USB Broadband Modem

grizzlyofalaska

Hi There,

I will be in India for atleast a month this summer. I will be mostly traveling in Manali, Himanchal And Kerala.

The questions i have are:

I knwo the USB modem technology has arrived in India but what has been your experience with the speed? Is it really broadband?

What is the coverage and connectivity?

Do i have to pay roaming if i am using my broadband form different states?

How easy it is to buy a USB Boradband modem? I have a friend who is an Indian national who can buy it for me. But i need the connection up and runing as soon as i get there.

Do i have to sign up for a minimum contract?

I am travelign on my own and a lot of time i plan to just sit in a hotel toom next to the beach hear the ocean and use internet for company eg Video chatting.

Thanks,

Nick-H

'broadband' is available by ADSL over fixed telephone lines.

There is mobile connectivity available, either using the phone as a modem, or a dedicated card plugged into the laptop.

Won't be fast, though.

I think it has been discussed here.

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IndiaMike Mod Team (The Grumpy One)

manojb

People at work use if for working from home (they use Airtel), so I will try to answer what I know from them.
No, it is not really broadband. My colleagues report that typical speed is about 20Kbps. Anyway, real broadband does not exist in India.

Airtel claims that wherever there is an Airtel network, you should be able to use it. However, we haven't had a chance to test this since our usage is entirely within Bangalore city. Connectivity is reliable and stable. No dropped connections
Our usage is entirely within Bangalore, so don't know.
You need the same documentation as for a mobile SIM card. There is no minimum contract, but they charge you a heavy fee (Rs.5000 or so) upfront as set-up charges.

Ashish.K

Phew... Queries menance

Anyway First of all i would like to welcome you to India, People's land

Broadband are limited to Wired lines only, however different speed options uptill 8MB are available

Boradband is more or less available everywhere, though some areas with non-connectivity of wired lines we are having WiMax Broadband available.

Practically roaming is possible only in GPRS only, and they are charged generally for a monthly contract only. No roaming charges are liable on GPRS.

Your friend can only sign-up the contract, being an Indian citizen and yes it is based on the usage only. The more you use, more you'll end up paying. You get some unlimited options too, which i am not sure match your requirement or not.

For Video Conferencing you has to use use proper broadband only, as Mobile GPRS do not offer so much high-speeds in India to support Video-Conferencing. And 3G in India is still a Dream

Cheers

Nick-H

Christened "Fraudband" on another techie forum .

The technology is there, and was adopted late, so there is no reason that India's DSL offerings should not be as good as any in the world, but both government and private companies find it comfortable to parcel it out in Kb/sec with low data transfer caps. One day...

joseph10

If you stay in rural places or the smaller towns airtel mobile office is probaply the best option. But to keep the mind peacefull forget about mobile broadband even when it is promised.

Airtel is slow (over here appr. 4 to 7 kb/sec while airtel claims 56 kb/s) so for mail it's ok, but when you really want to surf you better bring a book or have some other activity while waiting.

edwardseco

A bit slower than my 10 mps..