[BlueEyes]

After months and months of preparation Mukesh Ambani's Reliance officially launched 4G services this month, Reliance Jio. Mukesh Ambani made tall promises during the launch, free SIM cards and 4G data for the next 3-4 months. Jio SIM cards made available for general public from 5th Sept with huge frenzy. So, if a person buys one of these Jio SIM cards from any of the Reliance Digital stores across India he can enjoy unlimited free 4G internet data and calls till 31st Dec. Basically, it's Voice over LTE (VoLTE) so eventually Jio would only charge for the data not the calls you make and also there is no additional charge for roaming. Commercial plans announced from Jio which would be effective from 1st Jan 2017 indicate that it will be ₹50/GB, this is unprecedented and cheapest ever in mobile internet data in India. And, remember Jio only has 4G network. No 3G or 2G to fall back, unlike other providers. So you get 4G or nothing which is good as Jio has 4G spectrum in all 22 circles across India.

From last few days I am sure most of you must have noticed people queuing up outside Reliance Digital stores to grab a free 4G sim card. Even read news articles that there was lathi charge at some Reliance stores in North KA(who doesn't like freebies). Apparently getting hold of a free SIM is only small part of the story. There are lot of people still waiting for there SIM to be activated for more than a week now. Just have a look at the Jio customer care's official twitter handle(@JioCare) you will know what I mean

I been looking for portable wifi hotspot device for some time. I certainly can use my cellphone as hotspot but cellphone data tarrifs are more on expensive side. I have a Andriod HU in my car and I thought it will be great to have my car music system, mine and my wife's cell phones on wifi when we are on road. So I thought of buying JioFi which is retailing at ₹1,999 ( link ). I happen to visit at least 4 of these Reliance stores yesterday evening. As expected at all stores there was mad rush for free SIM cards. All were being sent back as there isn't enough stock and there will not be any stocks until earlier distributed SIM cards are activated.When I enquired about wifi hotspot device, same answer no stocks and server is down from last 24hrs!! I was told at all stores that server is down due to this huge rush and not able to activate connections.

I can't help but wonder, is this how Reliance prepared for all these days/months?? Don't tell me that after spending thousands of crores you didn't anticipate this kind of rush wherein you don't even have a proper back end ready
As of this month Jio has around 1.5 million subscribers including Reliance employees and they are targeting to add 100 million subscribers by March 2018. This is a huge task in this immensely competitive telecom field. So, obviously they new what they are getting into and what to expect. It looks like they haven't learnt any lesson from there previous debacle (Reliance CDMA anyone??)

Having said all this, I may be frustrated and little sarcastic here but I would be among the happiest bunch if Jio becomes huge success eventually. For couple of reasons:

• Though India is now the second largest internet user market in the world but ranks awfully at 114th in global internet speed. It's high time we Indians get high speed quality internet and telecom service.

• Jio is completely desi

Would be interesting to know what fellow members think on Reliance Jio's launch in Indian telecom scene.

[nkghai]

Originally Posted by BlueEyes

From last few days I am sure most of you must have noticed people queuing up outside Reliance Digital stores to grab a free 4G sim card. Even read news articles that there was lathi charge at some Reliance stores in North KA(who doesn't like freebies). Apparently getting hold of a free SIM is only small part of the story. There are lot of people still waiting for there SIM to be activated for more than a week now. Just have a look at the Jio customer care's official twitter handle(@JioCare) you will know what I mean

I happen to visit at least 4 of these Reliance stores yesterday evening. As expected at all stores there was mad rush for free SIM cards. All were being sent back as there isn't enough stock and there will not be any stocks until earlier distributed SIM cards are activated.When I enquired about wifi hotspot device, same answer no stocks and server is down from last 24hrs!! I was told at all stores that server is down due to this huge rush and not able to activate connections.

I can't help but wonder, is this how Reliance prepared for all these days/months?? Don't tell me that after spending thousands of crores you didn't anticipate this kind of rush wherein you don't even have a proper back end ready

Would be interesting to know what fellow members think on Reliance Jio's launch in Indian telecom scene.

They certainly have a tough task at hand. I have today completed one month of usage of Jio SIM. My views are as under :-

• Connectivity issue with some make of phones. The SIM does not work on my wifes HTC 728G.
• Activation is a PAIN. Even passport is easier.
• The speed was fantastic before it was formally launched. Now sometimes i switch back to my Airtel 3G which is better occasionally.
• Customer care support as far as i am concerned is ZERO.
• The Apps like Jio Music have certain issues still.
• LTE uses a lot of battery. And if you create hot spot, the phone gets hot and the spot gets discharged.

I am hoping that this time till first Jan is to iron out these issues. Lets hope they do it otherwise bye, bye.

