Broadband Internet

This post is going to be a tad personal.

When it comes to Internet Connectivity in India, we are always behind all the other countries and we pay a premium for a meagre bandwidth that we have to live with.

I’m not those lucky ones that got on to the Internet Bandwagon when it was launched in India around 1995. I read about it in Magazines. My first connection was in 1999 and, if I remember correctly, it was a 54kbps dial-up.

In the next year or so, I was trying to find the best way to get high speed internet. In Bombay, I remember coaxing and be-friending the local cable guys, so I can connect directly to one of their distribution node in our neighborhood. My first 1mbps was in 2004 while I was freelancing full-time.

Fast-forward to today, Broadband Internet Connection is till very costly, comes with lots of limitations and you’re lucky if you can get a 4mbps for your home at an affordable price.

Recently, I got two ACT BroadBand connection - one for our office at LxiDD and for a friend, in Bangalore. The speed is good, consistent and is very affordable. We’re currently on 25mbps and sometimes, we get way better speed than promised. So far, we’re very happy with Act Broadband.

About a month ago in April, I wanted to get a better connection than my 4mbps, which I was paying a premium. Act Broadband was not available in my area. I went to their competitor - YouBroadband and after running around, applying a dozen times and after finally getting hold of someone, was able to get a connection which took almost a month.

Of course, they said there were no nearby Optical Fiber Termination Box and I could get only 8mbps. I wasn’t really happy and so, I told them to get a box and fit it in my home and promised them to leave that on 24/7. Finally, I got the Internet Speed - 50mbps, which is good enough at a rather affordable price.

So, go ahead, if you can get either of these two providers, you should try them. Personally, I feel Act Broadband is better with consistent bandwidth while YouBroadband always lags behind at just about 80% of the promised speed.

Watch the video of the Optical Fiber Calibration & Installation.