We (me and my roommates) got ourselves connected and hooked to Tata Indicomm BB (TIBB). With our new connection we were happy for few days. One day the flickering of the LAN connection in the MODEM went off. We registered a complaint. In a month, once or twice somebody will ring up to the mercy of waiting souls to tell them their efforts towards resolving the problem. After futile N number of attempts to get it fixed we requested to terminate the connection.
After few months, one day we happened to visit Reliance Communications. We, BB beaten guys, took the Reliance Dial-up (RDU) internet connection. Thanks to the consistent 10-15 kbps of the download, just few kbps less than the TIBB, for keeping us abreast with the e-world.
Knock-knock!! We got a Registered post from TIBB. We have been asked to appear in the Court of Law for not paying the bill for three months!!! Yes, three months but only 15 days of usage. The TIBB technical guys knew it, but still it happened. I guess TI has got its different units, as in Technical and billing, on different planets without interconnection. We were shocked!!! We talked to TIBB guys and closed the issue. We made sure to close the connection with a note of confirmation from their end.
We were happy with the Reliance Dial-up, slow but steady. One day we had a call from Reliance regarding their broadband (RBB). As we were quite happy with them we happily agreed for it. We requested to close service for the Dial-up. We filled in the termination form at one of their outlets, handed over their telephone set, paid the balance and got the acknowledgement. We went for Rs 750 plan (128 kbps and unlimited download) in RBB. We were paying nearly the same for TIBB. But we were paying more for the Dial-up as it was a RS 350 plan with free surfing only between 10 PM to 6 AM. Initially we managed but later we started using it any time of day and ended up paying nearly Rs 1200 a month for it. This was one of the reasons for why we wanted to change to BB again. We did not have Airtel BB (ABB) connection in our locality so it was ruled out. My friend has one and stays happy with his 14 kbps of download speed for the so called ABB.
The RBB installed their WiMAX antenna. Wow! I was happy with the technology and gave Rs 100 to the guy who installed it. I could not hold the glee for long. I found the LAN icon with a Limited connectivity warning. I called up the customer care and found that their server was down for sometime and soon it will be up. It happened countless number of times.
Let me rewind a little. I was about to call the RBB customer care and I yielded my nerve after finding the number to be a STD call for me. They have only a Mumbai number and if you want to try your nerves just try getting a guy from the technical department online.
With the RBB only advantage was 24 hrs unlimited download. Dare anyone who thinks to download at 18 kbps. With some currency in mobile I called up the Customer care to complain about the speed. I would have never known the concept of a group and the division of the download speed in a group. Since I had taken 122 kbps and as Mr. RBB TP told it’s divided to four (Where did they mention it??) I should be getting 122/4 ~= 30kbps. So 18-20 for 30 was not bad!!!
I have a motto; I will STOP on my LAST day. We had heard about BSNL broadband (BBB). For Rs 900 pm they provide unlimited download with 2mbps speed. Woooo...We got BSNL landline telephone connection and applied for BB. Finally we got the connection. We had a MODEM with us, so we didn’t buy one from BSNL. The BSNL MODEM’s are preconfigured so that it could be given to anyone to install the connection. When the BSNL guy came we handed over our MODEM. Giving it a strange look he said it is not an ADSL MODEM so this will not work!!! Not knowing what ADSL stands for we requested him to try once. He did many things, according to me nothing and just kept murmuring ADSL. We told him, later we will let him know if we will buy the BSNL ADSL MODEM worth Rs 2k.
This is from Wiki; Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) is a form of DSL, a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission over copper telephone lines than a conventional voiceband modem can provide. It does this by utilizing frequencies that are not used by a voice telephone call. A splitter - or microfilter - allows a single telephone connection to be used for both ADSL service and voice calls at the same time.
I had one XAVi’s X8821r+ MODEM which is supposed to have all the ADSL breeds. In the evening I tried and in an hour, with help from some sites, I did set up my MODEM to work. Read my next blog where I will describe the steps to set up personal MODEM for BBB.
In the mean time we had requested to close the RBB. They told they will get back after 15 days. They never got back till date. Lets me summarize now,
- TIBB – Connection status closed. They are yet to collect their stuff from my house. I have requested them many times but it has not happened yet.
- RDU – Surprisingly I am still getting the bill. Sometimes I get calls from them, asking me to transfer the number to someone or convert it to pre-paid. I was very angry on the last guy I had spoken to. He confirmed for no further calls in this regard and said he will cancel the bills generated.
- RBB – The process has not started yet. It’s been a month since I had raised a request to close the connection. I am getting the bills. Few days back when I had been to their outlet they told that I need to go to one of their office and fill a form. No one told me this earlier. Let’s see how I resolve it.
Happy surfing,
AMD
26-Dec-2007 Bangalore
