Wireless or Wireline Broadband?

[TechPlex]

Friends! I am sick of sluggish broadband internet service I am using currently. So its a call for filling the application form for a new service. But this opens up a wide view of available services which are confusing me. Starting from wireless to wire-line services, budget plan to unlimited usage, 512 kbps to 1.5 Mbps. So help me. Shall I go for the newly famous Tata Photon+ like stuff which provide Time Based Usage plans (preferred because I will be using the internet rarely after my school starts) or pull the Ethernet cable to my laptop?

[Scientia Wiz]

First you should decide that whether you want speed to be your key feature or the money you will spend for it !

What level of speed do you want ?

How much is your budget ? Let me know !

[TechPlex]

My budget for monthly spending on the ISP starts from anywhere around 500bucks and ends at below thousand bucks. Even 900 bucks a month will be too costly for me since I will be using the Internet not so frequently (barely every weekend or so). I have checked out the website for Tata Photon+ and the Time Based usage plan with 30 hours free for Rs. 500 per month caught my eye. They also provide speeds upto 1.8 Mbps though they say 3.1 Mbps. But on calculating I have found that 1.8 Mbps i.e. 190~200 Kbps file download is also good for me. I can live with it.

[Scientia Wiz]

Yes its good !

It good for your need as per I know !

Hope you will enjoy your new internet plan !

[TechPlex]

Thanks Scientia Wiz. I am also too much obsessed with it. Still any other suggestion though my share of interest is in TATA Photon+

[ssk_the_gr8]

do take a look at MTS Mblaze , it has also got very good plans

MTS

[TechPlex]

No its plans did not match my needs. But thanks!

[mrintech]

TATA Photon+ is the best bet for you. I have used it and it's Awesome. You can check the detailed review here: TATA Photon Plus Prepaid Review

But remember following things:

1. In NON TATA Photon regions the speed will switch to the speed of TATA Photon Whiz
2. As per me, it's COSTLY
3. It's great for Casual Browsing and Downloading. But if you are thinking to download some heavy files using Torrents, Download Accelarators etc., it's NO good as the connection breaks - This is from my personal experience

Lemme know if I can help you any further

[TechPlex]

The connection breaks while downloading large files? Well its a drawback if it happens. But torrent provides support for pause and resume. So I think its fine. Isn't it? Or is it still a drawback?

[mrintech]

Suppose you want to download a large and important file using Torrents/DA at Night and you are expecting complete file download when you wake up in the morning

But the connection breaks mid way.....

So no use of Pause and Resume button.... as you have to start again where the connection broke

This is the main disadvantage - But if you can tolerate such things, than Wireless Devices are best bet for you :-P

Wireline connections are great for file downloads

[TechPlex]

OK this makes me take one step back from Wireless. So is there any Wire-line service similar to that of the Photon plus 30 hours plan or unlimited usage. Also keep in mind the budget.

[mrintech]

Broadband Plans- Broadband Tariffs- Internet Connection Provider in India:Airtel

Solo 3GB - 599 + 10.3% ST

2 Mbps till Bill Cap Value (3 GB), 256 Kbps thereafter

BTW Pune guys here can suggest you more better options depending on your residential area

[TechPlex]

Yes Mrintech, I think you are right. If I am enjoying a trustworthy and reliable service in exchange of some more money, then that's a price I can live with. And I only considered myself. Actually my family will also be using the internet and that too frequently unlike me. And they are not interested in downloads etc. So I think I should go with wire-line. thanks to all of you! I enjoy this place now!

[atulhost]

Originally Posted by TechPlex

The connection breaks while downloading large files? Well its a drawback if it happens. But torrent provides support for pause and resume. So I think its fine. Isn't it? Or is it still a drawback?

Yes, very good point raised here, that's the advantage of using torrent for downloading, It can not be a drawback as you need to not to pay for the downloads which you missed due to connection lost situation.

[Sarath]

It is easy to recommend Tata photon due to its increasing popularity but you should keep in mind one thing.

Round up all the different carriers to choose from Tata, Reliance, MTS, Airtel etc and ask them for a demo.
Hit speed test and check during peak time. That will give you an estimate of how good their coverage is at your place.
Speed depends largely on the distance from the tower and the no. of simultaneous users. Since the latter is not in your hands you should maximise on the first one.

I had to buy one for my friend and what I did was call them for a demo and see how much speeds I get. I found Tata Photon to be the best in my area and so got it.

To summarise it in one line. If you have a MTS Blaze tower right next to your house and a Tata one 500m apart, then MTS would give you better speeds. Thats why call for a demo.

Phew!