BSNL EVDO Experience

Due to the lack of availability options of ISP at my place I had to take a cable broadband connection of 512kbps(unlimited download).But for the past fortnight or so the download speed goes down to 15-35kbps after around 1/2 P.M. n it stays like that till morning 3/4.A 100MB file takes around 1hr to download between the above mentioned time which goes without saying is really bugging me.Thus I was thinking of applying for BSNL's EVDO connection.So I request members of TDF who are(or know someone) using EVDO connection to please share their experiences(like how much is the download speed,whether are there any frequent disconnections or not & others) with me so I can decide whether to go for it or not.

bsnl 3g would definitely be a better option than the evdo... in terms of speed
but when it comes to unlimited plan.. evdo is cheaper

find out from exchange how far is the evdo tower from your place
if it is close get the evdo... u'll get good speeds

What is evdo?

Gollum said:
What is evdo?

bsnl evdo - Yahoo! Search Results

next time do it yourself

ssk_the_gr8 said:
bsnl 3g would definitely be a better option than the evdo... in terms of speed
but when it comes to unlimited plan.. evdo is cheaper

find out from exchange how far is the evdo tower from your place
if it is close get the evdo... u'll get good speeds

I went to their office today morning to inquire about the unlimited plans(750 bucks per month).But I didn't ask about their tower location.I'll do that tomorrow,oh CRAP!tomo is Sunday.Gotta wait till Mon then.But hey thanks for the info!!
Whats the usual speed(download speed) u get?Can I expect a minimum of 64kbps download speed in EVDO?

ssb1551 said:
I went to their office today morning to inquire about the unlimited plans(750 bucks per month).But I didn't ask about their tower location.I'll do that tomorrow,oh CRAP!tomo is Sunday.Gotta wait till Mon then.But hey thanks for the info!!
Whats the usual speed(download speed) u get?Can I expect a minimum of 64kbps download speed in EVDO?

theoretically u can get speeds upto 3.1mbps(around 375 kBps)
but you should get around 200-250 kBps
but as u move further away from the tower it goes down...
if you're quite far then it can go down to like 10-20 kBps so make sure you're close to the tower
so it's not a bad deal

Even download speed of around 150kbps works for me!!
Hey 1 question : I got a desktop.So to use this EVDO do I need to buy any device or will everything be provided by the BSNL guys?

^^bsnl guys provide the usb modem..
everything will be provided by the bsnl guys

Gee!Thanks man!!Gotta go to the BSNL office the 1st thing on Mon & get this stupid Ortel(Local Cable BB) disconnect!!

^^ u on ortel... lol
thats such a shitty company

there's also a trial period offer with bsnl evdo.. if u're not sure abt speeds or the bsnl guys don't give u a definite answer abt speeds(which is quite possible)
take it

if u get bad speeds return it

..How do you know about about Ortel?Is it there in your state too??
WOW!!BSNL has trial period offer!!AWESOME!!But I doubt they will give at my place.They(the BSNL office guys at my place) made me a tennis ball just to get info on unlimited EVDO plans!But anyways I'll give it a try!!Man thanks a lot on all the info you have given me so far!!

yes it is... it's a bad company
talk to bsnl and tell me abt ur experience cuz i've always had bad experiences

^^I hope the "bad experiences" are only from "talking" point of view & not from the services offered

..Will tell ya about it.Hope there's a EVDO tower nearby my place!!Can't stand the slow download speeds of Ortel anymore :banghead:

!!

BTW do they have special towers for EVDO service or the normal mobile communication towers is used for EVDO?

EVDO uses a regular tower but with an upgrade
... they generally only upgrade the tower at the main exchange
how far are u from the main exchange of your city?

Well from the main exchange tower my house is around 6-7km or maybe a little less.Is that good or bad?

thats good.... if networks in good condition and not very crowded..
u'll easily get 100 kBps + speeds

WOW!!!100kbps download speed n that too at 750 bucks per month!!Thats AWESOME!!

Hi,

I've question, does BSNL EVDO have constant speed despite of number of user using at any given time ?

I mean increasing of user speed goes down right ? Or is it applicable for 3g Data Card also ?

Or shall I stick to wired BSNL Broadband connection ?
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3g DataCard connection have a promotion offer, like charging 4200 rs for prepaid and for 6months u get unlimited which is 700/month which is I find very cost effective than my current 750UL+ connection.

^^ yes it does happen in evdo and the 3g .... this will always happen with wireless internet
as the users increase speed will decrease
with wired connection u'll get constant speed
the 4200 offer is good but it a promotional one.. later it might become costly again..
do u know till when is this offer available? the 4200 promotional one
i heard it's available till 20th dec or something?

