My YOU Broadband Review (500 Mbps, 40 Days In)

Recently changed houses in Pune, so I had to switch ISPs too. Figured I'd share my experience since it might help someone else going through the same thing.

A bit of background first. My last connection was Gazon, and before that I had Airtel Xtreme Fiber, which was honestly the worst of the lot in terms of value. Cancelling Airtel alone took me nearly 2 hours on calls and chat, just a complete waste of time. On other hand cancelling Gazon was a much smoother experience overall, and cancelling it was almost too easy. I just messaged my LCO on WhatsApp, he confirmed it was done, said he'd refund the deposit and collect the hardware sometime that week. No fuss at all.

Now onto YOU Broadband, which is what I've settled on at the new place.

Plan Details​

• Plan: 500 Mbps FTTH
• FUP: 3.5 TB/month
• Monthly Rent: ₹3,186 incl. GST, genuinely one of the cheapest 500 Mbps plans I've come across
• Connection Type: FTTH (Fiber), PPPoE
• ISP provided router: RLTech dual band GPON router (currently running in bridge mode)

Installation Experience​

Installation was sorted the same day I called in. No drama, no back and forth. The technician showed up, pulled fiber, and had the connection live within a couple of hours. Only the plan amount (₹3,186) was charged, nothing extra for installation or router.

Router Setup​

The ISP supplied RLTech router has been in bridge mode from day one, so it's basically just doing GPON duty. I started off with a Mikrotik hEX behind it, and have since moved to a Ubiquiti Cloud Gateway Ultra, which has been handling routing duties nicely.

Connection Basics​

• Optical Power (Rx): -16 dBm, stable
• WAN Type: CGNAT (100.78.x.x range)
• IPv6: Not provisioned
• Connection Mode: PPPoE

Speed and Performance​

Speeds have been consistent so far:

• LAN: Usually 490 to 530 Mbps, occasionally touching 540 Mbps
• Wi-Fi: 460 to 500 Mbps both up and down
• Upload is fully symmetrical with download, no compromises there

Latency (30 packet test):

• Google (8.8.8.8): avg 11.7 ms, min 7.2 ms, max 16.8 ms, 0% loss
• Cloudflare (1.1.1.1): typically 5 to 10 ms, though I've seen it spike to the high 20s or low 30s during peak hours. Likely a temporary anycast routing shift on Cloudflare's side rather than anything to do with the ISP.

ping -c 30 8.8.8.8

PING 8.8.8.8 (8.8.8.8): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=0 ttl=117 time=9.731 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=1 ttl=117 time=12.262 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=2 ttl=117 time=10.545 ms
...
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=29 ttl=117 time=12.962 ms

--- 8.8.8.8 ping statistics ---
30 packets transmitted, 30 packets received, 0.0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 7.177/11.722/16.842/2.362 ms

International routing has genuinely surprised me. This is where YOU Broadband seems to be doing something right on the backend:

• Singapore: around 58 to 60 ms
• Europe (UK): around 135 to 140 ms

Pretty solid numbers for a home connection. Traceroutes below for anyone who wants to see the actual path.


Traceroute, Domestic (Cloudflare, 1.1.1.1):

traceroute to 1.1.1.1 (1.1.1.1), 64 hops max, 40 byte packets
 1  192.168.0.1 (192.168.0.1)  9.853 ms  1.919 ms  2.027 ms
 2  100.78.0.1 (100.78.0.1)  6.801 ms  6.718 ms  8.853 ms
 3  pune-core01.youbroadband.in (203.187.215.1)  13.249 ms  6.403 ms  8.658 ms
 4  123.63.152.142 (123.63.152.142)  5.531 ms  6.006 ms  3.816 ms
 5  182.19.106.105 (182.19.106.105)  9.082 ms  8.867 ms  7.756 ms
 6  * * *
 7  162.158.226.17 (162.158.226.17)  12.753 ms
    162.158.226.89 (162.158.226.89)  10.504 ms
    162.158.226.73 (162.158.226.73)  9.814 ms
 8  one.one.one.one (1.1.1.1)  7.346 ms  6.660 ms  7.993 ms

Traceroute, Singapore (StarHub):

traceroute to 202.94.70.1 (202.94.70.1), 64 hops max, 40 byte packets
 1  rt-ax82u-1288 (192.168.2.1)  1.371 ms  0.733 ms  0.551 ms
 2  10.240.12.76 (10.240.12.76)  2.421 ms  3.076 ms  2.397 ms
 3  * * *
 4  aes-static-033.51.246.61.airtel.in (61.246.51.33)  2.988 ms  3.401 ms  2.419 ms
 5  182.79.152.152 (182.79.152.152)  55.494 ms
    116.119.42.1 (116.119.42.1)  55.526 ms
    182.79.224.183 (182.79.224.183)  54.211 ms
 6  203.117.32-209.unknown.starhub.net.sg (203.117.32.209)  55.758 ms  55.414 ms  69.763 ms
 7  203.118.7.74 (203.118.7.74)  55.864 ms  55.563 ms
    203.118.6.234 (203.118.6.234)  73.341 ms
 8  202.94.70.1 (202.94.70.1)  58.532 ms  61.124 ms  60.396 ms

