Rolling on to half an Mb/sec.

512 Kbps Unlimited (Night – 10 hrs/day : 22hrs – 08hrs)

And.. finally! True broadband GETTO DAZE!! My humble (o’rly?) ISP, Sify Broadband (India) has just recently launched some new broadband packages in their plans; the numero uno that stands out the most is the pack U25N, that promises to deliver blazing speeds (for us Indians) of 512Kbps with Unlimited data transfer between 22:00hrs to 08:00hrs IST, and thereafter, a decent speed (in today’s Indian broadband scene..) of 256Kbps Unlimited for the rest of the day i.e. 08:00hrs to 22:00hrs.

Having just renewed my broadband account with the same, it seriously feels exciting to have a .5mbps connection. atleast for the night, which is legally owned (*coughs @ previous 6mbps connection 0wnages with previous ‘hax0red’ ISP ;)). Although the price of the plan, which may seem fair in today’s broadband scene at (Sify price) Rs. 1299/- per month; it ultimately gets you a hole in your pocket when it arrives through your CTO (Local Sify/Cable TV Operator) which throw in their own so-called maintenance charges which sums upto Rs. 1550/- per month for me. This is because unlike other ISPs, Sify provides broadband through local cable operators because of some monopoly issues since the past few years, AFAIK.

Even though it may not seem as über as a constant 24/7 connection of 512kbps, but looking at broadband in India today, where the average surfer is more than satisfied with a 1Gb capped {insert_any_speed_here_as_it_doesnt_really_matter_since_capped_connections_PHAIL} Kbps line, and those ones a step ahead who cannot bear to watch their Internet pipes idle of any 24/7 mass-leeching torrents/movies/games and streaming online media, contented with a 128/256 UL plan; the U25N feels a level up. Also from the perspective of the comparison of the amount of hours you get in the so-called ‘Night’ as compared to day, even though it may feel as a bit too less, Sify generously defines a ‘night’ slot as the period from 10pm to 8am, as compared to some other (evil!) ISPs like MTNL/BSNL who have 2am to 8am defined as a ‘night’ as a part of their conspiracy into getting the average 7-8 hrs Zzz’ing person to stay upto 2am to start the leeching, and out of some misfortune due to the late bedtime, wake up a tad late post the 8am mark; thus brutally charging the person for the entire night’s data transfer.

Thus, a ‘Sify day’ lasts for 14 hrs, and a night for 10 hrs; that’s just a bit less than half a day that you’re going to enjoy the 512 glory if you rather not look at it from the darn_it’s_bedtime_for_me perspective.

And before I hit the [Publish] button and switch back to getting pampered by the new speeds, I’d like to conclude that inspite of the so-called ‘super’ Download speed that it provides (64+ KB/s), it was yet too much of a letdown when I discovered online streaming sites like Youtube & Google Video still not attaining a smooth video playback, staggering with buffering screens, even if it’s for a second or two; for what I believe they are to be blamed, since downloading the same video would result in a faster rate than it streaming in their embedded players; [EDIT] the videos play smooth as ever, and buffer much in advance to allow you to seek ahead =)

And as you await for my next post in the distant future ;p.. here’s me signing off, and wishing hopefully the broadband scene in India gets even more better in the weeks to come.