*img404.imageshack.us/img404/9026/bsnl3gdatacardfestivalo.th.jpg

In this screen it says 90 Days from 1/11/2010 so it must be valid until 31st Jan 2011.

Update:-
Got the direct link

*bsnl.co.in/images/BSNL_3G_data_card_Festival_Offer_Ad_1_1.jpg

^^thanx ...

@ssb1551

It is 100 kBps not kbps. 100kbps would mean, 100/8 = 12.5 kBps.

small b for bits, capital B for bytes.

Small thing, but it does make a big difference.

ico said:
@ssb1551

It is 100 kBps not kbps. 100kbps would mean, 100/8 = 12.5 kBps.

small b for bits, capital B for bytes.

Small thing, but it does make a big difference.

i was just abt to mention that

ico said:
@ssb1551

It is 100 kBps not kbps. 100kbps would mean, 100/8 = 12.5 kBps.

small b for bits, capital B for bytes.

Small thing, but it does make a big difference.

I know!!8 bits make a byte.It was taught in 7th grade.I just simply didn't wanna get it complicated,thats why you'll notice I always mention download speed & line speed.A 512kbps line(the 1 I got) gives a download speed of 64kbps(or as you say kBps).But thats a theoretical download speed as practically 1 gets around 60kBps.My problem is download speed comes down to 15-35kBps after 1/2P.M.
Hence looking somewhere else for better download speed.

^^ I knew that you have the basic funda clear. I just wanted you to make things clear for a third person to read.

If you'll say, "I get 64kbps speed in my 512kbps." - this seems odd and confusing. Differentiating is always good for everyone. I'm looking at a third person's perspective, not mine.

Oh..k...PEACE!!

am using evdo for past 5-6 months and its great....getting download speeds around 150 kBps...but the only con is that torrents give pathetic speeds like 10kBps

^^Wow!!Awesome!!I rarely use torrents,almost all of my downloads are from hosts like MU/RS/MF/FS/HF.Its a great news for me buddy.Does the download speed ever go below 50kBps at any time of the day?

ssk_the_gr8 said:
yes it is... it's a bad company
talk to bsnl and tell me abt ur experience cuz i've always had bad experiences

Hey man!went to the BSNL office.Today there was another guy at the desk.Last time it was an old guy who told me about the 750/- unlimited plan.But this guy today told me,infact kinda was trying to force me,to go for 3G data card instead of EVDO.He told me EVDO speeds aint that great.Moreover EVDO works in particular circles(in my case - only my city,Bhubaneswar).It won't work outside my city.EVDO's unlimited plan(750/-) is expensive as compared to 3G data card(274/-).Is it true?3G data card unlimited plan at 274 bucks per month!!Having a hard time believing it!Oh yeah & this 3G data card doesn't need a 3G enabled phone.It seemed as if he was completely uninterested in providing EVDO.The only thing he kept on telling me was : "Don't go for EVDO.It's bad.Go for 3G data card."

Guys I'm planning to take EVDO Connection. I use torrents quite often. Will I be able to get good speeds on this?

Hey ssk(hope you see this post), got the 274/- 3G unlimited plan clarified(after almost 3 weeks).
You gotta buy the data card from BSNL & insert a 2G sim in it.Recharge for 274 bucks & enjoy free downloading.But I doubt it'll give good speeds as told by the BSNL guy.He said that I would get a download speed of 60-80kBps.I highly doubt that.If you wanna go for 3G unlimited plan then you gotta pay 1350 per month.
Now 1 question to forum users : has anyone used the BSNL 3G data card with a 2G sim?
If yes how much is the download speed one can expect?

I would like to mention certain things :

1. EVDO is a CDMA-based service (same as TATA Photon+ or Reliance Netconnect), hence it requires a BSNL Tower with CDMA Equipment. You should verify yourself that your area has a CDMA tower or not. Otherwise you're stuck to EDGE speeds. The BSNL guys might have no idea about it whatsoever.

2. You should get at least 300 KBps if not more (3.1 mbps max.), else getting a BSNL Broadband connection with Night unlimited would be better for heavy downloading.

3. The cards are available in two variants - a USB based or Laptop card based. Make sure you get the right one.

Here's the link to BSNL's EVDO page: Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd.

I had the BSNL Guy give me a demo last week. I was getting variable speed between 0.48 to 0.96 KBps. Unfortunately speed on torrents was way too low lesser than my current 256 Kbps plan. Speed I was getting on torrents was 7kBps. I used to get around 24-26 on my 625 UL plan.