[sukiwa]

Transfer rates on any data card is not that satisfactory. Only reason to use data card instead of wired broadband should be portability of data card.

[phamilyman]

use wifi in home, and subsist on data card outside. There is no solution.

Reliance USB modem tho did give some truly amajhing speeds recently in BLR 'burbs. YMMV

/tata indicom user here

[BurningHeart]

Originally Posted by sukiwa

Transfer rates on any data card is not that satisfactory. Only reason to use data card instead of wired broadband should be portability of data card.

Understood. Looking for the better of the lot.

BH

[spadival]

Try BSNL EVDO. I believe EVDO service has already started in TVM. It will be much faster than Tata Indicom and Reliance put together.

This site has some reviews -> BSNL EVDO - UnOfficial Portal

[NetfreakBombay]

Yes EVDO is best in terms of speed (1 or 2 mbps claimed, 500 - 700 kbps actual).

Second is any GSM (EDGE + GPRS) based data card (Airtel, BSNL, MTNL etc). It can support max ~200 kbps, actual speed would be ~50 kbps.

CDMA based data cards (reliance-CDMA, TATA) are worst. Since max possible speed is ~140 kbps and actual speed would be ~30 kbps.

Reason of abysmal speed is due to poor spectrum available to telecom operators. Since voice traffic gets higher priority over data, wireless cards can give you full speeds only when call traffic is very low on network.

[BurningHeart]

Originally Posted by spadival

Try BSNL EVDO. I believe EVDO service has already started in TVM. It will be much faster than Tata Indicom and Reliance put together.

This site has some reviews -> BSNL EVDO - UnOfficial Portal

Yes, I had called them up last afternoon. They seemed least bit interested in making a sale. I think I have to go in person to get this moving.

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

Yes EVDO is best in terms of speed (1 or 2 mbps claimed, 500 - 700 kbps actual).

Second is any GSM (EDGE + GPRS) based data card (Airtel, BSNL, MTNL etc). It can support max ~200 kbps, actual speed would be ~50 kbps.

CDMA based data cards (reliance-CDMA, TATA) are worst. Since max possible speed is ~140 kbps and actual speed would be ~30 kbps.

Reason of abysmal speed is due to poor spectrum available to telecom operators. Since voice traffic gets higher priority over data, wireless cards can give you full speeds only when call traffic is very low on network.

Thanks NFreak. Very useful to know this.

[rex_varghese]

Originally Posted by kuttapan

There should not be much of a difference in speed between USB and PCMCIA from Tata Indicom. I chose the PCMCIA for the reasons carboy mentioned + it has an external antenna(better reception where the signal is weak).

Does this PCMCIA card works out of Bangalore? I'm looking for a way to access my mails and office intranet while I'm on the move and have no access to a broadband accent point.

Regards
Rex

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by BurningHeart

Need to work from home (in Trivandrum) for the next four months. Looking for a data card with good xfer rates.

Have a home broad band from Asianet Data Services already. But I would like a data card for my laptop (to keep the personal and professional lives separate!!) as it gives me flexibility to move about.

Reliance would have been my choice. But after reading mouthshut reviews on Reliance and Airtel, both seem to be offering dismal performance.

Has anyone here used/bought a data card in the past? What do you recommend?

BH.

I use Reliance (CDMA 1x) and AirTel (GPRS/EDGE) when in India. I find Reliance speeds to be consistently better than those of AirTel. In any case CDMA (1x or 2x) speeds will always be higher than those of GPRS/EDGE based networks. 3G/HSDPA is another matter altogether.

EVDO from BSNL will also be some flavour of CDMA 1x or 2x so it cant be very different from Reliance except that their network may initially be less congested and may therefore show better speeds.

[redfire]

Originally Posted by BurningHeart

All,

I am working from home in trivandrum for the next two months. Looking for a data card to stay in touch with the project team abroad. Has anyone bought/used a good data card? What do you recommend?

BH.

BH - Airtel, TATA and Reliance provide Data cards / USB modems, cost 3-3.5K. I found reliance slightly better in terms of network coverage and connectivity. I am using one when I am in transit, and most of my friends in IT industry are using reliance. But none of these have speed to keep a VPN connection stable and work smoothly, if that is your purpose, though they are not bad for browsing. If you need net access for extensive support (like VPN, FTP, some remote desktop /session, etc) I would advice you to go for a Asianet cable / BSNL broadband. Asianet has some temporary connection schemes like renting a modem so that you dont have to own which will be a waste when you return.

EDIT: Sorry I have not read your mail fully. So you already have Asianet BBand and looking for a datacard only, then reliance is better.

