[prasanna.vps]

Originally Posted by motorworks

Airtel broadband purely for the sake of hanging on to intercom in my apartment society. So the lowest plan they have is around 499, I managed to get some discount and now I have a monthly net bill of Rs.480,

Sadly no, Airtel refused to sell me pure landline for a similar purpose thinking of moving to bsnl.

[smartindboy]

Instead of having one connection with a higher speed, I prefer two connections, such as Act & Airtel/Jio, with their entry level speeds 30-50 mbps.

The advantages with this approach:
- back-up or redundancy, if one goes down, the other is still functioning.
- setup of routers in two different corners of the house, so better coverage
- better load balancing of routers and you don't need to invest in expensive routers and extenders
- all and many more advantages for almost the same price.

[shipnil]

Originally Posted by diyguy

Same for me. I switched the plan from 799 to 499 yesterday.

Originally Posted by LonelyPlanet

I too am stuck with 2 Mbps with Airtel and promptly moved to 499 plan.

Originally Posted by libranof1987

Spoke to the Airtel Area Manager;

Have you guys started to get 40 mbps download speed post plan conversion? Like you, I changed my plan to 40 mbps plan thorugh Airtel Thanks app but my speed still is around 20/22 mbps. It is greater than 16 mbps which was my plan earlier but not 40 mbps.

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by shipnil

Have you guys started to get 40 mbps download speed post plan conversion?

Very much; Speedtest shows 43.8 mbps right now.

[msdivy]

Originally Posted by smartindboy

Instead of having one connection with a higher speed, I prefer two connections, such as Act & Airtel/Jio, with their entry level speeds 30-50 mbps.

The advantages with this approach:
- back-up or redundancy, if one goes down, the other is still functioning.
- setup of routers in two different corners of the house, so better coverage
- better load balancing of routers and you don't need to invest in expensive routers and extenders
- all and many more advantages for almost the same price.

Interesting solution. Have few queries.
1) Cost: Isn't it 2x, instead of 1.5x for single provider? Base plan of 50Mbps costs Rs 800 for most providers (in Bangalore). For 100Mps its Rs 1,200. So 50Mbps from 2 providers will be Rs 1,600.

2) Load balancing: How do you switch? Is it manually? On alternate days, weeks? Did you consider dual-WAN routers?

PS: I was planning on same but settled only with one broadband provider. As a backup I have my phone data, which is quite sufficient to handle the broadband outage.

[smartindboy]

Originally Posted by msdivy

Interesting solution. Have few queries.
1) Cost: Isn't it 2x, instead of 1.5x for single provider? Base plan of 50Mbps costs Rs 800 for most providers (in Bangalore). For 100Mps its Rs 1,200. So 50Mbps from 2 providers will be Rs 1,600.

2) Load balancing: How do you switch? Is it manually? On alternate days, weeks? Did you consider dual-WAN routers?

PS: I was planning on same but settled only with one broadband provider. As a backup I have my phone data, which is quite sufficient to handle the broadband outage.

1. Cost would be 20-30% higher, but you get better throughput (real world scenario) and performance than one single connection.
For example, I'd take two 30 Mbps at 500 per month over one 100 Mbps connection at Rs 1075 any day (Hyderabad ACT fibrenet plans).

2. Load balancing: I didn't mean this at router level. Just connect some devices to one network (depending on proximity and/or usage), and the other devices to the second network.

I also recommend single band routers or use 2.4 GHz instead of dual band or 5 GHz or dual-wan routers (unless they are industrial grade).
My BIL has Jio 100mbps with Dual band routers, and 5GHz is a hit or miss and works only if the device is in line of sight and within 10ft. It works ok for non-mobile devices (TVs, firesticks, desktops etc.) in the same room. For laptops or tabs, since we take them where we go, the manual switching from 5Ghz to 2 gHz is a PITA. Also, one router connecting to multiple devices in two different bands creates instability (purely based on my observation and YMMV).

Before Covid, I had only one connection (ACT) with single band router (no need for expensive and fancy routers), which pretty much served my purpose. Since home schooling started, the two kinds are joining streaming live video classes, which eats up speeds and bandwidth like crazy. Instead of upgrading the speeds, decided for a second connection and set it up in the opposite side of the house.
Now, one connection for the kids, and the second one for me.

