Still no updates!

Hey,

http://broadband.sify.com/master_pricelist.html

I still do not see any 75meg a day limit on shared packages specified on
this page! We all know that your connectivity in the last mile has a
problem. But do not tell me you guys do not even get my mails! Sify's
corporate mail servers gotta be better than their broadband connections
they sell to the customers...

regards,
Sushubh

Sorry to say Mr. R. Ramaraj, Sify Broadband is a sham

They are a company milking the customers while they can because as 1000s of users all over India have found it out the hard way that what they give out is not what they promise. I am reminded how pathetic they are every time I try to download something during the daytime. On a package that come labeled 48kbps+, what I get most of the time is speeds around 3KBps. You know you are not on broadband when downloading a 350 Megs file, the approximate download time the download manager shows you comes out to be around 3 days and 10 hours. A 3 meg file takes 30 minutes to download with surfing made impossible for that time period considering there is little bandwidth left for a browser to retrieve pages.

The broadband scene in India is so pathetic that TRAI had to come in with a recommendation, which says that the minimum speed for a connection to be labeled broadband is 256kbps. It is not a rule or a law afaik considering Sify is still selling packages rated 32/48/64/128 in the name of their Sify Broadband brand name. However, they have recently taken some steps to fix this. No, they are not going to upgrade their sadder than dialup packages to broadbandish speeds. They just add some headers to the product plan pages on their official website. Now, packages with speeds lower than 256kbps are labeled hi-speed connection. Only the 256kbps packages are specified under broadband connection. Also notable is the fact that there is no mention of the fact that there is a 75megs a day download limit on shared packages after which speeds are further reduced to worse levels.

So, this justifies the broadband term in their corporate name! I can already hear the explanation if someone complains about lack of speeds, '€œWe also sell broadband packages!'€ But, sorry to say Mr. R. Ramaraj, your services suck and Sify Broadband is a sham.

Any confirmation about this?

Hi,

Again and again I am reminded about this 75megs a day limit that Sify
has on the shared packages. And I check again and again on the package
pages to see if this is mentioned there.

Here is the link to the package page:
http://broadband.sify.com/master_pricelist.html

All I see is:
*Best for simple mailing and text chatting. Not for commercial use.
*** Subject to maximum usage of 6 hours per day. For usage beyond 6
hours, one day in validity will be reduced, for every incremental 6 hours.*
*#* *Night (9.00pm - 9.00am). Daytime usage (9.00am - 9.00pm) not
allowed.*

No where you mention the 75megs limit. Maybe this page need to be updated.

regards,
Sushubh

clarification regarding the 75 meg limit

Sorry for another mail, but experiences of other sify broadband users
have made me think that the current arrangement i have suits me fine.
nighttime i get good speeds. day time net works... slow but better than
what it was few months back! if you change anything and that makes my
internet experience worse... i would hate it even more.

so, unless something is really wrong from your side in settings or
anything, do not change anything... . coz atleast its working fine
during the night... a compromise from my side. but atleast it works at
night.

regards,
Sushubh

clarification regarding the 75 meg limit

errm. it was mr. satinder mehta not mr. satinder singh. also, the good part is that since 9pm today like everyday... i am getting good speeds again. that makes be believe that sify's new day start at 9pm... :-D     or maybe its a side effect of the newly started night only 128kbps package. considering my net works well only between 9pm and 9:30am...

---

Here is the point. I was told by Mr. Satinder Singh that Sify mentions the 75megs limit on shared packages on the website. I failed to find it. So, before you guys tell me that I am getting slower speeds coz I have downloaded more than 75megs on a particular day... I had like you to show me the package page with the 75megs a day limit mentioned.

I hope, this is not an unreasonable demand. You cannot hide this particular bit of information from a customer who thinks he is buying an UNLIMITED DOWNLOAD AND TIME DURATION package. Just a link from your website would work.

regards,
Sushubh

clarification regarding the 75 meg limit

Here is the point. I was told by Mr. Satinder Singh that Sify mentions the 75megs limit on shared packages on the website. I failed to find it. So, before you guys tell me that I am getting slower speeds coz I have downloaded more than 75megs on a particular day... I had like you to show me the package page with the 75megs a day limit mentioned.

