Few questions regarding Airtel Broadband connections.

Hi,
Thinking of moving from Pacenet to Airtel since Pacenet's plans are too old and speeds are not so great. Have a few questions in my mind and I know you guys are a better and honest bunch than any customer service rep in any company. So I'll fire away 🙂

My monthly downloads are usually around 40 gigs on a 256k connection, so I assume when I upgrade, it'll jump up a little high for the first couple of months. After that, I don't expect to use more than what I usually use, that is around 40 GB. And I download using Usenet, so I don't have the hassle of uploading or having good ratios.


[*]I'm thinking of going for the Turbo 1099 plan which gives me 512kbps till 25GB, then 256kbps for the rest of the month. And it also gives me 1mbps during nights (10pm-6am). I want to know if the night usage is counted in the 20GB bandwidth limit for the month.
[*]What type of connection is the one offered by Airtel. I use Pacenet which is handled by my cable guy, and it's a PPPOE connection with a Cat5 cable to my house, where I run it into a wireless router. I've read of the Airtel connection needing a seperate modem. I want to know if I can run it to my Linksys WRT54GL directly instead of renting/buying their modem.
[*]Are there any hidden caps? The 20GB cap is there, but it's explicitly advertised. I want to know if they have hidden caps which trigger an even slower speed and which isn't advertised at all and which the support team won't ever acknowledge.
[*]How are the speeds? How stable is the connection? My Pacenet connection can go for days without being disconnected and have received the correct speeds right down to the last KB/s, that's 32KB/s.
[*]What are the first-time charges that I have to pay? How are the billing policies? How good is the support? Do they acknowledge problems from their side? Do their people turn up immediately when you report a problem?
[*]Any other ISP or Airtel plan I should look at? My budget is around 1200-1500/month. I've skipped MTNL since I live far away from my exchange and the line is completely shot, so the moment another landline is connected to the same line, my internet goes down. And the last time I had Triband (about 3-4 years ago), I never got more than half the speed that I had selected (128kbps on a 256kbps plan).
[/list]

Here are replies to your queries:1) Night usage is not counted in the 20Gb bandwidth limit.2) Airtel provides a Free DSL modem. This can be connected to your WRT54GL so that you can use wireless at home.3) No hidden caps. Whatever is mentioned is always explicit.4) Rock stable connection almost always. Downtimes are minimal. Speeds are rated above 32 KBps on a 256 connection. Airtel includes overhead so you may get speeds upto 40KBps on a 256 line.5) First time charges include a non refundable Rs.500 charge. The modem is supplied free of cost. Support from call center varies depending upon the person you are speaking to. Usually transparent billing. Best way to get in touch with Airtel is via email. This way a written record automatically exists in case of any discrepancy in billing etc.6) You can always change plans in Airtel via a telephone call or an email. It takes usually 3-5 days to change to a new plan with pro rata billing.I would advise sticking to Airtel if you are able to get it. Many areas aren't connected due to lack of digging rights etc.I have a 1mbps Airtel Line. Speeds are in the range of 124-130 KBPs.

Awesome, thanks for the reply. Will switch to Airtel then 🙂

I'm thinking of going for the Turbo 1099 plan which gives me 512kbps till 25GB, then 256kbps for the rest of the month. And it also gives me 1mbps during nights (10pm-6am). I want to know if the night usage is counted in the 20GB bandwidth limit for the month.
It's 512 Kbps till 20GB and not 25GB as you have mentioned. Night usage is not counted in the 20GB limit.

What type of connection is the one offered by Airtel. I use Pacenet which is handled by my cable guy, and it's a PPPOE connection with a Cat5 cable to my house, where I run it into a wireless router. I've read of the Airtel connection needing a separate modem. I want to know if I can run it to my Linksys WRT54GL directly instead of renting/buying their modem.
Airtel is ADSL. That means it's a PSTN telephone network. Copper wire runs up to the splitter. Fixed line phone and the ADSL modem are then connected to the splitter just like BSNL. You don't need to rent/buy modem from Airtel. Airtel provides an ADSL modem free of any rental/charge. Linksys WRT54GL is not an ADSL router. So, you need to connect the "LAN OUT" of ADSL modem to "LAN IN" of of your Linksys WRT54GL. Then connect all your PCs and laptops to Linksys WRT54GL via LAN or WiFi. If you're not sure how to do this, tell the Airtel technician to do this for you.

