Prepaid data card?

abhijitaparadh · 4th January 2009, 19:37

Are there any internet/mobile providers in India, who will sell a prepaid data card? I will be visiting India in Feb, for a month, and need data card for that time frame.

What will be other options to consider, if I want internet on my laptop for a month in India? I inquired rates for AT&T data card in US, and they are quite high for use in India.

Steeroid · 4th January 2009, 19:40

Reliance, AirTel, Vodafone, Tata Indicom, dont know about the others - maybe Idea and others have data cards too. If I'm not mistaken, BSNL/MTNL has EVDO data cards and plans too.

Thats a wide range of technologies - CDMA1X, CDMA2X, GSM/GPRS/EDGE, EVDO. No 3G yet, but when its launched there will be plenty of those too.

You have much more choice when it comes to telecommunications services in India than you would have in the US. Dont bother with AT&T or Sprint.

abhijitaparadh · 4th January 2009, 20:25

Thanks Steer.
My only question is, do all these companies in India provide data card for a month? Like prepaid phone card? I would not want to take a year's contract.
I mainly would want to use it in Pune. Idea seems to be having some prepaid data plans.

Any experiences with it? How fast is internet connection? Will I be able to realistically use it to remote-login into my machine in US?

Abhijit

SirAlec · 4th January 2009, 23:28

You can buy a GSM data card, if you have any ther bring it here, just make sure its quad band.

Install any prepaid sim, activate GPRS in it. Airtel has Rs.10-14 per day service with unlimited download. But the speed will be bit slow here even with EDGE. Well that my experience.

Or if you have N series or similar mobile, use it through bluetooth or data cable. You don't even need to spend extra cash on data card.

Steeroid · 5th January 2009, 00:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by abhijitaparadh

Thanks Steer.
My only question is, do all these companies in India provide data card for a month?
Like prepaid phone card? I would not want to take a year's contract.

Dunno. My prepaid data card is Reliance, I pay per kb. My postpaid plan with Airtel costs me roughly Rs.100 ($2) per month for unlimited usage, I'm sure there are similar plans for prepaid.

Its nothing to worry about in terms of cost. Even if you went for the yearly postpaid plan its Rs.1000, which is $20. What can you get for that kind of money where you come from?

Quote:

Originally Posted by abhijitaparadh

Any experiences with it? How fast is internet connection? Will I be able to realistically use it to remote-login into my machine in US?

Dont know about remote desktop, but I've connected to my corporate VPN comfortably for emails. I cannot use any of my corporate applications, though - takes forever to load up and therefore times out.

esteem_lover · 5th January 2009, 10:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by SirAlec

You can buy a GSM data card, if you have any ther bring it here, just make sure its quad band.

Install any prepaid sim, activate GPRS in it. Airtel has Rs.10-14 per day service with unlimited download. But the speed will be bit slow here even with EDGE. Well that my experience.

Or if you have N series or similar mobile, use it through bluetooth or data cable. You don't even need to spend extra cash on data card.

Airtel here charges 20 bucks for 24 hours. But wouldn't a data card be much faster ?

BaCkSeAtDrIVeR · 5th January 2009, 11:35

A sensible option would be to get a good phone with GPRS / Edge facility, connect to the PC / Lappie. And use a GPRS / edge enabled prepaid connection.

Idea has a USB modem type data card. Prices are a bit too steep though. 1.5K per month for unlimited downloads.

esteem_lover · 5th January 2009, 11:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

Airtel here charges 20 bucks for 24 hours. But wouldn't a data card be much faster ?

Also the phone (Nokia 5310) loses charge rapidly when i do this. My SE W550i is not like that though, I wonder why.

Steeroid · 5th January 2009, 11:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR

Idea has a USB modem type data card. Prices are a bit too steep though. 1.5K per month for unlimited downloads.

??? A Reliance data card costs all of Rs.2.4k all inclusive. Not sure about Voda, but their prices are similar and so is Tata Indicom.

What is idea providing that is special enough to warrant a 1.5k per month charge when competition offers Rs.100 per month unlimited GPRS plans and USB/PCMCIA modems (for GSM - CDMA you have to buy from the operator!) are freely available in the market anyway.

mail4ajo · 5th January 2009, 12:18

I would advise against using these datacards or USB internet devices unless absolutely needed or for short use.

I use a prepaid TataIndicom USB modem in Kolkata. Speed is pathetic and it crashes often. Connectivity in Kolkata is worst. My regular Airtel phone has an echo all the time. But just gets the work done. Browsing Tbhp is a pain with this speed.

emkay456 · 5th January 2009, 13:45

I think abijithaparadh is looking to rent a data card for one month use for temporary use. I doubt any ISP has any such scheme.

given2fly · 5th January 2009, 15:43

@ abijithaparadh, where do you intend to use it in India. If the answer is Pune (Your locations says that), go for Tata Indicom. That is what I have seen most users prefer here. If there is any other circle than Maharashtra, please mention so.

xotiq · 5th January 2009, 16:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steeroid

Reliance, AirTel, Vodafone, Tata Indicom, dont know about the others - maybe Idea and others have data cards too. If I'm not mistaken, BSNL/MTNL has EVDO data cards and plans too.

