100% coverage on the Nungambakkam High Road.
December 16, 2009
December 14, 2009
December 11, 2009
Connectivity
All along this trip, technology has played an integral role in keeping us connected and more importantly, in updating the blog regularly. As mentioned earlier, the speed test comparison could not be carried because of dreadful customer service in order to get Mihir’s Photon working. Another incident that could be useful in making choices easier occurred with regards to cell-phone and tower connectivity, while in Tamil Nadu. To be clear, while roaming, connectivity can either be obtained through the home network or through agreements with other networks. E.g. Aircel can work either through its own network, or use the towers that have been setup by IDEA, assuming an agreement is in place to share their tower.
Vodafone consistently received EDGE/GPRS connectivity[1] throughout the state, through one of the two methods described above. Even at some of the remotest points in Rameswaram, close to land’s end and Sri Lanka’s border, connectivity was available. On the other hand, Loop Mobile’s data service has been dismal, with no service available anywhere. In addition to the absence of their own towers, the apparent agreements they have with Vodafone and Aircel count for nothing. After repeated complaints to the Loop technical team, there was still no rectification.
These two events seek to highlight the customer service and infrastructure deficiencies of TATA Photon and Loop Mobile respectively. Especially in the latter’s market, with MNP (Multiple Number Portability) coming early next year, serious improvements will need to be made to prevent an outflow of dissatisfied customers to other providers.
[1] Necessary for data transfers, i.e. email, internet, BlackBerry Messenger etc.
December 9, 2009
Reliance Netconnect vs. Tata Photon
Dear Readers,
The speed and coverage tests between 2 wireless internet providers have been a highlight of this blog. Unfortunately, no more contests will be held. One of the original loggers, Alok (also the owner of the Photon stick), has not been able to join us for leg 3. Mihir tried to get a Photon but faced several issues with regards to activation, which are still to be resolved. The customer service guys at Tata have been extremely unresponsive. While you will continue to see Reliance Netconnect’s performance data, there will be no competition.
Apologies,
Loggers
Thus far, Reliance has emerged as a better service provider between the 2 nominees.
November 15, 2009
Reliance Netconnect in Vidarbha
Netconnect in Nagpur:
Netconnect worked well in Chandrapur and Amravati as well. Speeds were ~256kbps (download) in both those cities. Unfortunately, we are not carrying the Photon stick on this leg. Comparisons will be back on Leg 3(b) when we cover the southern states.
October 22, 2009
Reliance Netconnect vs. Tata Photon (Lucknow)
Location: Meerabai Marg
Netconnect takes Lucknow
Netconnect:
Photon:
October 18, 2009
Reliance Netconnect vs. Tata Photon (Varanasi)
Netconnect takes Varanasi.
Location: Benaras Club
Netconnect:
Photon: Not working
Reliance Netconnect vs. Tata Photon (Patna)
Photon wins Patna.
Location: Nirvana Cottage, White House complex
Netconnect:
Photon:
October 13, 2009
Reliance Netconnect vs. Tata Photon (Rajgir)
Netconnect takes Rajgir.
Location: Circuit House
Netconnect:
Photon: Not working
October 9, 2009
Reliance Netconnect vs. Tata Photon (Jamshedpur)
Reliance wins Tatanagar.
Location: Hotel Nalanda, Jamshedpur.
Reliance Netconnect:
Photon: No coverage
October 8, 2009
Reliance Netconnect vs. Tata Photon (Bhubaneswar)
Netconnect takes Bhubaneswar.
Netconnect:
Photon: No coverage
October 7, 2009
Reliance Netconnect vs. Tata Photon (Puri)
Netconnect wins Puri.
Netconnect:
Photon: No coverage
October 3, 2009
Reliance Netconnect vs. Tata Photon (Calcutta)
Photon takes Calcutta.
Reliance Netconnect:
Tata Photon:
October 1, 2009
Reliance Netconnect vs. Tata Photon (Aizawl)
Photon wins Aizawl
Reliance Netconnect:
No coverage
Tata Photon:
September 29, 2009
Reliance Netconnect vs. Tata Photon (Guwahati)
Tata Photon wins the Guwahati round.
(Photon also had strong connectivity in Tezpur while Netconnect did not work…just wasn’t able to take the speedtest)
Reliance Netconnect:
No coverage
Tata Photon:
August 24, 2009
Reliance Netconnect vs. Tata Photon (Ahmedabad)
Netconnect wins Ahmedabad.
Netconnect:
Photon:
August 23, 2009
Reliance Netconnect vs. Tata Photon (Udaipur)
Netconnect wins Udaipur.
Netconnect:
Photon:
No coverage.
August 22, 2009
Reliance Netconnect vs. Tata Photon (NH112)
Netconnect has National Highway # 112 covered.
Netconnect:
The connectivity is truly seamless. Depending on where you are on the highway, a notification box pops up at the bottom right corner of your screen telling you which tower has you covered:
Photon:
No coverage
August 21, 2009
Reliance Netconnect vs. Tata Photon (Beawar)
Netconnect wins the Beawar round.
Netconnect:
Photon:
No coverage
August 18, 2009
Reliance Netconnect vs. Tata Photon (Jaipur)
Netconnect wins Jaipur
Netconnect:
Photon:
August 17, 2009
Reliance Netconnect vs. Tata Photon (Kota)
This round goes to Netconnect (Photon not working)
Netconnect:
August 11, 2009
Reliance Netconnect vs. Tata Photon (New Delhi)
New Delhi round goes to Photon
Netconnect:
Photon:
August 9, 2009
Reliance Netconnect vs. Tata Photon (Amritsar)
Amritsar round goes to Netconnect.
Photon: No coverage
Netconnect:
August 7, 2009
Reliance Netconnect vs. Tata Photon (Ludhiana)
Ludhiana round goes to Netconnect.
Photon: No coverage
Netconnect:
August 6, 2009
Reliance Netconnect vs. Tata Photon (Chandigarh)
Chandigarh round goes to Netconnect.
Photon: No coverage
Netconnect:
July 29, 2009
Reliance Netconnect vs. TATA Photon (Pehelgam, Anantnag, Seer)
To our dismay, neither the Netconnect nor the Photon had connectivity in any of the three cities. It seems like Reliance NotConnect was just joined by Tata Photoff.
July 25, 2009
Reliance Netconnect vs. TATA Photon (Srinagar)
Round 1 goes to TATA Photon!
Reliance Netconnect: No network coverage (more like reliance NOTconnect)
TATA Photon:
July 22, 2009
Netconnect vs. Photon
One of the many ‘national’ experiments we will conduct is a coverage and speed contest between wireless broadband providers.
Naman will use the Reliance Netconnect Broadband+ and Alok will test the Tata Photon+. We will use the speed test tool available at Dslreports to check for speed. The single transfer speed-test probes for maximum line speed, both upload and download. Almost everyday you will see images like the one below.
This is the result of a speed test conducted from Naman’s residence in south Mumbai. The download speed (in green) is 357 Kbps and the upload speed (in red) is 120 Kbps.
For network strength, we will rely on the service provider’s estimate indicated by the number of bars.
This is a first for India. Nobody has tested 2 national wireless internet service providers as comprehensively as this.