Are there any hidden caps? The 20GB cap is there, but it's explicitly advertised. I want to know if they have hidden caps which trigger an even slower speed and which isn't advertised at all and which the support team won't ever acknowledge.
No hidden caps.

How are the speeds? How stable is the connection? My Pacenet connection can go for days without being disconnected and have received the correct speeds right down to the last KB/s, that's 32KB/s.
I'm also on the 'Turbo 1099' plan. I get around 600 Kbps (75 KBps) during the day (6AM-10PM) and 1200 Kbps = 1.17 mbps (150 KBps) during the night (10PM to 6AM). Speed changes automatically - i.e. you don't need to restart modem. As mentioned above, connection is extremely stable. I'm using Airtel broadband since last 1.5 years and there have been very few downtimes. Downtime is rare and that too is fixed within a couple of hours once you call 121 and complain. 🙂

What are the first-time charges that I have to pay? How are the billing policies? How good is the support? Do they acknowledge problems from their side? Do their people turn up immediately when you report a problem?
You need to pay 1000 INR (Non-Refundable). The ADSL modem and wiring is free. Billing policies are excellent. Support is excellent as well. They do acknowledge problems from their side. Their people turn up within 2-3 hours after reporting a problem.

Any other ISP or Airtel plan I should look at? My budget is around 1200-1500/month. I've skipped MTNL since I live far away from my exchange and the line is completely shot, so the moment another landline is connected to the same line, my internet goes down. And the last time I had Triband (about 3-4 years ago), I never got more than half the speed that I had selected (128kbps on a 256kbps plan).
Go for Airtel. Trust me. You'll regret if you go for any other ISP.

Sorry for sounding like an Airtel rep but whatever I have mentioned above are the facts. Maybe Airtel should hire me or something... 😀

Do not go for Airtel. They will screw you . either way - front or back . hehechaitanyia is airtel rep or pi.....m.... p. lol

Both the commentors have stayed relevant and ontopic by being specific. Care to share an experience or atleast some facts about Airtel instead of attacking the posters themselves?

my case - i have an Linksys ADSL Modem - model AM300. it stopped working on but works fine on BSNL. But beetel modem works fine on the same Airtel line, Please explain. Also Netgear ADSL modems have stopped working (if they are still working, they will cease to work on airtel line) . They - airtel - will ask us to buy Beetel modem which are nothing but compex modems. They sell the same to us @ 1500/- ( but purchase the same @ 500/-) DO NOT ask me where i got this info from. ( from the horses mouth). in short airtel wants cash ASAP to fund thier ZAIN africa buying and we are the bakraas.

Don't ask me where I heard this or how I know this. But if you can, clone a Beetel modem's WAN MAC address across to your Linksys modem's WAN port. Then try connecting 🙂

google is your friend. try MAC cloning 😀

Hmm, another doubt. Do all plans have free/uncapped night (10pm - 6am) usage or is it just the Turbo 1099 plan that's got unlimited night bandwidth?

my case - i have an Linksys ADSL Modem - model AM300. it stopped working on but works fine on BSNL. But beetel modem works fine on the same Airtel line, Please explain. Also Netgear ADSL modems have stopped working (if they are still working, they will cease to work on airtel line) . They - airtel - will ask us to buy Beetel modem which are nothing but compex modems. They sell the same to us @ 1500/- ( but purchase the same @ 500/-)
I'm using a Netgear router and it's working fine.

Do all plans have free/uncapped night (10pm - 6am) usage or is it just the Turbo 1099 plan that's got unlimited night bandwidth?
It's just this plan.

I submitted my details on their website (box on left-hand-side) about 5 days ago but haven't received any reply from them. How many days do they usually take to follow up?

Don't wait for them to call back. They rarely do. Call up customer care yourself.

Haha, I called them up about 5 minutes before you posted. Took this CSR about 9 minutes to take down my address and give me a response. I see a bright future for myself with Airtel :redface:

I had been an airtel customer for over 4 years. The only problem I have had with them is high pings. Their pingtime to first hop itself takes around 30-50ms. You can check this by 'pathping' on windows. I guess it's an issue with ADSL technology itself. Which means you have +50ms to any server. This affects you if you are into online gaming - 50ms is great, 100ms is playable and 150ms is disaster 🙂 Otherwise the connection and service is rock solid.