Thats a wide range of technologies - CDMA1X, CDMA2X, GSM/GPRS/EDGE, EVDO. No 3G yet, but when its launched there will be plenty of those too.

You have much more choice when it comes to telecommunications services in India than you would have in the US. Dont bother with AT&T or Sprint.

BSNL has the EVDO card, which is nothing but 3G. I have been using one for the past 6months, with maximum speeds that i have got being 1mbps.
In non EVDO (3G) areas, you still get CDMA 1X.

harry10 · 5th January 2009, 19:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by mail4ajo

I would advise against using these datacards or USB internet devices unless absolutely needed or for short use.

I use a prepaid TataIndicom USB modem in Kolkata. Speed is pathetic and it crashes often. Connectivity in Kolkata is worst. My regular Airtel phone has an echo all the time. But just gets the work done. Browsing Tbhp is a pain with this speed.

Yup i will second that. Recently used reliance data cards on my friends machine and god its so slow and crashes so often

Steeroid · 5th January 2009, 21:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by xotiq

BSNL has the EVDO card, which is nothing but 3G.

EVDO is not 3G. When a flavour of the standard is used over GSM, it becomes a part of 3G. That does not mean that EVDO = 3G. EVDO is CDMA 2000.

4th January 2009, 19:37	#1
abhijitaparadh BHPian Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: SF Bay Area Posts: 222 Thanked: 3 Times	Prepaid data card? Are there any internet/mobile providers in India, who will sell a prepaid data card? I will be visiting India in Feb, for a month, and need data card for that time frame. What will be other options to consider, if I want internet on my laptop for a month in India? I inquired rates for AT&T data card in US, and they are quite high for use in India.
	() Thanks

4th January 2009, 19:40	#2
Steeroid Senior - BHPian Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: N.A Posts: 7,046 Thanked: 2,751 Times	Reliance, AirTel, Vodafone, Tata Indicom, dont know about the others - maybe Idea and others have data cards too. If I'm not mistaken, BSNL/MTNL has EVDO data cards and plans too. Thats a wide range of technologies - CDMA1X, CDMA2X, GSM/GPRS/EDGE, EVDO. No 3G yet, but when its launched there will be plenty of those too. You have much more choice when it comes to telecommunications services in India than you would have in the US. Dont bother with AT&T or Sprint. Last edited by Steeroid : 4th January 2009 at 19:42.
	() Thanks

4th January 2009, 20:25	#3
abhijitaparadh BHPian Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: SF Bay Area Posts: 222 Thanked: 3 Times	Thanks Steer. My only question is, do all these companies in India provide data card for a month? Like prepaid phone card? I would not want to take a year's contract. I mainly would want to use it in Pune. Idea seems to be having some prepaid data plans. Any experiences with it? How fast is internet connection? Will I be able to realistically use it to remote-login into my machine in US? Abhijit Last edited by abhijitaparadh : 4th January 2009 at 20:30.
	() Thanks

4th January 2009, 23:28	#4
SirAlec Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: zxc Posts: 3,393 Thanked: 726 Times	You can buy a GSM data card, if you have any ther bring it here, just make sure its quad band. Install any prepaid sim, activate GPRS in it. Airtel has Rs.10-14 per day service with unlimited download. But the speed will be bit slow here even with EDGE. Well that my experience. Or if you have N series or similar mobile, use it through bluetooth or data cable. You don't even need to spend extra cash on data card. Last edited by SirAlec : 4th January 2009 at 23:30.
	() Thanks

5th January 2009, 11:35	#7
BaCkSeAtDrIVeR BANNED Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Kochi Posts: 2,522 Thanked: 752 Times	A sensible option would be to get a good phone with GPRS / Edge facility, connect to the PC / Lappie. And use a GPRS / edge enabled prepaid connection. Idea has a USB modem type data card. Prices are a bit too steep though. 1.5K per month for unlimited downloads.
	() Thanks

5th January 2009, 12:18	#10
mail4ajo Senior - BHPian Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: San Antonio, TX Posts: 1,957 Thanked: 331 Times View My Garage	I would advise against using these datacards or USB internet devices unless absolutely needed or for short use. I use a prepaid TataIndicom USB modem in Kolkata. Speed is pathetic and it crashes often. Connectivity in Kolkata is worst. My regular Airtel phone has an echo all the time. But just gets the work done. Browsing Tbhp is a pain with this speed.
	() Thanks

5th January 2009, 13:45	#11
emkay456 BHPian Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Mumbai Posts: 388 Thanked: 7 Times	I think abijithaparadh is looking to rent a data card for one month use for temporary use. I doubt any ISP has any such scheme.
	() Thanks

5th January 2009, 15:43	#12
given2fly BHPian Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Pune Posts: 213 Thanked: 0 Times	@ abijithaparadh, where do you intend to use it in India. If the answer is Pune (Your locations says that), go for Tata Indicom. That is what I have seen most users prefer here. If there is any other circle than Maharashtra, please mention so.
	() Thanks