Observations after 10 days and comparison with Airtel:
General Observations:
Internet has not went down even for a second in last 10 days. The supplied
router(
TP-Link WiFi6
AX1500) is top notch and I didn't even restart it once. This experience is quite different from Airtel where I had to restart the router multiple times, pages won't load, high pings, and connection time out.
I have already mentioned that browsing felt snappier on ACT compared to Airtel. I changed to
Cisco DNS and it got even better. Youtube, instagram,
netflix, reddit and twitter, everything loads blazingly fast and overall the difference b/w ACT and Airtel is quite significant in this aspect. Nobody in the house is complaining about "internet not working" anymore and I don't have to restart the router again and again.
Power Backup 'Jugaad':
I have bought a DC splitter cable and using a single
UPS to power both ONU and router. It works flawlessly. I am not sure how long the backup lasts as we have power backup in our apartment which kicks in after 3-4 seconds when power goes off. I just didn't want the router/ONU to restart due to power outage. I am using the Oakter mini UPS and it has been reliable so far(using it since last 6-7 months).
Speeds and pings:
I don't perform speedtests but both download and upload speed seems to be fine. It's always 350-400 Mbps on 300 Mbps plan which is great.
I couldn't find time to play or download games yet, will surely update when I do that. Valorant mumbai server ping is around 17-24ms and singapore is around 40-45ms which is great. Will post a more detailed review later related to gaming when I get time to do so.
Clear advantage over Airtel:
I am very happy with the fact that ACT didn't go with cheap chinese ONTs as it was a major complain I had with Airtel. Providing a separate ONU and a Wifi6 router from a established brand was a great move.ACT is a broadband only company whereas Airtel has multiple ventures. The difference clearly shows up in their
business decisions.
Switching to ACT has solved almost all my complains I had with Airtel.
300 Mbps plan is significantly cheaper than Airtel even without the discount ACT provided. ACT effectively costs me 1279 per month(gst inc) and Airtel costs around 1780 rupees(gst inc).
Shortcomings and negatives:
There's no option to change my plan speed before the renewal date which is 28th Feb 2025. I don't feel the need to upgrade/downgrade my plan but they should at least provide an option to do the same.
Their customer care is not the best. I have already shared my experience above, not going to mention it again. read it
here.
I will keep updating the thread in case of any updates/complains.