Disgusting Customer Support. Review on MTNL Triband ADSL

On the 17 of May, MTNL launched two new ADSL schemes as a true gift for broadband users. unfortunately, behind all this fanfare and drum beating is the same old PSU bogged down by its own lethargy and inertia.

And how? Well, a 256k connection for me was like water to a dying man in desert! The new Night Unlimited plan of MTNL (TRiB590NU) promised completely free download between 0000hrs to 0800hrs . In addition there was a 500MB limit for regular daytime usage. Excess usage charges are Rs.1.20 per MB. On paper, the scheme looked too good to resist. The same afternoon I applied for the scheme. I know, the fault was mine. How dare I even imagine MTNL can be that efficient to implement a scheme same day as it is publicized widely in daily nationals...and even more criminal was the thought that MTNL chaps might know about it.

Short summary of expenditure. DSL modem-router DLink-502T supplied for 180 per month. Rental-Rs.590 p.m. Installation-Rs.300, modem security deposit-Rs.500 (both one-time and non-refundable). More package details from https://delhi.mtnl.net.in/commercial/broadband_tariff.htm

Anyways, the connection was installed and activated the same evening. Whoa...that was fast, perhaps the engineer was hoping to extract some baksheesh...poor man, the connection only started working after he left my place! On a side note, if you know even a little bit about computers and networking then install it yourself. Its a mistake to pay them Rs.300 for installation. If you are as lucky as I am, you'll end up doing most of installation yourselves anyways (yeah I'm lucky, I got hands on DSL installation experience with the clueless 'engineer' chewing pan by my side, trying to locate a USB port).

Ok the real thing. Yes the speeds were pretty good, a consistent 25 kilobytes per second (that is around 200 kilobits per second for all of our friends thinking in 'bigger' numbers), around 80% of promised. My house is located around 3-4 kilometers from the telephone exchange (not sure but it might matter I think) and my line quality is about OK...nothing great but not audibly noisy either. In usually got 20-25 KBps on web downloads, ftp, torrents, P2P and IRC, provided the sources themselves were not poor. Sometimes fell down to 20KBps but never over 25KBps. Tried online gaming with Halo Combat Evolved Demo and Quake 3 Arena Demo, pings were in the range of 200 and it was not worthwhile at all. One good thing was that there was no port blocking like other mean ISPs who seek to block leechers (maybe they don't know about port blocking... in that case, as the wise man said, ignorance is bliss).

The Horror part now. The dudes at MTNL decided unilaterally that a DSL399 plan would suit me better than the one I opted for. This plan has 400MB per month data download cap, irrespective of day or night use. Needless to say, my download the first night (!!!) was 489MB and the very next day my usage limit was in the red. Countless calls and visits to the local exchange were of no use. Half the people didn’t know what TriB-NU scheme was, other half said it was yet to be implemented so I couldn’t have applied for it (roll eyes). Finally, I made a complaint to the Executive Director MTNL, GM of my area telephone exchange and GM (broadband). The package was ultimately corrected. But what about the data I downloaded under the honest belief that I was using NU plan? I was told they'll give me a reasonable rebate. What it means is beyond me, so I'm waiting for the telephone bill holding my breath.

The worst was yet to come though. On 22nd May the connection stopped working altogether. Same old story...telephone calls, complaint registration, ''someone will call you back'' etc. etc. etc. the usual crap. Its 24th evening as I’m typing this and nobody has bothered tofollow up the complaint yet so I may have to complain yet again. But this time I suspect more than just lethargy. I suspect active neglect and omission by the people at my local exchange because they were really pissed off at me for complaining to the GM. One of them even went to the extent of accusing me of making ''unjustified comments''. Knowing the vindictive kind of people these MTNL dudes are, I won’t be surprised at all.

That’s enough action for 8 days, don't you think so. And by the way, before I sign out, even though my package has been changed to Night Unlimited now, the MTNL logs are still haywire. I used the connection one night from 0030 to 0745 using scheduler to automatically shutdown the computer at 7.45 A.M. My Event Log pouints to a 7.45 shutdown but MTNL logs say my usage of ~500MB was from 0030 to 0900. MTNL's response '' computer ne record kia hay, galat nahi ho sakta, Use kia kia hoga tabhi to computer dikha raha hay'' (It's computer maintained and generated log, it cannot be wrong. You must have used it otherwise it won't have logged it). Computer can't do no wrong...but what about the ill trained 'software engineers' who code the logging tools in the first place. Go figure...

Feeling adventurous, go ahead, apply for the connection but remember my humble advise...keep all correspondence in writing, keep photocopies of every piece of paper you sign, give written complaints for every problem you face and insist on a complaint receiving. You might need it sooner than you think...

PS: My Ratings Explained

Speed of ISP Connection: Wow-Thats god speed - Why - I moving from 56k to 256k, no further explanations needed :P Also because 200k on 256k max speed is pretty good.

Connection Reliability: It was stable...till it worked. (though, imo this choice needs to be corrected by MS people to better reflect DSL and Cable net charateristics).

Service and Support: shrugs

Product Rating: 2* - OK speeds as long as it works.