Thinking of Getting Alliance Broadband – What Should I Do First?

[windyglaze]

Hi everyone, I’m planning to get a new internet connection and I'm thinking of going with Alliance Broadband. I'm not a techie person, so I could really use some help from those of you who are already using it. Here are a few questions I have before I go ahead:

1. How do I choose the right plan?
2. Is there anything I should ask the local Alliance agent or dealer before signing up?
3. Do I need to buy my own router, or will they provide one? If I need to buy, what kind should I get?
4. How is their customer service and response time if there’s a problem?
5. Are there any hidden charges or things to be careful about in the bill?
6. Do speeds remain stable during peak hours like evenings and weekends?
7. If I face issues, is it better to contact the main customer care or the local provider?
8. Anything else I should do or check before finalizing it?

I’d really appreciate any tips or advice you can share. Thanks in advance!

 

[windyglaze]

Just giving this a quick bump – I’m from Kolkata (700075) and still looking for some advice before I go ahead with Alliance. Would be super helpful if any users from my area could share their experience. Thanks!

 

[f0r3he4d]

get the utsav 140 plan or qtr 400. other plans are trash.

 

[AD2011]

1.a. Utsav 140 (take the 3M+3M variant. No frills pack at 500 pm incl GST.)
b. QTR 400+ (contains OTT, Voice) or Welcome 400+ (same as QTR400+ with free dual band router for 150 extra).
c. QTR 400 or Welcome 400 (same as plus except OTT)
2. Contact Alliance support they will redirect you to the nearest LCO.
3. You have the freedom to you your own router. Just ask them to give you a dumb ONU. Or buy your own ONU, just ask whether the LCO is using GPON or EPON.
4. Good, they even fixed some of my routing problems to some international servers where I was facing issues. No major blackouts happen in my area but if it occurs, it gets fixed very quickly (Depends on LCO)
5. No bill, they provide prepaid connection.
6. Yes, I use Utsav 140, always got near advertised speeds. Faced a some speed reduction during the initial IPL session this year, but they have mostly fixed that even though it was more than usable the whole time.
7. Main customer care. If line breakage, then you can contact local LCO.
8. Check which plan they are providing you. How much they are charging for the connection and note down the router/connection credentials.

You can also ask the LCO to provide you PPPoE connection which has IPv6 enabled.

 

[AD2011]

1. Plan Selection
a. Utsav 140 – Take the 3M+3M variant. No-frills pack at ₹500/month (incl. GST).
b. QTR 400+ (includes OTT, Voice) or Welcome 400+ (same as QTR 400+ but with a free dual-band router for ₹150 extra).
c. QTR 400 or Welcome 400 (same as above but without OTT).


2. Installation
Contact Alliance support; they’ll redirect you to the nearest LCO (local operator).


3. Router Options
You can use your own router. Ask for a dumb ONU, or buy your own ONU (confirm if they use GPON or EPON).


4. Reliability
Good service — they even fixed some of my international routing issues. No major blackouts here; if any, LCO usually fixes it fast.


5. Billing
Prepaid connection. No bill hassles.


6. Speed Consistency
Using Utsav 140 — speeds are close to advertised. Slight slowdown during initial IPL this year but mostly fixed; still usable.


7. Support
General issues – contact main customer care. For line breakages – contact local LCO.


8. Before Finalizing
Check plan details, connection charges, and note down router/connection credentials.


Ask the LCO if they can set up a PPPoE connection for you — it comes with IPv6 enabled.

 

[windyglaze]

Thank you all for your responses so far – they've been really helpful!

I wanted to give a quick update. I emailed Alliance Broadband for a new connection, and they responded by sending me the contact details of a Local Cable Operator (LCO) who provides Alliance connections in my area. I spoke to the LCO, and he mentioned that while the line is from Alliance, they actually use SSWL servers. He said SSWL is similar to Alliance.

I honestly have no idea what that means. I did some googling about SSWL Broadband and found their plans – they seem a bit different from the standard Alliance plans. For example, I looked up the Utsav140 plan that some of you recommended, and it felt like really good value. But I couldn't find a direct alternative to that on the SSWL tariff page.

I also checked the LCO’s page online and they seem to have decent reviews on Google, so that’s somewhat reassuring.

Still, I’m a bit confused – is this normal, or should I be worried? Is there a risk of getting scammed?
My Hathway broadband is expiring this week, so I’ll need to install a new connection very soon. The LCO guy has already asked me to send over the required documents.

Would really appreciate any advice on whether it’s safe to go ahead with this!

 

[windyglaze]

Update:
Just wanted to share that I went ahead and got the connection through the LCO. The line is from Alliance but runs on SSWL servers, as mentioned earlier. It’s been a few days now, and so far everything’s working fine — speed is good and stable.

Will post again if anything changes.

 

[f0r3he4d]

is it the same prices with the same plans?

 

[windyglaze]

Hey, just to answer your question — no, the plans offered through SSWL are not the same as the standard Alliance plans. SSWL has its own set of plans listed on their website. I’m not sure if I’m allowed to share links here, but a quick Google search for SSWL Broadband should take you to their official site.

That said, I’ve been using the connection for a few days now and it’s been working quite well so far — speeds are good and stable.

However, I noticed that my public IP hasn’t changed, even after restarting the router and waiting over 24 hours. Not sure if that’s normal — if anyone knows, please let me know.

 

[windyglaze]

A few other details for anyone curious:

• The LCO guys who installed the connection gave me a modem-router temporarily, and mentioned that they’ll replace it with a new router from the company (Alliance, I believe) once they get stock. Right now, they’re out of stock.
• I asked them about login/disconnection issues, and they said they’ve set it to auto-login so that there’s no disruption. Seems to be working fine so far.
• I ran a check using some DNS tools, and it shows a list of popular DNS servers in use — like OpenDNS, Cloudflare, Google, and their own DNS server. I’m not entirely sure what that means, but the connection hasn’t had any issues.
• On the other hand, Hathway (my previous ISP) has been calling nonstop to ask me to recharge — super annoying, honestly.
• I haven’t asked them to terminate my Hathway connection yet because the last time I did, they just took the modem but didn’t properly deactivate the connection. It still shows active in their portal, so I’m a bit hesitant to go through that again.

Let me know if you’ve experienced something similar or have any tips on handling the Hathway situation!