Airtel Xstream Fiber Pune Review

This thread is related to Airtel Fiber Broadband experience in Pune/PCMC. I always try to update the thread with my personal experiences.​

Airtel Black:​

I was already using their 999 postpaid family plan, so opted for their 1799 airtel black plan which had 1+3 add on sim(999 family plan) and 200Mbps fiber broadband.The total bill comes out to be 2122(inc. gst). If i calculate the individual cost of the plans - 999+gst=1179 for postpaid and another 999+gst= 1179 for 200 Mbps broadband for both airtel and tata(varies if opting for long term plan), so total cost comes out to be around 2358 per month.
Opting for airtel black 1799+gst saves me around 2358-2122=236 rupees a month, which is not a huge amount honestly.
I paid 4000 rupees as advanced rental which saved all the installation and hardware cost, and this would be adjusted in my future billing cycle. I paid for 2 months in advanced roughly which seems fair.

Booking and installation:​

Headed to the airtel store which is just 1km away from my place, KYC and payment was done under 10 mins. They said that the installation might take time as there are a lot of new colonies and apartment buildings where airtel fiber is recently live, so they have a lot of pending installations. They promised me that installation will be done in maximum of 48 hours which is also mentioned on their website Airtel FAQ.
I booked the connection on 21st june 2023 around 4:30 in the evening. The installation team contacted me the next day around 7pm and it was done by 22nd june 2023 around 8:30 pm.

Router:​

Got the Sercomm AOT - 42221SR. Sleek and modern looking router. Performs decent, good range throughout the house. It switches automatically between 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz band, which is very convenient.
Update on 20th July 2023: The ONT is sub par in terms of performance w.r.t multiple client handling and bandwidth distribution. Ended up putting this router in bridge mode and used TP-Link Archer AX10 instead.
Setting up this router in bridge mode doesn't require any assistance from airtel. I got it working by myself.

Speedtest:​

Source
Download speed on some speedtest.net servers is over 450 most of the times. I don't know what is the reason. Didn't opt for static IP or anything. Upload speed is around 240-250 as per the plan which is acceptable.


Source

Source

Network Quality Test:​

Bufferbloat:

Bufferbloat Test Result: A+

View the full results, and test your own bufferbloat

www.waveform.com

A+ most of the times. Did the test over WiFi.

NPerf:

Latency:​

Getting good latency while playing valorant. 6-9ms to mumbai server.
Connection remains stable when connected to my office VPN.



Overall i am very happy with airtel fiber connection. Browsing, surfing and streaming experience is slightly better than Tata. This is just initial impressions tho. Will update this thread in the future in case of any major update.
After one month of testing:
Definitely better than Tata Play Fiber in terms of raw performance.

Update on 11th August:​

CC support and FR time has definitely improved atleast in Wakad/Pimple Saudagar area.

Update on 27th October:​

FR team now attends SRs in the given time slot.

 

[tr1k0N4]

As far as I can tell, changing the WAN settings would result in all the ports being set to bridge mode. Again, this is merely an assumption, people with more technical know-how can confirm or correct.
However, since you already have the LAN settings unlocked, you don't need to change any WAN settings or contact Airtel CC either.

I used my Nokia ONT with my own router and my computer by changing the LAN bridge mode settings only and it worked flawlessly, before I altogether replaced my Nokia ONT with a TP-Link XZ000-G7.

 

[tr1k0N4]

In fact, you can try this rn.

 

[anmolbhard004]

@tr1k0N4 whats vlan for airtel to be put in other router'? 100?

 

[Skeeter]

100 for Internet, 660 for for voice.

 

[anmolbhard004]

oh thanks ..

 

[Deleted member 83050]

6 Month Review:​

Overall the connection is rock solid and hardly goes down now. I can recommend this over Tata Play Fiber for sure. Airtel is just superior to Tata Play in terms of routing and stability. Since last two months I always receive a callback from the engineer if I raise an SR on the Thanks App.
Yes there are occasional downtimes(once or twice a month) but mostly due to scheduled maintenance which is okay, very acceptable.

My archer AX10 works flawlessly with the Sercomm ONT in bridge mode. I don't even remember restarting it the last time, it's that stable. PPPoE resets around 12-13ish days now which is acceptable too. There is no performance bottleneck whatsoever.

Download speeds are great on most servers including torrents with good peers. I get full speed whenever I download games from steam/epic games. I don't perform speedtests on Ookla day and night to check speeds, internet is not meant for these kind of cringe activities and bandwidth should not be misused for such tasks.

Airtel Black billing has been a little inconsistent but I am okay with that because they reverse all unnecessary charges upon complaining. I have made peace with this because everything can't be perfect. I prefer quality of service and peace of mind over everything and I am happy with Airtel's service.

To sum it up in layman terms:
Internet is always there, whenever I need it, or a family member, either for work or entertainment and it works flawlessly without irritating us. I just forget about it's presence unless net goes down which is rare now .This is a significance of good service.

 

[no_name9]

Don't book any Airtel fiber. They take the money and then they will say connection will get set up within 24 hours and after that 10 days you will keep calling they will reply with yes we are doing, yes we are doing and nothing will happen. Then they will cancel or booking and tell you that after 25 days you will get refund. That means they are just taking your money keeping it for months and then giving you back by saying no connection for your area even after checking feasibility before the booking.

 

[Punekarrrr]

currently i m using Tata play fiber 50mbps ..................................... so far dont have any complaints

but looking at ott plans including almost all applications i use i m planning to try airtel xstream fiber in kothrud pune

is it really worth giving a shot ????