Alternatively, a JioFi device (with wfh plan) can be a decent alternative as a second router, which works out even cheaper and also works during power outages and outside trips (for Kids tabs).

[binand]

Originally Posted by msdivy

1) Cost: Isn't it 2x, instead of 1.5x for single provider?

2) Load balancing: How do you switch? Is it manually?

I used to do this (Airtel + ACT). I wasn't worried too much about the cost, since it was all reimbursed. I got rid of ACT only because their service became way too bad to justify the cost.

I have a dual-WAN router - an ancient TL-ER604W (2013 or so vintage). The router offers automatic failover, policy routing and load balancing weighted on data limit. I also had a Linux box between this router and my home Wifi AP on which I'd do those complex configurations and run services that the WAN router was not capable of.

There were applications that ACT's setup would block - IPSec, for example. For those I had to hardcode Airtel.

Anyway, now I only have one ISP.

[Landkruzer]

Originally Posted by shipnil

Have you guys started to get 40 mbps download speed post plan conversion? Like you, I changed my plan to 40 mbps plan thorugh Airtel Thanks app but my speed still is around 20/22 mbps. It is greater than 16 mbps which was my plan earlier but not 40 mbps.

Rs 499 plan is for all speeds upto 40 mbps. ie) 8 Mbps, 16 Mbps & 40 Mbps. The speed depends on the length of the telephone line from the exchange. Plan change wont change the speed, unless they upgrade the infrastructure.

[shipnil]

Originally Posted by Landkruzer

Rs 499 plan is for all speeds upto 40 mbps. ie) 8 Mbps, 16 Mbps & 40 Mbps. The speed depends on the length of the telephone line from the exchange. Plan change wont change the speed, unless they upgrade the infrastructure.

By this yardstick, any ISP is justified in giving 8 or 16 mbps even in 100 mbps or 200 mbps plan as every plan has upto word in description. Granted there can be fluctuations based on peak traffic, but it should reach the plan speed in off peak hours.

BTW, the infra is per current specifications. Fiber till apartment building and CAT6 from the termination box to the router. I think this is good enough to support 40 mbps.

[binand]

Originally Posted by Landkruzer

The speed depends on the length of the telephone line from the exchange.

Is this true? Speed is a property of the equipment and software combination as far as I understand. A single cable by itself can go up to 10 Gbps, so the limiting factor is the transceiver at the ends, the router hardware and the software that drive these. The ISP speed limits are basically configuration updates of this software in my understanding.

[LonelyPlanet]

Originally Posted by shipnil

Have you guys started to get 40 mbps download speed post plan conversion? Like you, I changed my plan to 40 mbps plan thorugh Airtel Thanks app but my speed still is around 20/22 mbps. It is greater than 16 mbps which was my plan earlier but not 40 mbps.

Max they can offer in my area is 2Mbps !!
Airtel has never bothered to invest in infrastructure - they milk till the competition forces them to reduce price (like this time around).

[sagarpadaki]

We have a BSNL Fiber 50Mbps plan that costs 777 plus tax per month. I get consistent speeds of 40 Mbps and above when using a wired connection. Wireless speeds are low because of weak ONT router.

[Safety is Param]

Looks like ACT revamped it's plans in Bangalore.

Speeds, increased by 50 Mbps.

Data, doubled.

[Sree73]

Originally Posted by Safety is Param

Looks like ACT revamped it's plans in Bangalore.

Speeds, increased by 50 Mbps.

Data, doubled.

Yes. I just checked. My connection was ACT Blaze with 100 Mbps / 450GB.
New scheme shows 150 Mbps / 1000GB.

I just renewed the plan for another 6 months (1 Month extra - Free) last week and the renewal will be effective from 28th Sept.
Hope I will be eligible for the new scheme.

Checked the current scheme. Data already shows the new scheme.. So, it is effected in existing plans also.

[smartindboy]

Originally Posted by Safety is Param

Looks like ACT revamped it's plans in Bangalore.

Speeds, increased by 50 Mbps.

Data, doubled.

Don't see any changes in Hyderabad yet.