Traceroute, UK (BT network):

traceroute to 217.38.149.236 (217.38.149.236), 64 hops max, 40 byte packets
 1  rt-ax82u-1288 (192.168.2.1)  1.158 ms  0.674 ms  0.439 ms
 2  10.240.12.76 (10.240.12.76)  3.458 ms  2.398 ms  2.066 ms
 3  * * *
 4  aes-static-033.51.246.61.airtel.in (61.246.51.33)  3.038 ms
    aes-static-013.51.246.61.airtel.in (61.246.51.13)  2.841 ms  2.842 ms
 5  116.119.112.190 (116.119.112.190)  151.265 ms
    116.119.33.226 (116.119.33.226)  128.039 ms
    116.119.112.192 (116.119.112.192)  149.089 ms
 6  ixp2.de-fra.eu.ignite.net (80.81.193.84)  125.324 ms  125.175 ms  124.865 ms
 7  t2c4-et-7-0-5.uk-lof.gia.bt.net (166.49.208.34)  131.147 ms  139.220 ms
    t2c4-et-7-1-5.uk-lof.gia.bt.net (166.49.195.102)  130.291 ms
 8  * 166-49-209-195.gia.bt.net (166.49.209.195)  129.997 ms  128.386 ms
 9  core2-gig10-0-0.edinburgh.ukcore.bt.net (62.172.102.85)  137.212 ms  136.453 ms  138.582 ms
10  ftip004512660.acc3.mr.21cn-ipp.bt.net (109.159.234.155)  141.062 ms  141.684 ms  143.619 ms
11  217.38.149.236 (217.38.149.236)  140.619 ms  142.840 ms  139.415 ms

Speedtest.net, Multiple Servers​

Note: all of these were run on the 5GHz Wi-Fi AP, with multiple other devices connected and actively in use, not a clean single device LAN test. So these are real world numbers, not best case ones.

Local (Pune):

• Download: 484.05 Mbps
• Upload: 449.54 Mbps
• Ping: 4 ms unloaded, 21 ms loaded down, 33 ms loaded up

Singapore (Verizon):

• Download: 367.55 Mbps
• Upload: 326.55 Mbps
• Ping: 60 ms unloaded, 67 ms loaded down, 68 ms loaded up

London (BT):

• Download: 487.68 Mbps
• Upload: 160.15 Mbps
• Ping: 128 ms unloaded, 146 ms loaded down, 143 ms loaded up

Local numbers basically hit the plan ceiling even over Wi-Fi on a busy network. International download holds up well too, though upload clearly tapers off on the longer routes, which makes sense given the distance and number of hops involved.

FUP, Is 3.5 TB Enough?​

I'm mostly out of the house on office days, so my usage isn't that heavy to begin with. 3.5 TB has been comfortable so far. I've used about 2.4 TB in 40 days without any worry about hitting the cap.

Daily Usage​

The connection handles:

• Multiple 4K TVs running at the same time
• Streaming and general browsing
• Online meetings
• Occasional cloud gaming (Xbox Cloud, xCloud)

Even with 10+ devices connected, a good chunk of them IoT, I haven't seen any noticeable slowdown.

Reliability​

Had one outage in this period, about 2 hours, caused by a fiber cut. What I appreciated was that it was communicated proactively over email, and the issue was resolved within the TAT that was shared over SMS. Outside of that, uptime has been solid.

Customer Support​

No complaints here. Support and overall service handling has been good, and the communication during the outage was a nice touch that a lot of ISPs tend to skip.

Things I Like​

✔ Excellent price to speed ratio (₹3,186 for 500 Mbps is hard to beat)
✔ Symmetrical and reliable upload speeds
✔ Fairly low latency, both domestic and international
✔ Proactive communication during outages

Things That Could Be Better​

• Would love to see the FUP bumped up for heavier users, even though 3.5 TB works fine for how I use it
• The ISP provided router isn't great, but that's a non issue if you're running your own gear in bridge mode anyway

Overall Verdict​

For the price, YOU Broadband's 500 Mbps plan has been solid. Consistent speeds, symmetrical uploads, low latency, and international routing that's noticeably better than I expected. Reliability has been good too, and the one outage I did face was handled transparently. If you're looking for a value for money 500 Mbps FTTH connection and YOU Broadband is available in your area, it's worth considering.

Happy to answer any questions if anyone's thinking of switching.

