I have been using MTNL triband for more than a month now and yes I can include myself in one of their happy customers 🙂

The speeds are very good, there is no downtime at all..till now I have not seen my net connection going down…(apart from daily disconnection at 11.54 in the night..I think it’s for NU plan…)

They have plans ranging from Rs. 199 (400 MB – 256 kbps) to Rs. 9,999 (18 GB – 2mbps) a month

The plans are very good value to money and you get what you pay for..not like local cable operators who charge more and give less…

Let me move on to everything step by step:

Requirements: You need a MTNL telephone line, machine with at least Windows 98 installed (of course you can use it on Linux or other OS too but they won’t be able to help you with that), Ethernet Card

  1. Registration Process: The registration process is very easy, you have to visit their telephone exchange, fill small form and submit it. The registration fees are Rs. 300 and Rs. 500 initial deposit for modem (if you are going to use their modem). If you have your own modem then you do not need to pay Rs. 500 extra. These charges will be added in your telephone bill. You can also register by calling them on their helpline number 1500 (Mumbai) but there is kind of risk in that, they might put wrong plan under your telephone number. It had happened to me, instead of NU plan, they had put me in pay as per use plan. (I will talk about it more later in this post)
  2. Time Required: They require around 1 week of time to get the things rolling but if it takes more than a week then it means that the time has come to visit telephone exchange and enquire about it. Reasons for delay can be problems with local server computer, issues with work orders etc…But visiting them personally will solve the issues quickly.
  3. Installation: Their person will call you before visiting your place, there is nothing much to install actually. You just need to change your IP settings and configure the modem with your username and password. The guy will configure the stuff for you and the things should start running in 10 minutes max.
  4. Things to be taken care of: First change your modem admin panel’s password. The admin panel is located here: http://192.168.1.1/ (that’s the default location)…the default username and password will be admin and admin. Now since it is very easy to guess so it is better to change it….to change the password, logon to the admin panel, click on tools tab and type in the new password.
  5. Troubleshooting: There is generally no problem with the net connection and you do not need to contact triband support…but if you are contacting them for some technical problem then do not expect them to solve your problem…you won’t find technically sound people, (of course they will be able to fix very basic problems) they will just have answers ready on their screen so if they see something which is not in their answer sheet then…they will give you complaint number and then be ready to follow it…you might need to visit the telephone exchange if they don’t reply in couple of days 😀 or the best way would be, use google for technical errors you get, its very easy to trace out the problems 🙂
  6. Customer Support: The people at MTNL (telephone exchange as well as on phone) are very polite and helpful but the only thing they lack is resources, they are ready to help you with their best but they don’t have enough resources, answers ready to help…The other part is, they do not have enough customer support executives (which again comes under resources but worth mentioning it again)…now you will get idea about it when you call them…when you dial 1500 or 1504, you will have option to dial 1 for Marathi, 2 for Hindi and 3 for English…whatever number you press the answer will be in Hindi or Marathi…so this shows that they really need some English speaking and technically sound people…

Here is my short story about their customer support:

I applied for Triband NU plan over the phone, I got confirmation with the registration number…I waited for a week or so, still no one has visited my place for installation, I called them up on their helpline, I was asked to confirm it with the telephone exchange people…I visited telephone exchange…enquire about the net connection….lady at the helpdesk wrote something on the paper and asked me to meet someone inside the office…I managed to find that person after asking few people…I gave her details about my registration…she told me, due to some server issues the person couldn’t come to my place but he will be there after 2 days…and dot after 2 days person came to my place and setup the net 🙂

So that part was over, I was very happy with the connection and was waiting to test out download speeds in the night…started the download…was getting around 25-27kbps on torrent downloads…I checked my online usage on their site…and was bit shocked to see the different name in the plan…I had applied for NU plan and it showed me TRIB_AA which is pay as per use plan…I called their helpline at 1.30 AM, I was not expecting anyone to pickup the phone but a lady picked up the phone, I told her about it, she also confirmed that its TRIB_AA, they have not given me NU plan…she asked me to call 1500 and get it changed…I called the other number…it was ringing…so I called in the morning and was asked to visit telephone exchange…I visited telephone exchange, the lady at the helpdesk asked me to meet some person inside (the same person I had met last time), I met her and gave the details…she looked in her files and told me that 1500 people told us to give TRIB_AA plan so we gave you the same…so…what next? She asked me to visit helpdesk and fill the form to change the plan, I did that…I got some receipt…and was told that it will be done within a day….I waited for 2 days…nothing happened…I visited their office again…I was told that someone did not close my earlier support ticket so it will be done once this ticket is closed by 1500 people…I asked her to do something and get it done…she called some person…and closed the support ticket and gave me new work order number….and told me that it will be done in a 2-3 days as the computer of the person who manages this was not working…..

I waited for 2 days, nothing happened, I called directly to the person whom I had met earlier (in the office)…I gave her my work order number and asked to check the status…she told me, she has not received work order from helpdesk and she will try to get it today and it will be done in 2 days…

Today, her last day of her “2 days”….

So I hope the plan gets changed by tonight…

Update – 12th Nov.: They deleted my account by mistake and it will be activated on monday….

Update 2 – 12th Nov.: My net is back….and now it shows me NU Plan 🙂

So this whole incident proves that, they lack proper customer support system, customers have to meet people who are in the testing room and get the things done, there is more of paper work than computerized things…so this leads to slow implementation of things…so being helpful and polite does not help, the people should be active and quick at the same time…..

So, to end the review….Pros include:

  • Very flexible plans for everyone
  • Less installation and registration charges
  • Very good speeds
  • Reasonable rates compared to other ISPs like TATA, Sify etc..
  • No downtime or very less downtime
  • Customer Support – very helpful people and very polite

Cons include:

  • Takes time to fix the problem
  • Lacks proper support system to solve user problems
  • Customers still have to visit the telephone exchange to fix certain problems…it should be made online and with ease

I think above points should be enough to point out pros and cons of the MTNL Triband..

I hope you guys like it 🙂

Update: Don’t forget to read my bad experience with MTNL Guys

Tech, Tech News & Stuff