Jan 19, 2010 06:35 PM
7303 Views
(Updated Jan 19, 2010 07:03 PM)
See the attached screenshot for the kind of speed you can expect if you use this modem: 0.03 kbps. It's literally ten times slower than dial-up through a telephone.
Airtel has advertised speeds of "between 1 and 3 Mbps". The overall cost of ownership of this 3G modem is less than that of Tata Photon and Reliance, and I already have an Airtel ADSL modem+ landline, which works fantastically. My experience with Airtel has always been very positive, so I figured I'd go with a trusted, reputed brand.
In fact, in the interest of fairness, please also check out my review of Airtel's ADSL broadband:
https://mouthshut.com/review/Airtel_Broadband-184787-1.html Which I still would heartily recommend and rated five stars. This only makes their 3G modem product and service all the more surprising and baffling. It is so out of character for Airtel to have such a terrible product / service.
I needed a 3G connection because I have a laptop and I work from home, through the internet, and had to spend part of my time in South Delhi and part of my time in North Delhi. I was paying for two internet connections in two places, and figured a completely wireless connection would make much more sense.
Installation was hassle-free. I use Windows 7 on a laptop, and everything was a snap.
Once it was activated(which took several hours), my excitement was quickly dashed to disappointment as the speed was slow. Very slow. Incredibly slow. Unbelievably slow. To put it in perspective, some web pages wouldn't even load. Even chat programs ran with a bad lag. It would literally be faster(and cheaper) to surf using my cellphone.
Calling up the support numbers unraveled a new nightmare. The main number for support specifically for the 3G service met with an automated response "Thank you for calling Airtel Data Services.
This service is not available on your phone." This despite the fact that it's specifically the number you can call from ANOTHER phone(as opposed to the number in question). Calling the main helplines for Airtel lead you down a labyrinth of automated voice menus each more confusing than the next. When you do finally get through to a human being, he will politely tell you to call the first number for 3G services, the same one that doesn't work.
When you explain this to the customer support executive, he will politely tell you he cannot help you because he's only equipped to handle DSL landlines or phones, not the 3G service. He will then provide another number, which also will not work.
And thus your Airtel 3G wireless broadband experience is complete.
Apparently, from all the other reviews here, what I had was the typical standard experience with this particular product.
In conclusion, if you have a choice between using this product to access the internet, or being trampled to death by a rabid elephant, I would heartily recommend death via elephant. At least with the elephant, you can with your dying last breath tell a passerby what information you would like emailed to your loved ones. The passer by could then travel to a cybercafe and email the information for you. Or alternately, you could SMS your goodbyes to your loved ones and family. Either of these two options would still be significantly faster, more reliable and less painful than using Airtel's 3G modem to get online with.