 

[_rajat]

Loaded latencies look very similar to what my TPF connection has although it shouldn't have much impact on day to day use apart from online gaming. Good to know that the customer support is decent, it really depends on the local staff, have heard a lot of bad things about YOU BB customer care.
My guess is that most issues got sorted out now since they moved to FTTH.
I would have given YOU BB a try but they are not longer serviceable in my apartment, remember seeing their flyers around back in 2017-2018.

• Optical Power (Rx): -16 dBm, stable

Hmmm, interesting. It means that the OLT is very near to your residence and they have not oversold connections yet. My Airtel connection has power of -17dBm because the OLT is just right across the street(as informed by the service guy). The FAT boxes(4 of them in my apartment) are very neatly maintained with proper locks and wired tucked in.
Most of the residents in my apartment are on TPF so the optical power for my connection is -24 to -26 dBm and it keeps fluctuating. Asked the technician if it can be changed, he refused saying upto -28dBm is acceptable. Poorly maintained FAT boxes(at least visually) with no locks and wires tangled.

 

[Kaiju404]

Great review! from the trace it looks Airtel is serving stream backbone or are there are anymore players connecting to tier 1 isps?

 

[jehunix]

@_rajat my apartment also there was no YBB earlier. I am their first customer in our building. Otheriwse people are using Hathway and TPF. Hathway is decent as secondary backup tbvh! No complaints.

My FAT box is actually right on my terrace, and as of now I'm the only one connected off it, so that probably explains the clean -16 dBm reading. That TPF thing makes sense though. An unlocked, tangled FAT box is way more likely to have a loose or dirty connector, and that would explain the fluctuating power more than just split ratio. -24 to -26 bouncing around isn't great even if it's technically within spec.

Most YBB complaints were mostly from their coaxial and pre-FTTH days I guess. Now its solid. Local team is very praoctive too. They come to house if they have too within 2-3 hours of putting complaint on app / website..

 

[Kyle Crane]

YOU broadband is probably taking upstream from VI ?

could you check on BGP tools?

 

[jehunix]

@Kyle Crane @Kaiju404 Looking at the traceroute, hop 4 onward is routing through Airtel (airtel.in, then Airtel-owned ranges) before it hits StarHub in Singapore or BT in the UK. But checked it on bgp.tools (AS18207) and their actual observed upstreams are Vi, both AS55410 and AS55644 (Vodafone Idea), not Airtel or Telstra like I initially assumed from a static whois record.

So there's a bit of a curious mismatch here. My best guess is Vi handles the bulk of domestic and regional peering, while specific international routes get handed off to Airtel rather than Vi carrying it themselves end to end. Not 100% sure on the exact mechanics there, but the data itself is solid since bgp.tools reflects live observed BGP paths rather than registered policy.

 

[Kyle Crane]

Is there any sort of DPI slowdowns

 

[unnecessary]

@jehunix can you do speedtests with other local servers such as Vi, Jio, Airtel, Excitel etc? From other cities as well like ACT Jaipur etc. would love to see it.

Secondly, is it Vodafone backbone? Or tata? I guess Vodafone? But pings seem really good for Vi.

Did they allow bridge mode? How was the process?
Also wasn't 500 Mbps 1299 something per month? That price is 1 month or 3 months?

Should come in Jaipur as well, gotta have some Vi competition + support.

Also what's your dBm power? Is it LCO based or what? How were the installation guys? Company Tshirt or normal lco type?

What's the thickness of the fiber coming in? Cores? Is there a distribution box outside? How's it? With splitters like Airtel, TPF etc. Or desi lco style black box? Also what's the thickness of main fiber coming to the pole? If you can also share some pictures. Thanks

 

[jehunix]

Its single core fiber. FAT / distribution box is on my terrace but currently I'm only connection on there. They're professionals so they do splitters like Airtel, TPF not black box type things!

My power is -16dmb. Its not LCO based. Directly company provided. Installation was quick though they were in plain clothes only. Very polite and well-mannered btw.

Also bridge mode wasn't disallowed in first place only. Installation guy himself told me admin credentials on defaut RLTech router and setup bridge connection. YOU allows mac address change / regsitration on their web portal only and they explicitly allow bridge allow or setup with your own hardware. No need to raise requests or wait forever.

Pricing is 3186 including GST for 3 months. For 1 months its 1298 including GST!! Still much better and cheaper than TPF which charges 3186 for 1 month though!!!

It uses Vodafone / Vi upstream but for many international routes used Airtel too.

Will share speedtests shortly by tonight @unnecessary

 

[jehunix]

@Kyle Crane NO heavy DPI I think! at least I didn't notice anything was blocked. Pirated websites and websites with adult content and all were accessible just normally.

They're not Jio to moral police the internet ahahah!! I checked for SNI-based DPI blocking for multiple famous adult sites as well as sites which servers copyrighted movies and stuff. Nothing was blocked. They're all blocked on Jio SIM as well as fiber. YOU / Vi doesn't do heavy DPI I can conclude hence!! If you want any particular sites checked - lmk btw or DM me!