[lHarpreetl]

When I first saw the plans that Reliance was offering with Jio there was a grin on my face because I as a customer always felt that we in India pay a lot more for the voice and data services. With that being said I also felt somewhere that Reliance is a company which is not as customer centric in terms of quality, service and support as Vodafone and Airtel. I also have this wish to acquire the Jio SIM and hotspot like most of us here however I would never go and stand in queues for something which is still in testing phase. I thought let this initial mania settle down and will see the reactions and reviews and then plan on buying it just like a movie review. Such a huge company I would never believe that they didn't think about long queue and extremely high demand and it's effects. For me it's wait and watch and as customers we want this to be a success don't we.

[maddyguage]

Here is my experience after using Jio for some days.
1. It takes huge efforts to connect a call. (usually 10 call drops)
2. During daytime speed goes upto 4 Mbps and after 12 am to midnight it crosses 30 Mbps mark.
3. Activation takes time depending on your luck. ( mine was activated after a few hours and my friends SIM took more than a week)
4. They don't have enough SIM for people and easily gets out of stock.
5. Call is connected in less than 1 second if you're lucky enough. (only after several failed attempts)
6. Voice quality is superior compared to ongoing services such as 2G,3G.
7. Battery drains quickly due to only LTE connectivity.
8. Works best in city area.

Now they're launching Jio broadband soon. I'm more interested in that.
Here are some of Jio Broadband Plans

[digitalnirvana]

Several clarifications on OP

1. Voice calls will not be charged for data, even though they are VOLTE
2. There is 3g/2g fallback on the 850Mhz spectrum. It is not 4g or nothing
3. Interconnect to other operators is a problem till commercial operations start, so do not port your primary number yet

[Sankar]

Happy JIO user here since August 1st week on Galaxy S7 dual sim. I make calls from JIO nowadays and have no complaints so far, no call drop nd good voice quality. Iam in Chennai right now and Jio is keeping me connected with good speeds and i dont even feel that im not in my home circle anymore.

Wife using JIO since previous week on Galaxy J5 and same experience as mine. Her simcard activation took a long time.

Will see how this is once free offers are over and take call on whether to keep it based on that.

[landcruiser123]

Ah, I just thought of creating a thread and BlueEyes beat me to it.
I initially ignored the Jio completely as I assumed that service quality will be terrible with so many users.

However, when I heard 8 of 10 friends in college who were very happy with the service.

Downloaded the app yesterday and got the code. Walked into a Reliance store today and the guy at the counter says "Saar no stock. Come on Monday." Still hoping to get a SIM, but not willing to wait more than 10 minutes for it. Do you think I'll succeed in getting one?

BTW, there's a 4GB FUP per day for high speed data.

I think this business model for Reliance might backfire. The CAC is high and starting 2017, all other operators will slash prices. There's a limit to how many connections Reliance can support, so many customers will not stick around due to the slow speed.

Makes for interesting reading:

http://phoneradar.com/internet-data-...g-smartphones/

[antz.bin]

This Came to my mind too. But, I hope Mr.Ambani is thinking sane.

Anyways, I got my JIO sim yesterday and it took 2hrs to get activated. Mine is the 5th connection in my household and I am the only one who is unhappy.

I started using it with the new JioFi device (with OLED DISPLAY) and the service while traveling(which I do a LOT) is nothing short of appalling! No network at major locations in Mumbai. No network on Central Suburban Railway. No network at Dadar station. Absolutely unusable for me, total waste.

Maybe I am spoiled by excellent Vodafone coverage all these years but Jio has a lot of ground to cover before it can come at par with even the Docomos and Aircels of this land in terms of coverage.

I do get excellent speeds at home so Wife will get to keep it. I will probably stick to Vodafone 3G for now. Too bad, I would have readily paid for the JIO 499 plan post Freebies had the network coverage not been so rubbish.

[harsh.m06]

I ve been using the Jio sim for about 2 months now. I got it through Samsung's Preview Partner offer with selected smartphones. I am using S7 Edge. Installed the MyJio app and generated the code. Got the Jio sim next day and activated within 24 hours.

Initially, I got 2GB Data and 100mins of calling + 100 sms. I used all my data and I didnt know what to do next. Called up the Jio customer care and came to know that I have to download 4 particular Jio apps to activate Unlimited Access to Data/calls etc. Installed the apps and Unlimited 4G services got activated.

Since then, no isses. By this time, I ve used around 900GB data from the Jio sim. It was all done in the initial days of activation. I was using 100+ GB everyday through wifi hotspot. Now Jio has restricted the usage. You get only 4GB of highspeed surfing and then the speeds drop to 128 kbps.

Attaching some screenshots. I'm more interested in Jio Fiber which will provide 1GBPS of fiber optic bandwidth. Lets see when will it be launched.

Best speed that I could manage to get - 53 MBPS on Hapur-Ghaziabad highway.



