends from other ISPs (Airtel XStream fiber, Jiofiber) also got the same thing trying to connect to me.
I switched to an over 100mbps package a couple of years ago. I didn't get the full speed because of the 100 Mbps switch used by the operator. When the operator recharged, he didn't tell me that I wouldn't get the speed because of that. I had to pay 3000 rupees extra to the operator for a gigabit switch to get over 100 Mbps (Yes I had to pay during the first installation and multiple wire changes as well). For that, he promised me once he lays OFC (which he said was gonna happen soon), I won't have to pay for that. Two years later, still waiting for fiber...
When I seriously started working online, I requested other ISPs countless times. But no one would enter my area. I called Airtel once again to request an Xstream fiber connection. Their backend team called me and told me that they once had their connection available in my area. But other LCOs and cable mafia drove them out. And mostly they didn't put up a fight because of a low number of users in my area. When I begged them for a connection and told them that I am ready to pay the cost of the cable (I thought the distance would be about 1KM, but it was much higher than that), they just laughed and told me that if I am ready to pay around 500000 rupees (including wire and manpower), I can get a connection.....
At this point, you guys might be thinking why didn't I got to the district consumer court against my LCO and Siti... Believe me, I really wanted to. Well, my parents didn't care before as they didn't use the internet at all. Then when we stopped DTH as well and all of their content became internet-based, they started getting mad as well at the downtimes, and the quality drops (no kidding the quality would drop below 480p on Netflix, Hotstar, and prime video sometimes). I found out about the central government PG (public grievance) portal a couple of days ago on this forum. I have lodged a complaint there... Let's see what happens...
TLDR: NEVER EVER GO FOR SITI OR INDINET.
I called up the Alliance LCO once again and he basically told me this: They got multiple requests ('leads') from our area and forwarded them to Alliance. They got permission to lay wires from the corporation. But my LCO stopped them. They apparently have this "mutual agreement" that one LCO doesn't enter other's area. When I said that this should be illegal, and one broadband company can not have a monopoly over one area, the Alliance operator told me that it IS illegal. But no one cares. Not even TRAI or the DOT. Then he said, "Suppose you pay me 20k for the connection including wires and all. Now to go to your area, the fiber cable has to go through two different LCO's areas. Now if one of the LCO cuts the wire, you would have to pay that 20K again. How many times are you gonna keep paying that? It's just not sustainable. And I don't really wanna tussle with your Indinet LCO and his goons." Then he gave me the number of a nearby H Fiber LCO.
Now I called them and visited their office back last year. I saw that the same LCO provides Hathway, Alliance, and H Fiber all together which seemed pretty weird. At first, they denied, then they agreed to look into it. Later, he said that if I need a new connection, I can only go for H Fiber. And he would give me a direct connection. He's gonna use two gigabit Fiber MCs (media converter), one on my end, and one on his, and run OFC in between (about 1km). And he said the whole setup would cost me around 15k. Should I go for it? And I got the confirmation from him that even if my current Indinet LCO cuts or breaks the wire, he would handle it. Not me. He seemed like somewhat of a better person than my current LCO, I don't really know...
Then he just stopped receiving my calls and I just gave up... Because of 5 days of constant downtime and no one coming to fix anything, I started spam calling him again a couple of days ago. He finally picked up and told me that he can give me the connection as soon as the lockdown would be over by 20th May (if the lockdown gets lifted on 17th, which I don't think it will but whatever). I asked him if it's possible to give me the connection within the lockdown as broadband service should be an essential service. Apparently some of his men went to jail for providing a new connection and they got a notice stating that they can do maintenance on their existing lines but they can not provide new connections. I don't know if that's true or not, he assured me that I will get the connection. Is there any downside to using media converters? Also, if there's any H Fiber Kolkata user here, please tell me about your experience with H Fiber. Do you get at least moderate nat? What are the downtimes like? I am especially scared because I saw in this forum that they started using Jio gateway. Now, I don't really care about blocked websites as I have Nord for that. Is there any other downsides to that?
PS Sorry guys about the long rant and the horrible formatting.
My Experience With Indinet:
Now packet loss, downtime for days, bad routing, request timed outs (both from LCO and the ISP side), in-game packet loss, and more got me pretty fed up. Netflix doesn't go to 4k, Prime video doesn't hit the highest resolution available and stay there, Hotstar keeps buffering... I am just done with this BS. The LCO is also extremely rude, always says it's my router's or PC's fault when the problem is in his end (I have an Archer C9, so should be a decent enough router), and has done many more bad things. We paid for a Siti cable set-top box while installation, and when we switched to DTH, he simply came to our house and took the box (that WE paid for) and went away. No one said anything.
He used to take 35 rupees higher than what he actually recharged for the plan including GST and warned us against doing online recharge (their portal is bad enough anyways). So how did I figure it out? I don't know how, but one day, on the play store, I stumbled upon the My Indinet app (pretty astonishing stuff). So I logged in using my mobile number and OTP. On the invoice section, I could see all of my invoices and my neighbors invoices for whatever weird reason (seems like a massive breach of privacy but whatever I'm getting offtopic). There I saw what was the actual amount he recharged for every month including GST. When asked for it, my LCO replied it's taxes. He stopped replying when I reverted that those recharges were including the taxes. But whatever 35 rupees right? No big deal so my parents kept on paying him that. He kept up the malpractice for couple more months until I sent Indinet a long email with screenshots of my actual my Indinet app receipts and LCO given receipts. Even then, forget a refund, a rude employee called me from Indinet and said, "It's a common thing within operators. They take this for a 24x7 service. Stop crying like a lil bitc* (they used some Bengali swear words and this is the best translation I can provide). And a 24x7 service my as*, I didn't even get internet 15 days out of the 30 days I pay for.
