onewhoknows
Regular
I bought the 3G BSNL USB modem (Huawei E1553) in Chennai and on activationwas amazed at the speeds I got. I checked the speed using Speedtest during different times of the day and the speedtest link is given below. The highest speed I got was 3.09 Mbps and the lowest was 2.94 Mbps. The speed test was conducted during different times in the day and the speeds are consistent.My reason to buy: I am constantly on the move - working in different citiesand my current BSNL evdo connection does not allow for roaming. I know BSNLhave started national roaming on EVDO cards but the BSNL customer service isclueless on this front. By joining the 3G bandwagon I can atleast be assured ofconnectivity almost everywhere in India (esp the big towns and cities) and in technologyit is always better to embrace a upcoming technology then go for a outdated one.Process: Simply stepped into a BSNL franchise shoppe in Chennai. You need 2 photographs, id and address proof. Get the usb modem and prepaidsim card over the counter and wait for around 15 mts to get the sim card activated. I paid Rs 4343 for the Huawei USB stick. I went for the prepaid plan and you can choose a plan based on your usage. Data plans are expensive now but will come down eventually once the private players begin to enter the fray.Come back home, insert the USB modem into the USB port of yourlaptop and follow the process. This is purely plug and play - so no CD's required fordownloading any drivers. This modem is compatible with XP/Vista and Windows 7.The shop from where I purchased the modem advised me what APN name I should use.All in all the installation process should take no longer than 5 minutes.Observations:1) As you may know at these high speeds, watching videos/online gaming is aabsolute pleasure. Absolutely no buffering and for once the connection is consistent.2) My earlier connection was also with BSNL (EVDO) but 3G speed is light years ahead of EVDO. EVDO boasts of 2.4 mbps speed but I hardly got 600Kbps.I was expecting only around 1 Mbps with 3G but iam pleasantly surprised withthe current speeds.3) It is difficult to check the prepaid 3G datacard balance since the software doesnot tell you what the current balance is. I called BSNL and they tell me theonly way to know balance is to remove the sim card from the modem, insert itinto a phone and then check balance by dialing 123 or something. This to meis too cumbersome a task to check balance. If anyone has a better idea to checkthe balance, please let us know4)I had purchased a Hame 433 Router for my EVDO connection and to my pleasantsurprise this 3G modem works with this router too. No need to buy a new router for this modem now.Cheers