Data Used in the initial days -



Changes made in the Jio offer -

[Jimmy_u]

Hello Friends,

Sharing my experience with JioFi, using that for about a month now.

Purchase & Activation.

1. walked into the Reliance Digital outlet at Palm Beach Road , Vashi
2. purchased the JioFi device -
   ->Purchase to billing - duration - 5min
3. Went to the 1st fl for sim activation
4. hugeeeeeeeee line for sim cards
5. reliance staff alternate between 1 jio sim & 1 jiofi device
6. Everifcation done using Aadhar Card and fingerprint -
   ->Form fill to final verification - duration - 5min
7. stepped into burger king adjoining the reliance store
8. finished my meal and inserted the sim - Activated !!!!
   ->Snacks at Burger king - duration - 20min

Overall
5 min + 5 min + 20 min = 30 min I was in and out of the store with an activated JioFi device.

Usage
Primary in Pune ,Weekend in Mumbai
Fantastic coverage in both locations
Keep it in my Bag and forget about it, battery lasts a day

Connected devices
Weekday
1 iphone
1 android phone
1 laptop

Weekend devices
2 iphones
4 android phones
3 laptops

Speeds
Pune - between 7-10 mbps any location
Mumbai - between 14-37 mbps any location

Cost Saving options
Home Broadboand disconnected
android phone 3g data plan disconnected

+'s
Overall experience has been pleasant and am tempted to continue this over the next year of the data plans are sensible and practical. so far am happy and so is everyone at home
good battery life
wifi coverage in open areas is fantastic
coverage on mum-pune expressway is great

-'s
speed tend to drop suddenly
speed on phones is great but when using on laptop do not cross 2-5 mbps and sometimes even less, only on laptop again to clarify(checked with speedtest.net)
poor performance if within walls

[Eddy]

I got two SIMs last week. Tomorrow, I will complete one week of submission of the activation details (Aadhar + biometrics). No sign of activation yet.

[nerd1200]

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

...the guy at the counter says "Saar no stock. Come on Monday." Still hoping to get a SIM, but not willing to wait more than 10 minutes for it. Do you think I'll succeed in getting one? ...

Hello landcruiser123 - Did you visit the store today? Any luck?

So what I make out of this thread is the SIMs are easily available in Mumbai/Pune and Kerela - not so much in other cities.

I would propose creating a poll by City on availability of SIMs and N/W strength.

Cheers!

[coolmel]

Well frankly I was bitten by the bug the day I saw the live cast & it's a great offering to our bandwidth deprived nation. That way it certainly is a huge leap forward with a 4G only network. That being said and done, I walked into my nearest Reliance Digital Store & inquired about the same. There was a waiting and they didn't have forms. This is before September 5th. And I didn't have an Aadhar card. So asked the chap if he could take some advance and block my unit. To which he readily agreed. Got the JioFi device, but it only got activated a week later(exact 2 days for non-Aadhar documents).

Been using it for a while now and must say it has it's pros and cons. Speeds can sometimes be in excess of 40 megs and sometimes 4 megs! Uploads are generally 1-3 Mbps. But being in a testing phase it is inconsistent at times, say while loading videos or even inserting gifs in Twitter. If it gets better nothing like it. Free calling and all aside I'm more keen on the fibre optic internet services. Haven't given the Jio apps a shot yet but hearing they're great.

My only thing is, be it Jio or anyone else, just give us a good, consistent and reliable product. I learn about the fibre optic Internet in Hyderabad later on & got envious all the more. The quality of Internet in Mumbai at least has been truly inconsistent all the while. And they need to do something about it. Promises are cheap. ��

Only time will tell!

[landcruiser123]

Originally Posted by nerd1200

Hello landcruiser123 - Did you visit the store today?

Nope. No time to visit the store today. I'll try my luck tomorrow.

[redcruiser]

Originally Posted by Eddy

I got two SIMs last week. Tomorrow, I will complete one week of submission of the activation details (Aadhar + biometrics). No sign of activation yet.

I had the same issue with my SIM card but had called the customer care to follow up. They suggested me some things that might help you.
1. First check if you have JIO emergency calls flashing when you put your SIM into your phone. As per Reliance you MUST put it in SIM slot-1 if you have a dual SIM phone.
2.Try to switch off your phone then take the SIM out and re-insert your SIM card to SIM slot one.
3.Switch On your phone. Go to settings->cellular network settings-> network operators-> here you scan manually for available networks . After a brief while you will see JIO 4G displayed as one of the available networks (provided you are at a place where you are sure of the JIO n/w) Select that and register yourself to the network.

I guess after doing this you will get full network and be able to use your JIO.

Please let me know if any issues. On Aadhar based registrations they already activate your SIM in 30mins but they never bother you to intimate that they have already done it.