Airtel FTTH Fiber Broadband User Experience in Chennai

Dear All,
I m from Chennai (KEELKATTLAI) n using Hathway Broadband. I m not satisfied with the same due to fluctuations in speed n frequent disconnections. Also the customer care is very poor in response.
Since I already faced similar connectivity issues with ACT n other local Fiber connections, I contacted Airtel. After some negotiations they have agreed to bring connection to our Falt since we are 36 users.

They have put a parking board states as Airtel Fiber n the Snr Sales manager told that its fully FIBERNET connection unlinke Vfiber.

Can someone clarify the below questions.

* They have promised speeds starting from 75 Mbps n 100 Mbps. Do we get the same speed as promised?

* How will the upload speeds be?

* How’s the Landline call clarity since as per my understanding it should be through VOIP?

* They have installed some pole along with Fiber splitters decdicated for our flat, even all the users use at same time does the speeds fluctuate?

Below are some of the images of pole n plan details.

3 E501 E5 A 0 E42 43 F4 8 B13 6 A0372 FC108 F
5646 A3 B6 6899 4 BDD A1 E4 BF68539 ED1 D9
316 CA484 1006 473 C 8933 EC4786 AB5981

I have had the connection only since 20 days so my experience is limited.
1. Speeds are as promised. I usually get 100 mbps (with wired connection). Don't remember any time when the connection was slow.
2. Upload speeds were capped at 5 mbps earlier. I'm getting symmetrical upload speeds from a couple of days. Best to enquire in your area about the upload speeds.
3. Call clarity has been fine.
4. There are only 2 connections from the pole in my case. I'm not sure about the splitter's handling. They are optical splitters so speeds variation may not be much like cable connections of ACT. I might be wrong though.

Thanks for the quick response. Can yu post some pics of yur modem n fiber connection?

Thanks for the quick response.

* Can yu post some pics of yur modem n fiber connection?
* Also how about speeds in Torrents? Do yu have any fluctuations?

Here is my experience of nearly 2 and a bit years of airtel FTTH. Please do note, I live in Gurgaon and in an apartment complex, so the scenraio may vary slightly.

1. Airtel always has a history of giving you more than the speed opted for. This is w.r.t to downloads.
2. They seem to now be getting their act together as far a uploads go as well. I have always had 100Mbps upload. However, till recently, as bb127 has mentioned they gave him only 5Mbps upload, which they have now bumped up to 100Mbps
3.Can't say much about it, don't use it. But, since it is FTTH and SIP/VOIP based, the clarity shouldn't be an issue.
4. FTTH's party trick is bandwidth. As long as the node feeding your connection is well fed w.r.t bandwidth, there should be no issues. Take my example, in my building there are 50 flats, almost all have airtel @100Mbps and there are 20 buildings, yet, I get good speeds even at "peak" hours.

The modem or as its called Optical Network Terminal (ONT) for FTTH wasn't provided by airtel but by Radius infra, they manage the network for our complex. Airtel is a 3rd party like a couple of other ISPs. They did give me a Bintaone router, but, I have my own Netgear router that I use.

Torrent speeds as you know depend as much on others as your own speed. A well seeded torrent results in max speeds at all times without any slow downs.

I hope this answers your queries. Feel free to ask more.

Thanks for your response.

Is it possible for you post some pics of the modem, splitter & broadband connection. I am bit excited to see it.

Sure

This is the ONT



The thin yellow wire is the Fiber, it goes into the basement of the building into an OLT.

This is airtel's router. Have to use it for the intercom in the complex.




Sadly both these devices have only 100Mb LAN ports which restricts me to only about 90Mbs download speeds. Will have to wait till airtel offers more than 100Mbps to have both these swapped out with ones with 1 Gig ports.

@krishnanramani you are not supposed to "Quote" the previous post in each and every reply. there is a reason the Quote button is hidden on the latest post. you can just post your reply and it is automatically understood as a reply to the previous post without the need for any "Quote".

Thanks itzmynet. Will follow

@Karan.1982. Thanks for the details. The CSM n area Sales Manager has promised 100 Mbps speed for sure. So I think they will provide 1 Gig port since it will be future ready.

Also where the telephone line gets split in home? Is it like the old DSL Filter?

The splitting is done by the ONT, it has both LAN and phone ports. The one below is an example of a 4 LAN and 2 phone port ONT like mine above. Even the Binatone router airtel gave has the same setup as well.

Thanks Karan. Now I need to wait for the connection to be installed actually. Very much excited. Hope I wont regret this decision of choosing Airtel. In the past I have never seen the connection speed go beyond 8 Mbps. Its 100 Mpbs which excites me.

I don't do much torrents. I remember getting around 10-11 MBps when downloading ubuntu image so that's pretty good. With 100mbps, speed will usually depend on the seeds.

Dear @bb127. Thanks for the insight. Keeping the fingers crossed. What modem they will give? One ONT & modem?

In fiber connections the modem is called the ONT. Airtel usually gives a wifi router along with the ONT.