Team-BHP - The DATA Card and USB Modem discussion thread (Reliance/Airtel/Tata)

Well Sirjee,

Just if you missed it completely, it works on EDGE, GPRS, etyadi as well. I wouldn't have been so over-enthusiastic otherwise. I have a feeling that most of the people complaining about poor Airtel GRPS service, may have something to do with their Qualcomm based data cards. Don't know if third party works any better.

In Pune, Airtel GPRS will simply not work well anywhere in a 50 KM circle around it. Rest of India, Simply WOW!

Networks
EDGE/GPRS 850/900/1800/ 1900 MHz
HSDPA/UMTS 850/1900/2100 MHz

Quote:

Originally Posted by phamilyman (Post 999969)

sarkar,

its 3G aka HSDPA etyadi. Meaning a few years away. Cross that bridge when you come to it :)

Disclaimer - I don't work for Airtel. Just a happy GPRS customer for past couple of years!

DCEite - there's no definite answer to your query... but from whatever I have used and seen others use...

If you won't be roaming (outside NCR, All through the country)... tata should serve you better. Otherwise Reliance is expected to have better coverage.

I have Reliance data card and Airtel (through my phone)... so far airtel is doing better!... but its just been a couple of months with airtel.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DCEite (Post 1004125)

I am looking for a reliable internet plan for my laptop. My requirement is always on connectivity. Downloads do not matter, as i would be using this for official work.

Which one to go for: Reliance netconnect USB modem or TATA plug2surf ?

Inputs appreciated.

My work profile usually involves a lot of travelling, both to metros and ocassionally non metros, rural areas too sometimes.

I would re-emphasize that Tata Indicom has no issues with connectivity both across North and South india.

Plus if you go for the Tata Indicom vData card it is a slick PCMCIA card whose antenna can be stowed away and hidden.
The dirty reliance version has a bulky rubber antenna sticking out and can be inconvinient.

Good luck! If you dont like the Tata service you can always unlock the datacard and insert a reliance sim card after applying for a new connectionclap:

Based on recommendations in this thread, I just picked up a Tata USB Plug2surf earlier this week. Observations:

- Cost about Rs. 3,000. They are running a new year scheme at the moment which gives you 3 months of usage free.

- Logging on is instantenous. No delay, only about 5 seconds to get on to the network.

- Range : Very few service providers catch range where I live (right on the beach). Till date, reliance was the only one with a strong signal. I was pleasantly surprised to see the Tata dialer showing 4 / 5 bars across my place.

- Speed : Faster than dialup for sure. Of course, if your work connection is cable / higher, the wait period for a page load can go to a couple of seconds and needs some getting used to. But overall, it is something that you can definitely live with when out of town on work or holiday.

If initial impressions are anything to go by, I'd recommend a Tata Plug2surf. Cheap, decent speed and zero hassles. It works just the way it is supposed to. Must-have for the traveller who can't afford to stay away from emails / work.

I have Tata PCMCIA card with a corporate plan, and it is overall good in performance. I have managed to get good speed while roaming in Chennai, Mumbai, Pune, Chandigarh, Himachal and Rajasthan, and also in NCR

Also install an application SPEED, available on Tataindicom site, which do some compression of data to increase the speed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTO (Post 1144617)

Guys, what is the best internet plan for laptops? I heard there was a BSNL EVDOX one, is it active in Chennai?

If not, Tata or Relaince? I stay in Kottivakkam near thiruvanmiyur and travel almost to Chengelpet daily to office thru ECR - Medavakkam - Tabmaram. Which will give best coverage and speeds?

Urgent inputs required from Chennai BHPians.

My experience with Tata indicom plug2surf is really bad. I bought my connection along with my laptop from Croma on 3 Aug 08. I was promised a connection in 48hrs but did not get it until 19 Aug 08.

Never got more then 2bars of strength and I live in the heart of Mumbai. The engineer they sent did not look like even a paanchvi pass. All he did was call his manager and walk through the installation again. It just did not help.

I was told that it is a tower issue and there is no expected time to correct it. In the meantime, they bill me for the entire month, including the days the connection was not active! On complaining, they waive off a measly 50 odd bucks. I decide to hang on for some more time.

I was under the 30hr for a month plan, but could not even use half of that. Their billing system is like a Mumbai taxi. Meter chalu even if not a single byte downloaded.

Finally I ask them to disconnect. They simply close my complaint without any comments. Raise another compllaint next day; same fate. Call them the third time and they agree to disconnect. But do it after another billing cycle.

Now they are harassing me on phone and sending recovery agents to my house to collect bills which I never incurred.

If anyone wants to purchase an almost brand new modem let me know. I would be interested in swapping for a USB stick from Vodafone anyday.

abdriver2000:
I have had the experience of poor connectivity with the
Tata Indicom plug2surf at two specific locations.
1) At the Vodafone Building on old Pune-Bombay Hwy in Pune.
2) At the Axis Bank office at Corporate Park, Sion-Trombay Road, Chembur.

In both cases, it is due to the cellular tower being too far away.
In Pune, the closest one to the Vodafone building is opp. Sancheti Hospital, 1.35 km away.

However I have had excellent connectivity, all along the length of the Bombay-Pune expressway (except a patch between Khopoli and Khandala.
Also excellent connectivity in 99% of Bombay, Nagpur, Bhopal, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Sholapur and Nashik.

So, all in all, I am happy and satisfied with my Tata Indicom/Sungil Korea plug2Surf SXC-1080 CDMA 1x modem.

The DATA Card and USB Modem discussion thread (Reliance/Airtel/Tata)-sxc1080.jpg

It uses Qualcomm's cellular 800 Single Band CDMA Class 0, MSM6025 Mobile Station Modem (MSM) chipset.
Transmits in the band: 824 ~ 849 MHz; Receives in the band: 869 ~ 894 MHz

Ram,

What bothers me is not the connectivity. But the quality of support provided. They bill me for days I have not used my modem. They also bill after the connection is discontinued. And then they outsource the recovery to other agencies which have no idea why they are doing this!

Just google for billing complaints and you will find thousands of them for plug2surf.

This might be slightly OT. I have a PCMCIA card in one of my laptop which has a Vodafone sim. Now I want to convert it to the USB stick modem since my other laptop does not have PCMCIA slot.

Vodafone USB stick costs 2999 and Idea USB costs 2499. Do you think Idea will take the vodafone SIM? Or is it locked to the IDEA network?

The objective is to simply save 500 bucks :)

i have used over last two years three data cards-- Airtel pcmia card, Tata indicom plug to surf and now a reliance CDMAx1 netconnect.

I must say that the airtel experience was the worst (because of both bad billing policies and speeds), though apparently now they have increased speeds (maybe because there are lesser users). They never change plans,no matter where you request.

Tata Indicom was the fastest, till they started advertising with Kajol. After that the world started using it and speeds dropped.

Now Reliance is the decent speeds and one gets connection everywhere. I have had no issues with VPN also with it. It is not as fast Tata Indicom used to be earlier, however it is faster than Tata Indicom is now.

That said, speeds are depended upon tower location, and hence will differ greatly from house to house.