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.

 

[jehunix]

@Kaiju404 RLTech routers are shit though. Bridge it with something better. You will bridge it right? With what router you'll be using? Also rather than 1Gbps I've setup 2 ISPs in same router in load balance mode and when one connection goes down other connection acts as failover.

Next month I'll bump hathway to 300Mbps so I have 800Mbps up and down!! Right now that's giving me about 700Mbps combined up and down. Bumping Hathway to 300 next month, which should push the total to 800Mbps.

Honestly that's more than enough for what I actually need, and the cost still works out to just ₹1,946 a month including tax for both connections combined. Way cheaper than a single Airtel, Jio, or TPF plan at similar speeds, and I get proper redundancy out of it too since it's genuinely dual WAN.

And don't even get me started on TPF. One connection there alone would absolutely wreck my monthly budget for speeds I'm already getting cheaper across two separate ISPs combined. Every time I hear someone recommend TPF bill I wonder what exactly they're paying for tbvh, because it certainly isn't value. At this point I'd rather run two budget ISPs together with failover than hand TPF a single rupee for the privilege of their OTT-fied and over the moon pricing.

 

[_rajat]

I agree, both Airtel and TPF don't feel VFM at all. Tried getting YOU broadband but they are not available in my building, asked multiple sales people and they are not interested in installing a new DP box as it would require permission from the RWA.
Local ISPs are not reliable and their pricing is not that cheap when compared to Airtel or TPF. I am anyway on Airtel 200 Mbps plan and TPF is backup for now. Opted for disconnection but they didn't bother to close my connection or collect router. I guess I will just recharge it when Airtel goes down.
200 Mbps is a sweetspot for my usage and I think I don't need more than that.
I have decided to bed myself with this setup until ACT comes, don't want to be at the mercy of local ISP guys just to save a couple of hundreds every month. Airtel is working fine as of now, no issues whatsoever. If it ditches me again in the middle of some important work, I will dump them altogether and make peace with TPF.

 

[Chip]

So I checked with the neighbours, YBB is still connecting them via ethernet cable. The neighbour isnt very happy as he says they have extended downtimes should something happen and there are barely any people in YBB in this area to resolve issues. He's planning to take a TPF connection.

No fibre was one of the main reasons I shifted to Airtel FTTH. So nothing has changed in my area. Postponed plans to get YBB until they upgrade to fibre.

 

[_rajat]

From what I got to know, YOU broadband is not upgrading to fiber for their existing connections. They are only putting fiber for new buildings, mostly independent builder floor apartments.

there are barely any people in YBB in this area to resolve issues.

Yup, I called multiple sales guys and they said we don't work for YOU broadband anymore. "Tata ka connection chahiye to bataao" is the reply I got from a lot of them. Most of them are now with Airtel or TPF I guess.
I think there are barely any customers on YOU broadband, one has to be seriously living under the rock and still be on FTTB when FTTH is everywhere, even local ISPs.
Better to avoid YOU broadband atp.

 

[sng_shivang]

FTTB is also used by one of the major players of hyderabad - ACT Fibernet (Irony in it's name) and I don't think it's a bad thing though. The only problem is the fiber termination box which has a tiny battery for 3 hours backup in case there is a power outage else the system goes down.

But speed and reliability wise, there are no issues. There are regular flashpoints between Electricity department and broadband providers and ACT doesn't get impacted as much because the Fiber box is mostly in someone's private house. (barring the damage to mainline)

 

[Chip]

Can't really blame YBB it's owned by Vodafone now VI that is stuggling to survive. Hopefully they will upgrade their networks to fibre some day.

 

[_rajat]

For new buildings, ACT is now upgrading to FTTH in bangalore and hyderabad. Speed wise there is no difference but fiber is more reliable as thin drop cables can be layed inside the electrical duct so no chances of cable cuts at last mile, looks a lot cleaner also.
Fiber also reduces redundancy, no need of power backup at the junction box.
No interference from existing electrical wiring hence no speed drops.

 

[Kaiju404]

@Kaiju404 RLTech routers are shit though. Bridge it with something better. You will bridge it right? With what router you'll be using?

oh well then, I will ask for some other ONT. I will definitely bridge once my Syrotech wifi 6 router comes.

And don't even get me started on TPF. One connection there alone would absolutely wreck my monthly budget for speeds I'm already getting cheaper across two separate ISPs combined. Every time I hear someone recommend TPF bill I wonder what exactly they're paying for tbvh, because it certainly isn't value. At this point I'd rather run two budget ISPs together with failover than hand TPF a single rupee for the privilege of their OTT-fied and over the moon pricing

Yes TPF is no longer the good old isp, their price bump came like an axe though their customer service is second to none very prompt.. very unfortunate.

 

[jehunix]

@Chip @_rajat I don't know why its not FTTH for your building. If you want I can provide contact of the guy who processed my connection: ask if FTTH can be worked out maybe directly to him?

Cause I'm in Deccan Gymkhana / Erandwane and both me and my friend got FTTH by default - I live in small 3 story apartment while he lives in large apartment complex with multiple wings and all.

YOU BB FTTH is very stable and they have many customers atp still coz they're one of the oldest ISPs in Pune. Routing has been good. No slowness or heavy DPI and great pings to Cloudflare, MS, Google..

 

[Chip]

@jehunix it's not that I am completely unaware of YBB's service having been a subscriber for many years in the past. I tried their site they confirmed its available and even asked me to pay up for a 500 Mbps plan for 3 mths which I would have had it not been for the lack of clarity on the connecting medium.

I asked my neighbour for a contact number but like most ISPs everything must be routed through their call centre. So its come to a grinding halt. Can you share your contact's number by PM but I think he would have knowledge only of the Prabhat Rd and Erandawane areas not near Bund Garden/KP where I live.