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

Quote:

Originally Posted by carboy (Post 3261654)

OK, thank you. Couple of questions
- What exactly is soft-wifi?

The data card's software uses your laptop's built-in Wi-Fi adapter (if installed) to create a hotspot, for upto 5 devices. There are other more expensive dongles that have their own Wi-Fi adapter built-in, but their relative bulk makes it cumbersome to use on-the-go.

- If I buy a card from the vendor (say Airtel) is there any way to unlock it later on?

I'm not aware of an official way to do this. Some people can (unoficially) patch the dongle's firmware to unlock it, but it's risky business, and not very reliable. With an unlocked dongle like the Huawei ones, you just need a data-activated SIM from any service provider and you're good to go.

- Flipkart also has Huawei E303U which seems to have better reviews - any idea about that?

Identical to 3121 feature-wise, except theoretical max downlink speed (3121 supports 14.4Mbps Downlink, while 303u supports 7.2 Mbps max). Shouldn't matter much with Indian 3G though, I'm yet to see constant/stable 3G service in double digit download speeds.

Sorry for the late response, been offline for a few days. Responses above in bold.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simhi (Post 3140546)

I am interested in purchasing BSNL 3G Prepaid Data Card (from Teracom).

I am planning to do the same. I want to buy Teracom T3G21A and then go for BSNL 3G prepaid data plan. Any feedback on the service in Bangalore & Mysore area would be helpful.

I got Teracom T3G21A (21 Mbps) 3G Data Card for Rs 1,382.00. I took BSNL prepaid SIM for Rs 100 & did life time plan FRC of Rs 36. Later I did a top up of Rs 139 for 1GB data. Speed is good in Bangalore city. I will try outside Bangalore next week.

Only negative is it took 3 days for the SIM to be activated.

Anyone from Kerala got Mts Mblaze Ultra? today MTS guys came and did a demo at my house with mi-fi and ultra(ZTE AC2791). the speeds in the evening are disappointing between 0.9mbps to 1.9mbps at 3PM time. however, I checked with Idea 3g and it was peaking at 2 mbps speeds.
MTS fellas are telling the speeds can climb up to 6mbps with ultra modem during the non-peak hours. however, one thing I noticed is excellent coverage inside the rooms also. may be because of CDMA tech. their plans looks cheaper for 5GB plus usage as Idea 3g is more expensive.

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Originally Posted by msdivy (Post 3274260)

I am planning to do the same. I want to buy Teracom T3G21A and then go for BSNL 3G prepaid data plan. Any feedback on the service in Bangalore & Mysore area would be helpful.

Huawei E303C is better and is not locked with Cellular providers. this is the same usb modem as E303D(Idea Netsetter 3G).

Not sure what is wrong with Reliance NetConnect since past 2days in Mumbai! Network shown is full but instead of Hybrid its on HighSpeed 1x mode. They claim 3.1mbps speeds but i've never seen speeds anywhere close to that.
My office broadband 512kbps is much faster than this.
Any alternatives in Mumbai suburbs?

Anybody using Vodafone 3G USB DataCard in Mumbai? Wanted to know if any of you really get 6.2mbps speeds as claimed!
I'm quite sick of my Reliance NetConnect.

I have activated 3G on my Vodafone sim number which is much faster than my 3.1mbps claimed Reliance!:deadhorse

I am facing a peculiar problem on my airtel 4g lte datacard after shifting my house.
I am getting good signal at all the room except one room. It seems like there is some kind of jammer as signals drops to 0 the moment I enter that room. Even my mobile phone voice quality (again from airtel) also degrades in that room and internet signal on my phone goes to Edge, where in other rooms I am getting H+.
There is only TV in that room and no other electronics item which can cause magnetic fields to hamper signal strength.

Any idea, what could be the issue?

Folks,

Is it not possible to change the Photon from a postpaid to a prepaid plan by just requesting through the customer care over phone ?

Background : I recently shifted from Hyderabad to Gurgaon and have a photon which was bought in Hyd, running on a postpaid data plan. Due to my limited usage now - I travel less often, I want to change it to prepaid. I visited the photon outlet in ggn and was told I would have to go to Hyd and get it changed :D. Is this true ? Has anybody ever done something like this ?

Not just Tata all of the others too will not take a request for changes to basic set ups be it for a data card or a sim outside the home circle. In today's World with all sort of IT set ups in place this is quite archaic but thats' the way it is.

As for the Photon what you can do is to have the same put in to sleep mode within the postpaid plan, this is something that can be done over phone. Once this is done you will be charged Rs. 50/- per months as long as you do not use it. The moment you do you will be charged per your plan for that billing cycle and the data card will be active from that moment on unless you ring them back and have it put back to sleep.

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Originally Posted by Fiest@DuraTec (Post 3311058)

Due to my limited usage now - I travel less often, I want to change it to prepaid. I visited the photon outlet in ggn and was told I would have to go to Hyd and get it changed :D. Is this true ? Has anybody ever done something like this ?

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Originally Posted by PetrolRider (Post 3311032)

That room possibly falls in your nearest cell tower's dead-spot (called black-spot, null-zone, white-spot etc. by different service providers). It's basically a small area of reduced or no coverage, caused by a variety of factors.

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Originally Posted by manavdotcom (Post 3312295)

I have Tata Photon. Can I use that SIM in some phone to make calls. Need a Mobile number temporarily and don't want to go for another number.

I don't think you can. But funnily you could make calls using their old data cards (not Photon) - the ones that fit into the side slot in your laptop. The software interface used to come with phone dialer ... (also saved me in a few cases when my mobile battery was down)

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Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao (Post 3311783)

Could be the possible theory. Irony is, the nearest cell tower is on the building roof top only.
I know this is a stupid question, but is there any option to improve signal strength ?please:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fiest@DuraTec (Post 3311058)

Folks,

Is it not possible to change the Photon from a postpaid to a prepaid plan by just requesting through the customer care over phone ?..

From what I understand, you need to place a request thru customer care and then submit documents to the outlet from where you activated the card. I am NOT sure whether you can submit the documents in ANY outlet. Atleast this is what I have been told.