Electric Supply Pins Plugs Adapter etc explained

You can use GPRS (via Mobile Phone) or a datacard.. I would go with GPRS- similar speeds, and can be done easily (sometimes on a daily charge basis) from a prepaid connection too.

There are some threads on this in the electronics in india forum, but you have read those.

Contact airtel or somesuch (or better go there) and say you want a prepaid connection and intend to use GPRS. If you have a SIMcard already, it is a simpler matter. Most companies have these plans.

Avoid BSNL/MTNL for this, though. Their customer service will be even worse than the private companies.

I tried that for many hours at airtel, and the basic reply was this- yes, you can activate gprs on your phone, on a prepaid plan, but cannot use this as a modem for your computer. In other words, you can only browse the internet on your phone, not on your computer. That's what they said, firmly and repeatedly, and several employees confirmed this. They said in order to get internet access on your computer, you have to have a post-paid plan, which are not available to tourists for the obvious reasons (no guarantee of payment). I also tried reliance with the same response.

Anyone else have any thoughts?

Thanks Capt.

And what about the electrical issues? Does a laptop in india need a surge protector, voltage regulator or what? What are you guys using?

excuse me while I sneeze.......b*llshit! Sorry Grikoo - but its this sort of carry on that gives telecoms companies a bad name. If your phone can be enabled for GPRS and its modern enough - then it can be used as either a bluetooth modem, or via a cable connection to your laptop.

What they are referring to is the dial up service they provide which installs a dialer onto your laptop (which contains the password and config information). That is only available for post paid.

protecting your gear is always a good idea. Our laptops are plugged into a UPS (wouldn't specifically recommend this arrangement - its a 2kva UPS and weighs about 40 kilos)?

ok, so you're saying that with a bluetooth enabled phone or a data cable, that I can simply enable the gprs capacity on the phone, then use it essentially as a modem?

This is what I'd been led to believe from the forums, and I couldn't think of any reason this would be a problem, but every company I went to (and I usually asked several employees) vehemently denied that this was possible.

I did see that bsnl has some sort of prepaid internet card, but I've not been able to get to one of their offices yet to discuss it.

Regarding the power supply issue- Obviously I need something that can be easily toted around, not something weighing 2kg. I'm going to go to chandni chowk and see if I can find something there.

grikoo - you need to get to an Airtel office where people know what they are talking about.
I have a Bleu phone (not with Bluetooth) and can use a USB cable with it to access GPRS connection with Airtel and have been doing this for more than a year. Can't help you with an office in Delhi, since I don't know where they are. The cost for this internet connection is Pre-paid and 395 rupees per month. You will also need an Airtel Sim card as well. As BB has said, there are some other threads here with information, re getting connections and hooking it up to your computer.
Here are a couple of those thread:
Airtel GPRS/EDGE internet on Apple Macintosh (MAC) OSX 10.5

How To: Getting Online With Airtel Prepaid and a Macintosh
Whilst your computer and phone may be different models, it gives you some idea - this can be done!

Alright, so regarding power supply for a laptop, I spent some time in Chandni chowk talking to several vendors until I came across one that seemed fairly knowledgable. He said basically that a surge protector was the best you could get in a small size. The voltage regulators/correctors all seem fairly heavy and bulky, and not too appropriate for travel. He also pointed out that overnight charging is generally safest, and that with the proper adaptor, you can take advantage of the voltage corrector that your hotel uses for the air conditioner. I didn't make it down to Nehru bazaar, but for future readers with similar questions, that might be a better place to look.

Regarding phone/internet- I went BACK to the big airtel office in connaught and today was graced with a very nice representative (getting there at opening time seems to provide a little better service). She didn't exactly say that it absolutely couldn't be done, but said that the mobile office setup was very poor right now and that Airtel was having problems with the prepaid portion of it. Whether or not that's true, who can say? Might be true, might be true only in delhi (which doesn't at all make sense). I don't know what to think at this point. I did try the SMS 'gprsact' to 511 as mention in the latest posts on this subject that I could find (feb 2008), but it simply returns an error message. I have not tried the one in the mac article aishah just mentioned but will take a look at it tonight.

We're leaving delhi tomorrow and will take up the issue again when we are near a knowledgeable airtel office.

Please continue the posts on this subject.

great post. I stopped by the bizarre after I reached India and picked up a few adapters for less than a couple of dollars. I almost bought them in the US for 20$ but thought I could buy them in India. It was well worth the wait.

Thank you , John

I went looking tonight and the store clerks here in Vancouver either did not know what they were talking about or it was out of stock. I will wait for delhi.

.

I don't doubt that it seemed bizarre!

I'm new here, but have already benefited greatly from the site. Thanks to all.

My question: We are planning to move from the US to Chennai for at least 2 years. We have small (and big ;-)) children who love video games and TV. Can anyone review my math and make sure we are on the right track?

http://www.indiamike.com/photopost/d..._india_300.JPG

In more detail:

http://www.indiamike.com/photopost/d...m/Picture6.jpg

Examples:
Surge protector
Transformer
Adaptor

Any insight or advice is greatly appreciated.

Mod Note: Welcome to India Mike, Klingo. I have changed your large pictures into links for members to see them this way. We try to encourage members not to post large photos or pics in the advice threads on the page. It makes it easier for Members to pick up their information quickly when scrolling down a page, to have the links only.

I think that 1.8Kw might be a bit much for the single small-type three-round-pin, its socket and the wiring to that socket. Do watch out for smoke. I melted a similar plug with a 1KW travel kettle.

I think your equipment should include one or more stabilisers for stuff like TVs and HiFi

Thanks for the quick response. Can you post a link to a stabiliser? Would one of these do the job?
Link

We will be moving into a relatively new home. Will the outlet likely be the smaller type you mentioned or something that can handle this load similar to a EU or US outlet? (We are all non-smokers at home)

Err... probably. It might be a good idea, combining the stabilizer and transformer.

The outlets will mostly be the small kind, as in your picture of a plug, but there may be some larger 15-amp outlets

Sorry if this is obvious - but re: ipods - are these devices that are universal and will work with any voltage power supply? Would assume with such a ubiquitous item that this is the case.

In which case I only require an adapter from australian plugs (that I will buy in Mumbai within my first couple of days) for my ipod and mobile, which I think are the only two electronic items I'm going to take.