Download speeds very low esp during daytime

Hi Guys,

Over the last 40-45 days, I have started experiencing unusual issues with my BSNL broadband connection. I have a 1495 BB Combo plan in the Dharam Colony Area of Gurgaon.

My download speeds for files/videos (From almost all websites, with or without IDM) are very low, in the 30-60 Kbps range. Their are websites where the speeds will be greater but their is a lot of fluctuation while downloading from 0-300-100-200-0 and so on. It is like every few seconds, the download pauses for a cpl seconds and then restarts.

However when I check the speeds on speedtest.net (And I use different servers from all across the country), it shows me speeds of 3.2-3.5 Mbps. However on Welcome to BROADBAND NOC UTILITY PORTAL:239   Intranet, the speeds fluctuate a lot b/w 200 Kbps to 3.4 Mbps. While loading webpages with lots of images/flash content, the entire 440Kbps speed does get utilized. The only website where I consistently get buffering speeds of 440 Kbps or so is youtube or at times when I put multiple files up for download. The problem is worse during day time around 10 AM to 7-8 PM and the same connection works a lot better during night (Most of the time), from anywhere b/w a 2 MBps to a 4 MBps connection from one night to the other.

I have been going back and forth with the BSNL exchange guys regularly over this issue. They have checked and rechecked my line, changed my ports multiple times, reset my profile and even changed wiring. I ended up having to get the PG portal guys involved as well, but the issue still persists even as I am typing.

My current port has SNR in the 25-29 range and attenuation less than 30. However their are a few RS correctable errors and they keep on piling up as I browse/download. (I am attaching the screenshot from the router page)

Can someone tell me what is the reason behind these issues? The problem is that neither Airtel nor Reliance offers broadband in my area. Thus I have no option but to stick with BSNL. I have tried using Tikona and another wireless broadband service but they were even worse. I would appreciate if you could suggest what can be done to resolve these problems. The PG portal guys called me a few days ago and told me to call back if the problem persisted. And the exchange people SEEM to have done everything they possibly can. They are now saying their isn't much else they can do and maybe I should think about closing the connection.

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bsnl gets chocked up during the day time. i had a similar experience with bsnl here in gurgaon when i was on it. it was almost like they put you on shitty overloaded servers at around 11am and put you back on good servers at around 6pm. my primary problem was with packet loss which i got around by using a VPN. you can imagine how bad bsnl is when you get better pings and speeds through a swedish vpn than directly.

Thanks for the reply. Now they have once again changed my port. And this one has an SNR of 15 and very high ping times/low download speeds. Their most common reply to a complaint seems to be to change ports, even though it seems to do more harm than good. As the ports with low SNRs end up reducing download and connectivity speeds even further, even at night. I really don't know what to do any longer. I have called up Reliance guys to see if they would provide a broadband connection here, but it is highly unlikely that effort will succeed. Any other alternatives/options you can suggest?

all depends upon which operators are available in your area.

Could you tell me of any other operators beside Reliance and Airtel that are available in other parts of gurgaon and have decent/good quality product/service? I will contact each of them and see if any of them are available in my area. Appreciate your responses.

Nextra is available in some regions. Triple Play is another local player. I believe You is also available in some areas.
Reliance would not work on phones. Find a Reliance Mobile store. Get the number of a local sales guy and contact him directly.
If your usage is low, I can suggest getting yourself Airtel 4G. Reliance Jio might become available in coming months.

Thanks a lot. Unfortunately my usage exceeds 30 GB quite easily. Their are 3 users in the house. Mobile networks don't work properly as the network in our area isn't up to the mark. So I am not sure if 4G would be an option.

Can you tell me why you say Reliance won't work on phones? Are you saying their wireline internet/combo plans aren't good wrt quality/speed?

I meant it is not easy to get a Reliance connection through phone calls. I had to hunt down their sales guy by visiting multiple of their outlets in my area. Though once you get hold of the sales guy, getting the connection is rather easy. Phoning their customer care for a new connection usually does not work. No one is going to come to you. You would have to go to them 😀

How do I find an outlet for Reliance broadband? Sorry for asking this question, but I haven't come across anyone who has a reliance connection in and around my area. Should I go to their mobile outlet and ask them for the info?

Yup. Find a Reliance Mobile store and check if they have the number of sales guy. They also might have an idea about the availability in your area.

Alright. I will go and scout around the Reliance mobile stores in my area. Hopefully the search will be fruitful and they will be willing to provide a connection in my area. Thanks a lot for your help. Really appreciate it.

do understand that reliance can be horrible if your local gateway does not have a proper power backup. it would go down with every single power cut and local guys would provide zero support.

Ahhh. So if I ask the sales guys about this would they be honest about it and tell me about any such issues? And is Reliance broadband in general consistent with regards to connectivity and speeds?

One of the BSNL guys from the exchange I know well was telling me that Reliance was close to taking over all the OFC (Or something like that) equipment that BSNL has. Apparently that would mean BSNL's FTTH instrumentation being taken over by Reliance and all their connections as well. I dunno if any of that is true and what the implications of the same are, because BSNL was going to start providing FTTH broadband in our area over the next 2-3 months. If that does happen, perhaps it would be easier to get a Reliance FTTH connection. I could make do with this BSNL one for 2-3 months if hat was the case.

I would not trust anything that the Reliance person would say wrt quality of service.
If you go for the 4mbps plan, you would get 3.2-3.4mbps.
The connection is decent. Sometimes there are routing problems which forces me to rely on VPN for a few hours.
But overall, I prefer it over the Airtel 4mbps connection I have as backup.

Reliance FTTH is called Metro Ethernet I think. Not sure if they have it on offer here in Gurgaon.

Well the way my BSNL connection has been going those speeds with an unlimited FUP would be much better. I am downloading a file from mega right now and the average speed is around 180 -200 Kbps.

I think the exchange person was perhaps talking about Reliance Jio's FTTH arm, which will likely roll out sometime this year. When they got the provisional license in Jun last year, I think they were looking to procure/establish a base/system in place for their overall network. And then enter into tieups with a lot of other local establishments to try and extend the reach of the to-be-rolled-out FTTH broadband to the remotest possible corners of most cities. How successful they have been/will be and when this dream becomes a reality, well only the future will tell.

I will just be happy to have Reliance/Airtel as competition for BSNL to break its monopoly in ,y area to improe their service and provide me with greater options as a customer and to not have to make do with whatever is available and however it works.