Thinking of living in Bangalore for a few months

[Nate75Sanders]

If I shouldn't make posts like this or if they belong another place, let me know, and I apologize in advance.Hi,I'm an American who's thinking of living in Bangalore for 5-6 months starting in the latter part of 2006 (haven't decided for sure yet, but I think it's quite probable). I was generally looking for tips/advice/whatever anyone wants to offer, but I do have a few specific concerns. I'm going to be financing my stay by playing online poker both before I go over and while I'm there. For this reason, it is EXTREMELY important that I have both stable electricity and a stable internet connection. The internet connection doesn't have to be fast or even have particularly low latency, but it should be very reliable. I'll be using a laptop, so I won't need a UPS for that, and could devote a UPS solely to a cable modem/DSL modem. I normally use my laptop screen + an external LCD monitors to play multiple tables at the same time, but if necessary could use only my laptop screen during power outage. I'd much rather be able to play in my apartment than at a PC room/LAN/Cyber cafe, which is why I'm bringing up this concern -- it's extremely important as it would be my source of income during my visit.I've looked into prices on broadband, talked to an Indian friend whose brother lives in Bangalore and gotten prices on apartments, etc (sounds like you can get a decent apartment for under 150 US/month?) and been reading everything I can about Bangalore and am pretty excited about coming there...If anyone has any advice (especially about apartments/places to live) or specific information about my above concerns, I'd really appreciate it.Thanks a lot,Nate

 

[avinds]

In some countries ppl drive left of the road...In Blore...we drive what is left on the road...

 

[Sushubh]

this was a nice one... 🙂

 

[netfreak]

Budget nearly the same amount (USD 150) for Net connection. A typical 512 kbps connection would cost USD 60, and you will need 2 of them to ensure that you have a backup if one of them fails.Anf instead of UPS, go for an "inverter" if you are using a laptop. Inverters that can support laptop + DSL/Cable modem for up to 6 hours, cost USD 300.

 

[thecoolone]

well ur not the first one coming to blore... many have come before and being a banglorean myself i can tell u the city is very pleasant and its people are very kind and helpful. i dont see any problems that u will face here as far as ur stay is concerened. there are 2 areas in blore that are particularly attrative for foreingners with many appartments and independent houses for rent.. the two are is would recomend is Indiranagar and Koromangala- Jayanagar.Ok as far as for ur internet connectivity and electricity worries goes electricity is stable in those parts of the city and there u will have the 2 best ISP's in the city (hathway and airtel). both are equally good without any downtimes, so u can choose any of the two. only point i wanna tell u abt hathway is that it blocks port where as airtel does not.hope u can find this info helpful

 

[voltus5]

hi, im more or less in the same situation of Nate75Sanders. I might live in Bangalore for work stuffs during some months this year and any info is more than welcome 🙂

How much would it cost me to join a gym in Bangalor(like 4 times a week sessions)?

what about night life? is there any interesting place for a 29 yo guy?..lol

many have come before and being a banglorean myself i can tell u the city is very pleasant and its people are very kind and helpful[/b]
...its very nice to hear that 😛

 

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[Raptor]

Interesting place....Hmmm I can only think of MG Road. Any other suggestions?

 

[avinds]

Blore:City of pubs

 

[akash]

my few frnd r in bloren they say thattheirr more ppl into rock read extream metal than in mum or delhi.so i guess night life sud be rockin

 

[viralbug]

^^^ yes that is true and thats why there are so many pubs in bangalore. but i have heard that though there are many pubs, most (maybe all) close down at 11 pm.

 

[blr_p]

Night life in BLR is not as good as it was, clubs close sooner and most places kick you out by 2 AM. IF you still want to party you need to find places that are outside the city limits.If you just want a pint and chill out pubs will keep u till 11pm. Having said that BLR is pretty much more cosmopiltan than other more conservative metros in neighbouring states. The weather is a heck of lot cooler as well.The electricity is stable depending on the time of yr. Monsoon season expect a few minutes cut every cpl of days, it gets better during the months of Dec to Feb. Then again it depends on the area, some places it could be down for an hr or more, again every cpl of days. If you must have it more stable consider Bombay, i hear they rarely get power cuts if at all, plus the ppl there are prolly the friendliest you could meet in the country. But it's also more expensive.So if you absolutely must be online, then you would need to have a ups to keep your modem going. oh and you'd prolly be better off spending New Year's eve in Thailand or Goa as NYE in BLR is not great.A cpl of internet lines just for the redundancy is a good idea too. I don't have any exp with Hathway, but i'd say the uptimes with Airtel have been quite exemplary since last June when i hooked up with them. In terms of reliabilty i'd rate them pretty close to roadrunner when i was in NYC. Of course the speed (256k tops unlimited, more like 200k) & price @ Rs.999+10.2% service tax is another matter, but i hear they're working on that 😉The hard thing in your situation is knowing *FOR SURE* whether either Airtel or Hathway can provide a connection to wherever you choose to stay. There is no convenient web site where you can enter a st. address and know whether its available or not. Even calling their salesmen is not a gurantee..they might say yes, but in effect they are planning to roll out to that area "real soon". You would need to find more independent ways to verify this.Thing about salesmen in India is they don't like to say NO. They will say anything but, and it can be pretty damn frustrating if you come from a culture that expects a straight answer. Course you could prolly say the same bout salesmen anywhere but this place is unique in that way.About the apt, $150 seems on the cheaper side but then again you prolly only want cpl of rooms, be prepared to put down 10 months rent as a deposit to even qualify to get an apt. This might depend on who you deal with but that's pretty much std practice. If you share it gets cheaper, but then you don't get the privacy if that's important.

 

[netfreak]

I live in Mumbai, and keep visiting Bangalore every other month. Probably the best thing about Bangalore is its weather (IMHO)..... few places in India has such comfy weather throughout the year.

 

[viralbug]

yes the weather is really great in bangalore.but the roads and traffic is equally worse. 🙁

 

[salluks]

hi, ive lived in bangalore all my life almost 23 years, trust me u dont wanna come down here, if u still wanna come ,then theres mysore about 150 kms from bangalore, mysore has the same whether as bangalore, so no worries but the cost of everything like real estate is 10% to bangalore u can stay in mysore, and come down to bangalore during the weekends about the internet facilities, thats not a problem, but do not come till july there are frequent failures in power during summer, almost 3 hrs a day cheers hi, ive lived in bangalore all my life almost 23 years, trust me u dont wanna come down here, if u still wanna come ,then theres mysore about 150 kms from bangalore, mysore has the same whether as bangalore, so no worries but the cost of everything like real estate is 10% to bangalore u can stay in mysore, and come down to bangalore during the weekends about the internet facilities, thats not a problem, but do not come till july there are frequent failures in power during summer, almost 3 hrs a day cheers

 

[max]

Well, I wouldn't recommend Banglore. The roads are BAD. The power isn't as stable as Mumbai. But if you gotta live in BLR then you better find one of the affluent areas. They will cost you a lot but then you'll get all what you want - stable power, stable internet. As for the stable internet part, better go in for two different ISPs.