Broadband in Bangalore

Perhaps it would help us all to know who are the major players offering "broadband" services in our respective cities.

Down here in Bangalore, we have

CABLE:

Sify Sify
Hathway Hathway (Star Group)
Incablenet In2Cable (Hinduja's INCable)
ZeeNext ZeeAccess (Zee/Siticable)
Iqara Broadband Iqara (British Gas)
Cablelite Alpha Convergence (A local cable operator)
Net4India Net4India (The former dialup ISP)

WIRELESS:

Reliance Infocomm Reliance (FWT)
Tata Indicom Tata Tele (FWT)

DSL:

VSNL/Dishnet Dishnet
BSNL BSNL
Touchtel DSL Touchtel/Bharti


Most players have a cap on downloads for any plan that costs under Rs 1000 a month. FWT is a major downer. Speeds get nowhere close to the 115 kbps claimed.

For some of the cable services, service in certain areas might be limited by the availability of the respective operator's Cable TV network.

If I have missed something, please feel free to add to the list.

thanks dude... infact i know 2 guys in bangalore who told me they just had sify broadband as the only option!

And I must add, that I almost ended up getting a Sify connection because my cable TV operator was making a major push for it. But I hesitated because I have had a bad experience with Sify's dial-up service where they restrict access to sites with no justification at all. They once blocked Microsoft's Windows Update site. I was trying to download an MS plug for one of its many holes. I got in touch with their customer care to be told that they were getting lot of viruses from that site and they had blocked it to protect their customers!!!I started out doing some research on broadband ISPs and ended up at Sushubh's sify broadband blog. One reading made me decide I won't touch Sify with a barge pole.

oooh. that's flattering!

Originally posted by catchgops@Sep 9 2004, 09:07 PM
And I must add, that I almost ended up getting a Sify connection because my cable TV operator was making a major push for it. But I hesitated because I have had a bad experience with Sify's dial-up service where they restrict access to sites with no justification at all. They once blocked Microsoft's Windows Update site. I was trying to download an MS plug for one of its many holes. I got in touch with their customer care to be told that they were getting lot of viruses from that site and they had blocked it to protect their customers!!!

I started out doing some research on broadband ISPs and ended up at Sushubh's sify broadband blog. One reading made me decide I won't touch Sify with a barge pole.
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lolol

howth hathway?

I haven't personally tried Hathway. The problem with all broadband services is that just a trial can be very expensive in terms of the cost of installation and modem. Hathway has just launched a Rs. 799 per month plan for unlimited downloads at 64 kbps.

Sify Broadband installation costed me 3500 bucks with no modem or any other hardware. The CTO still has not given me my complimentary Network Card that came with the package (He must have noticed I already had a card...)... Just some 100 meters of network wires was used up in installation...

Originally posted by catchgops@Sep 9 2004, 09:07 PM
I started out doing some research on broadband ISPs and ended up at Sushubh's sify broadband blog. ne reading made me decide I won't touch Sify with a barge pole.
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[/quote]mmmmmmm.........
Sushubh's objective of writing that blog will be fulfilled if just another few hundred people do the same. :lol:

About hathway - they're good, and their help desk is responsive. Uptime of the net is pretty constant, and good speeds through-out, but what they charge you for all this is a rip-off. EXTREMELY costly, at their rates even if you're just a casual surfer (forget about obsessive freaks here).

I also live in Bangalore, problem is that i live south... fo those who know Blore: down on the Bannerghatta Road and theres an area there with flats and it looks all nice and stuff but the problem is that they dont allow other company cables inside,they dont wanna 'ruin' this area with cables and stuff I have SIFY and Touchtell only here so..it sux

touchtel though expensive is pretty good imo. indicom though cheap and inexpensive can be slow...

Somebody tell me how Reliance works pleaseI live south of bangalore and i only can take sify amd it sux..Reliance is unlimited data/time? installatiion costs are low? any info?

Which part of South bangalore do you live in?Reliance presently offers internet access only through its CDMA mobile phones and its Fixed wireless telephones (FWT) , using the CDMA 1x 2000 technology. You can hook up a reliance CDMA handset to your PC/Laptop or get a GTRAN PCMCIA card for your laptop. Alternatively you can use a reliance FWT instrument. Both reliance and Tata Indicom claim 115 kbps speeds on this service. I have not used Reliance but have used Tata's FWT internet access service and based on that experience would not recommend this option as a primary mode of internet access for anyone. Speeds never went above 25 kbps. Ordinary PSTN dialup offers better speeds these days. However I have read that Reliance's speeds are better, around 45-50 kbps.When I last checked Reliance had discontinued its unlimited data plan. Its charges 40 ps per minute of access. Tata has an unlimited data plan.

tata indicom charges 1500 per month of unlimited access here. should be the same in south as well...

Hay Fellows, I live in US and my parents are in Bangalore at Maruti Sevanagar.

For almost a month i have been trying to find out if there is truely a unlimited broadband service available at an affordable cost and i still havent found one place where i can get some details on set-up and monthly cost. 🤔

If you have a few minuites to spare, please check on availabilit / cost of ownership and time commitments, Please let me know. it sure would be a big favour to me. 🙂

Being used to 3 MB per second speed here in the US, and hearing about 64K speed in bangalore, does hurt, inspite of all that i hear about bangalore and the IT advancement, i still dont understand why the market is stuck with limited internet usage and high setup cost. 🙁

I sure wish the 3MB/sec speed comes to bangalore before in return back to bangalore. 🙄

Please either reply on this forume or mail me on vijay_kumar_r@yahoo.com.. thanks fellows..

Well i odnt live in Banglore but i am sure Airtel( earlier known as touchtel) can provide u the best service . if u r lucky u can grab there "no installation charges" offer and they charge 1200 bux for 128k bandwidth adn there r no caps as of know coz my frnd downloaded 1.3 gb last nite ,lol . i wuldnt recommend going with cable TV operators who buy bandwidth frm ISP's and resell it to users. It might be Gud for the 1st month then it wuld s*ck major time. Forget bout them completely.