Internet users are increasing day by day in India and other parts of world, so companies are now being prepared to provide best wireless Internet experience to its users. In recent past, India has got lot many wireless service providers and initially they were providing an internet connection at speed of around 144 Kbps which was better than dialup but much lower than the broadband services. But now Reliance, Tata Indicom, Virgin Mobile etc. have launched wireless broadband services with much better speed.
Yesterday I purchased Reliance Netconnect Broadband+, a wireless broadband service data card from Reliance outlet. And I thought to share the unboxing experience with you all. In this post, you will get everything that you should know before and after purchasing Reliance Netconnect Broadband+ connection.
Wireless Broadband Providers and their product in India
- Reliance Netconnect Broadband+
- Tata Photon+
- BSNL EVDO Card
- Virgin Mobile vFlash
Why Reliance Netconnect BB+
Reliance is having coverage for Broadband+ in around 44 major cities in India and the best part is that if the Broadband+ is not available in your small city, you may use the 1X service which is there in around 25,000 small cities and more than 5 Lac villages. This will definitely help in in case of national roaming. Here is the upload/download speed in case of BB+ and 1X,
Broadband+ (plus) ==> 3.1 Mbps/1.8Mbps ==> You will get around 2Mbps/1Mbps
1X Datacard ==> 144 Kbps ==> You will get around 256 Kbps (Yes, higher than their claim)
I tested these two scenario in the same city by moving to a rural area and then tried in the main city as well.
Cost of Reliance Netconnect Broadband+ Datacard
Thank god, I am located in Pune, India. Regular price of Reliance Netconnect Broadband+ is Rs. 3,500/- but if you are in Pune of some other place where this offer is running, you will get this datacard at Rs. 1,999/-. Yes, I got it at Rs. 1,999/- only.
Unboxing Reliance Netconnect BB+
Here is the pictures which I took after opening the box of Reliance Netconnect Broadband+ Datacard. There are few options available for the datacard. i would suggest you to go for Huawei EC1260 datacard, You can choose “Black” or “White” as the color for the device. I went for “Black” device because I was suitable for my black laptop.
Reliance Netconnect Broadband+ Box
Box Open
Items in the Box
Finally I inserted the device in my Laptop’s USB port. An autorun program started installing on the system. The installation window is self explanatory and will take less than 2 minutes for installation. Once the installation will complete, you can see a new short cut icon named Reliance Netconnect appearing on your desktop. Now click on the icon and a new window will open. There you can see a button as “Connect”, Please don’t hit that button before activating the device. To activate the device, go to “Network Settings” under “Settings” tab. Enter your MDN number on UserID and Password section of the “Network Settings” panel. You can find your MDN number on the back side of the box. Now save the changes by clicking “Save” button on the same panel. If Userid and Password sections are not editable then click on “Edit” button on the same panel.
Now you need to “Activate” your MDN number to start using broadband. To do that click on “Activate” tab on the top menu. Now you can see a blank screen where you can type the things. Here you have to type *228 and click on “Activate”. Before doing this, turn on your speaker because you will be asked to enter a number after that. To hear that message, your speaker should be turned ON. Wait for a minute then you can see “Successfully Activated” message over there. Now close the application and restart the same from desktop. Now click on “Connect” to start using your Reliance Broadband+.
Netconnect Window
Pre-paid and Post-paid Tariff for Netconnect Broadband+
Reliance Broadband Netconnect is available in pre-paid as well as post-paid. Below attached are the pre-paid and post-paid tariff posted on Reliance Netconnect site but when you will go to the Reliance web world, you may get some cool offers which are not there on the site. These offers may change depending on your region. For example, I saw 3 months validity plan priced at Rs.1,500/- and with 6 GB data download limit. That means 2 GB per month with 3.1 Mbps, not bad.
Here are the plans posted on website and scanned copy of the pamphlet available in reliance web world in Pune where you can see some more plans.
Note: By the way, I got 10 GB free data usage for the first month. So I will consider these plans after a month only.
Pre-Paid Tariff posted on site
Post-Paid Tariff posted on site
Scanned copy of pamphlet from Reliance Web World
How to check usage details of Reliance Netconnect
There are different ways to track your usage details for Netconnect Broadband+ for Pre-paid and Post-paid users.
For Pre-paid users:
- Go to this link: Reliance Net Connect E Care Balance
- Enter your datacard’s MDN number and press “Go”.
- There you can see your balance and validity details.
For Post-paid users:
- Register yourself on this page by clicking on the “Register” button.
- Add your Reliance Datacard from My Account section
- Enter the PIN which you got in your email Inbox after adding the device
- Now you can see usage details
Till now my experience is really good with Netconnect. YouTube videos are playing without any pause and browsing experience is also very good. In coming future, they may reduce the charges a bit because of upcoming competition from Virgin Mobile, Airtel, Idea etc. Post your experience with Reliance or any other wireless broadband service in India.