[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

I use Reliance (CDMA 1x) and AirTel (GPRS/EDGE) when in India. I find Reliance speeds to be consistently better than those of AirTel. In any case CDMA (1x or 2x) speeds will always be higher than those of GPRS/EDGE based networks.

CDMA 1x has a max capacity of 144 kbps (as deployed in India by Reliance/BSNL/MTNL/TATA Indicom)

While GPRS has max capacity of 296 kbps if phone/modem supports EDGE (Class 32).

Its possible that you got better speeds on CDMA but that would be if Airtal did not have good network in that area.

I am using MTNL's EDGE connection in Mumbai and speeds at ~90 kbps during day and ~180 kbps early mornings / late night.


GPRS plans are cheaper as well if you buy a SIM from MTNL (400 Rs per month for unlimited usage)
Welcome to MTNL VAS

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

CDMA 1x has a max capacity of 144 kbps (as deployed in India by Reliance/BSNL/MTNL/TATA Indicom)

While GPRS has max capacity of 296 kbps if phone/modem supports EDGE (Class 32).

The GPRS/EDGE speeds you are talking about are the theoretical max rates. Actual data transfer rates are slower on GSM Packet Data Transfer than on CDMA - this has more to do with the carrier service (GSM/CDMA) than with the technology (GPRS/EDGE/EVDO) itself. The difference between theoretical and real-time data rates is much higher on GSM, basically because GSM is Time Division multiplexing.

Therefore the observation that:

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

Its possible that you got better speeds on CDMA but that would be if Airtal did not have good network in that area.

Is not true in real life. Reliance/Tata Indicom/BSNL/MTNL will always be faster, until 3G arrives in India.

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

GPRS plans are cheaper as well if you buy a SIM from MTNL (400 Rs per month for unlimited usage)
Welcome to MTNL VAS

I use AirTel unlimited - Rs.1,500 per year. Thats about Rs.125 per month even though I pay upfront.

[spadival]

Originally Posted by BurningHeart

Yes, I had called them up last afternoon. They seemed least bit interested in making a sale. I think I have to go in person to get this moving.

Yeah.. I wonder why they spend so much money hiring Priety Zinta and all, if they dont bother to sell their products.

Originally Posted by Steeroid

EVDO from BSNL will also be some flavour of CDMA 1x or 2x so it cant be very different from Reliance except that their network may initially be less congested and may therefore show better speeds.

EVDO is a 3G technology and is much faster than any CDMA 1x network, Reliance included. Speeds can go as high as 2 mbps, which isnt technically possible with a CDMA 1x network or with GSM EDGE.

Only drawback is BSNL hasn't implemented EVDO all over the country, just a few cities for now. Either way, you will be able to access BSNL's CDMA 1x network with the same EVDO card. But, there is very little info on coverage and even lesser support from BSNL folks for those who want to buy this product !!

[srishiva]

Use EVDO if possible. It operates on a separate data only frequency carrier and does not have the voice component.

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by spadival

EVDO is a 3G technology and is much faster than any CDMA 1x network, Reliance included. Speeds can go as high as 2 mbps, which isnt technically possible with a CDMA 1x network or with GSM EDGE.

EVDO is a CDMA2000 standard. 3G is a GSM standard.

However, some flavours of 3G do use EVDO (N America) while most others use WCDMA (most of the GSM world) or TD-CDMA (the chinese, mostly). EVDO is mostly used by the North American operators in 3G implementations as North America has been the stronghold of CDMA.

However, EVDO is ALSO a standalone CDMA standard unlike WCDMA which is 3G (CDMA over GSM). This is why you do not need a 3G license in India (none issued yet) to provide EVDO. A proper 3G implementation will require 3G licenses (and spectrum) and it is very likely that India will go the WCDMA way and not EVDO or TD-CDMA.

Yes you will have better speeds with an EVDO only network, but how feasible is it to roll-out a data-only network without Voice Support? Voice is the bread and butter for a wireless operator - data is still very much on the luxury list. Therefore your EVDO-only network is also likely to be very localized - you stand a better chance of remaining connected with CDMA 1x if you're travelling around.

All this is until 3G truly arrives. Then you have the best of both worlds - availability and speed in one shot.

[spadival]

Slight correction there - CDM2000 is a hybrid 2.5/3G standard (according to wiki). 2.5G part of this is the CDMA 1x standard and 3G part of it is the EVDO standard. So you can have broadband speeds where EVDO is available and CDMA 1x speeds where its not. So you get the benefit of broadband speeds without losing out on wider coverage that CDMA 1x networks offer.

However, If I were a business user, I would opt for the reliablity of Reliance 1x over BSNL's EVDO/1x. You never know when you will be left in the lurch with BSNL.