They shut down their services as soon as they see some clouds on the horizon. And all the users here in Kolkata would know about the thunderstorm around evening most days in this season. And once the internet goes down, it ain't coming back till next day noon. And I had a static IP at first. When I didn't need it anymore, I decided to stop paying the 3000 od rupees I pay every year for it, thinking my nat type would at least stay on Moderate, enabling me to play online multiplayer games on consoles. But NOPE, Xbox and PC jumps between Teredo unable to qualify and Strict and server connectivity blocked (with high latency and packet loss), nat type 3 on PS4, and D on my Switch. I can't even join any Minecraft server on PC. CSGO, Fortnite have become unplayable because of the packet loss. Rainbow six siege, division 1, and 2, pubg lite, COD, Battlefield IV, and V, Battlefront II damn near every multiplayer games I have played regularly on PC, I have faced problems. Forget about console games as they won't even connect...
Me and my friend used Parsec and when I had a static IP, it used to work perfectly fine. Then my friend moved and got S*itty broadband (previously he was on Alliance). And around the same time, my static IP package finished. And we couldn't normally connect to each other on parsec. We started using Zerotier and that worked for a while. Then my friend had to move again and got back to Alliance broadband. Since he switched to Alliance, the latency has always been above 500ms (unusable) on Zerotier for some reason, and without Zerotier it doesn't even connect. I know that it's a Siti broadband's problem because my other friends from other ISPs (Airtel XStream fiber, Jiofiber) also got the same thing trying to connect to me.
I switched to an over 100mbps package a couple of years ago. I didn't get the full speed because of the 100 Mbps switch used by the operator. When the operator recharged, he didn't tell me that I wouldn't get the speed because of that. I had to pay 3000 rupees extra to the operator for a gigabit switch to get over 100 Mbps (Yes I had to pay during the first installation and multiple wire changes as well). For that, he promised me once he lays OFC (which he said was gonna happen soon), I won't have to pay for that. Two years later, still waiting for fiber...
When I seriously started working online, I requested other ISPs countless times. But no one would enter my area. I called Airtel once again to request an Xstream fiber connection. Their backend team called me and told me that they once had their connection available in my area. But other LCOs and cable mafia drove them out. And mostly they didn't put up a fight because of a low number of users in my area. When I begged them for a connection and told them that I am ready to pay the cost of the cable (I thought the distance would be about 1KM, but it was much higher than that), they just laughed and told me that if I am ready to pay around 500000 rupees (including wire and manpower), I can get a connection.....
At this point, you guys might be thinking why didn't I got to the district consumer court against my LCO and Siti... Believe me, I really wanted to. Well, my parents didn't care before as they didn't use the internet at all. Then when we stopped DTH as well and all of their content became internet-based, they started getting mad as well at the downtimes, and the quality drops (no kidding the quality would drop below 480p on Netflix, Hotstar, and prime video sometimes). I found out about the central government PG (public grievance) portal a couple of days ago on this forum. I have lodged a complaint there... Let's see what happens...
TLDR: NEVER EVER GO FOR SITI OR INDINET.
I called up the Alliance LCO once again and he basically told me this: They got multiple requests ('leads') from our area and forwarded them to Alliance. They got permission to lay wires from the corporation. But my LCO stopped them. They apparently have this "mutual agreement" that one LCO doesn't enter other's area. When I said that this should be illegal, and one broadband company can not have a monopoly over one area, the Alliance operator told me that it IS illegal. But no one cares. Not even TRAI or the DOT. Then he said, "Suppose you pay me 20k for the connection including wires and all. Now to go to your area, the fiber cable has to go through two different LCO's areas. Now if one of the LCO cuts the wire, you would have to pay that 20K again. How many times are you gonna keep paying that? It's just not sustainable. And I don't really wanna tussle with your Indinet LCO and his goons." Then he gave me the number of a nearby H Fiber LCO.
Now I called them and visited their office back last year. I saw that the same LCO provides Hathway, Alliance, and H Fiber all together which seemed pretty weird. At first, they denied, then they agreed to look into it. Later, he said that if I need a new connection, I can only go for H Fiber. And he would give me a direct connection. He's gonna use two gigabit Fiber MCs (media converter), one on my end, and one on his, and run OFC in between (about 1km). And he said the whole setup would cost me around 15k. Should I go for it? And I got the confirmation from him that even if my current Indinet LCO cuts or breaks the wire, he would handle it. Not me. He seemed like somewhat of a better person than my current LCO, I don't really know...
Then he just stopped receiving my calls and I just gave up... Because of 5 days of constant downtime and no one coming to fix anything, I started spam calling him again a couple of days ago. He finally picked up and told me that he can give me the connection as soon as the lockdown would be over by 20th May (if the lockdown gets lifted on 17th, which I don't think it will but whatever). I asked him if it's possible to give me the connection within the lockdown as broadband service should be an essential service. Apparently some of his men went to jail for providing a new connection and they got a notice stating that they can do maintenance on their existing lines but they can not provide new connections. I don't know if that's true or not, he assured me that I will get the connection. Is there any downside to using media converters? Also, if there's any H Fiber Kolkata user here, please tell me about your experience with H Fiber. Do you get at least moderate nat? What are the downtimes like? I am especially scared because I saw in this forum that they started using Jio gateway. Now, I don't really care about blocked websites as I have Nord for that. Is there any other downsides to that?
PS Sorry guys about the long rant and the horrible formatting.
