How many 3G/4G dongles does one need to buy to be assured of an internet connection in India ?
Here is my 'catalog' ...
It seems that Vodafone, Airtel and Tata Docomo all put together cannot assure decent connectivity in Bangalore ( the so called 'Silicon Valley' of India)
My journey began with Vodafone 18 months ago. They setup a kiosk in my office offering a 3G dongle at a discount - Rs 800 only and an attractive plan which promise UMTS speeds. The Vodafone guy came over to my home for a demo. The demo showcased speeds of up to 4MBps. I signed up for a postpaid plan..
For the next few days I was always logged on to Vodafone's EDGE network. Many complaints later, I was told that Vodafone does not have a 3G license for Bangalore and that they have a tie up with Airtel so I need to manually log on to the Airtel network with a Vodafone 3G dongle ...
For a few months I endured the pain of manually logging in to Airtel every time I needed connectivity. As my usage increased, I wanted to change my plan. I was told that it was not possible as Vodafone had discontinued 3G services - TRAI did not allow sharing of network with Airtel.
With no option, I had to discontinue my plan and the Rs 800 spent on dongle went down the gutter.
Next came Airtel 4G/LTE . I was promised speeds of up to 35MBps and that I could download movies in seconds. To top it , I would get free subscription to Bigflix. Again the same ritual - the demo done by Airtel rep at my home was impressive. Bought the dongle for Rs 1500
The Airtel 4G/LTE speeds never exceeded 3MBps and the Bigflix subscription never worked. One weekend it came down to 3-5 bps. Must have made close to a 100 phone calls but customer service at Airtel is nothing short of a joke. Again Rs 1500 spent on the dongle went down the gutter
So my journey continued ... next was Tata Photon Max. Its been only a few weeks but the thing never works. Spent Rs 2000 on the dongle.
Vodaone, Airtel and Tata are all run by professional management - their websites talk of values such as integrity, honesty and putting customers first.
Quick search on the web reveals tens of thousands of customers like me complaining on how they were duped by these professional companies - speeds that are never delivered, bills with wrong charges ... the list is endless
It is just amazing how professionally run companies are duping Indian consumers in board daylight. Yes we can complain and yes we can change our service provider but the experience will never change.
Looks like we are all victims of a cartel .....
-Viva
PS: This blog is posted using BSNL's Broadband 'Home' plan.
Here is my 'catalog' ...
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| 3 Dongles but No Internet |
It seems that Vodafone, Airtel and Tata Docomo all put together cannot assure decent connectivity in Bangalore ( the so called 'Silicon Valley' of India)
My journey began with Vodafone 18 months ago. They setup a kiosk in my office offering a 3G dongle at a discount - Rs 800 only and an attractive plan which promise UMTS speeds. The Vodafone guy came over to my home for a demo. The demo showcased speeds of up to 4MBps. I signed up for a postpaid plan..
For the next few days I was always logged on to Vodafone's EDGE network. Many complaints later, I was told that Vodafone does not have a 3G license for Bangalore and that they have a tie up with Airtel so I need to manually log on to the Airtel network with a Vodafone 3G dongle ...
For a few months I endured the pain of manually logging in to Airtel every time I needed connectivity. As my usage increased, I wanted to change my plan. I was told that it was not possible as Vodafone had discontinued 3G services - TRAI did not allow sharing of network with Airtel.
With no option, I had to discontinue my plan and the Rs 800 spent on dongle went down the gutter.
Next came Airtel 4G/LTE . I was promised speeds of up to 35MBps and that I could download movies in seconds. To top it , I would get free subscription to Bigflix. Again the same ritual - the demo done by Airtel rep at my home was impressive. Bought the dongle for Rs 1500
The Airtel 4G/LTE speeds never exceeded 3MBps and the Bigflix subscription never worked. One weekend it came down to 3-5 bps. Must have made close to a 100 phone calls but customer service at Airtel is nothing short of a joke. Again Rs 1500 spent on the dongle went down the gutter
So my journey continued ... next was Tata Photon Max. Its been only a few weeks but the thing never works. Spent Rs 2000 on the dongle.
Vodaone, Airtel and Tata are all run by professional management - their websites talk of values such as integrity, honesty and putting customers first.
Quick search on the web reveals tens of thousands of customers like me complaining on how they were duped by these professional companies - speeds that are never delivered, bills with wrong charges ... the list is endless
It is just amazing how professionally run companies are duping Indian consumers in board daylight. Yes we can complain and yes we can change our service provider but the experience will never change.
Looks like we are all victims of a cartel .....
-Viva
PS: This blog is posted using BSNL's Broadband 'Home' plan.
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