I hope, this is not an unreasonable demand. You cannot hide this particular bit of information from a customer who thinks he is buying an UNLIMITED DOWNLOAD AND TIME DURATION package. Just a link from your website would work.

regards,
Sushubh

speed problems

Apart from my problems with speed. I have got local network problems. It
happened on Thursday, then it happened on Friday. Local network pings
are breaking. CTO used expletives for the Sify Chandigarh guys on phone
which i cannot use here. but that does not apparently help me. coz i am
getting around 10% loss on the LOCAL SERVER at this very moment.

Chandigarh office: No help. Call call center
Call center: No response
CTO: waiting for Sify guys
Sify: No replies of Email

Sushubh

speed problems

i am a subscriber of Sify broadband Shared 48 kbps+ package. and i have
got a problem with speeds i get on my package during day time. i dont
get promised speeds (48kbps+ means 6KBps+). Kindly look into the matter
and fix the problem.

if you have any conditions that comes with the specified package, please
feel free to send me weblink of the the condition page or form i
signed or saw on your website before buying the package in
consideration. from where i am, i do not think i have the mental
capacity to grasp what your technical people have in mind when they
label a package SHARED, becoz i see nothing clarified on the website.

Sushubh

Sify's Business Plan for Broadband is confusing

They are one of the biggest IT firms in India. They compete with InfoSys and Wipro and are even listed on Nasdaq. And on the B2C front, they claim to be one of the biggest broadband providers in India. I happen to be one of the unfortunate souls to be stuck with them as my ISP considering there is no alternate present in my area. And looking at the facts that came to my notice today, I am confused about their master plan on being an ISP to the masses!

They have got the term broadband in their brand name, which is SIFY BROADBAND. Broadband is supposed to be net connectivity that enables us to surf online at speeds that let us listen to and watch streaming audio and video comfortably. In technical terms (and TRAI’s recommendation), it is supposed to be equal or greater than 256kbps speeds. But looking at the product pages, it seems pretty clear that Sify does not want the common user (a typical middle class guy who wants to enjoy internet at its full glory) to have broadband. Reason being it costs around Rs. 2.50 per Meg to have broadbandish speeds with Sify! If checking emails or chatting online do justice to broadband speeds than I would have preferred this package. But no, broadband is all about audio and video transmission and well, at 2.5 rupee a Meg... not many can afford it.

So well, broadband is out of the question. Next comes the other data transfer and time bound packages which I do not even want to discuss here. Its not dialup we are talking about. BROADBAND was supposed to be permanent connectivity for god sake. The only reasonable packages left are the shared packages at a cheap (relatively) price of 600-800 bucks. The speeds are theoretically comparable to dialup but they are at least UNLIMITED! So, I can use these packages for downloading lots of stuff while I am sleeping!

Oops. I am wrong again. Sify has this hidden (or is it missed out) clause which says that there is no speed guarantee on shared packages. So, even though the package says 32kbps+ or 48kbps+, it can give you speeds in bytes and Sify won't take it as a problem. Another funny hidden feature (??) is that if you exceed 75 megs in a day, the speed is automatically reduced to worse levels (yeah, 32 is not the worst they have on their broadband scales). So, you are not going to get even the labeled speeds on the shared packages...

But they do work... don'[t they? Well, it works for sure... But with more exciting features. The new login client makes sure that you cannot just leave some download on and go to sleep. It has this interesting habit of disconnecting you from the network randomly. No matter you are sitting on the PC surfing actively or away from it. So, if you plan to download some big files... better keep checking back after every 15 minutes to see if download is still working or not. If your net works like mine, you would find it logged of almost 70% of the times. This practically shows that they do not want us to use even the shared packages for large downloads. Or perhaps I am just cynical...

So, what do they want? They do not like us enjoying high-speed broadband. And they don't like us enjoying large downloads. Why are they even in the market of providing internet services? Why not just go back to providing just dialup! It suits their plan perfectly! Get paid per hour for speeds that matches what we get in the name of broadband. Why bastardize broadband in India and leave a bitter taste for us the users. Hell, I do not exactly have an alternate to move on to if Sify tomorrow withdraws its services from me. So, I have more chances of screwing myself than screwing them with posts like these. But the fact remains, as I get to learn more and more about what mistakes they are making, the more I disappointed I get.

They have a reasonable user base with little competition at most places (Bangalore seems to be an exception). And they are messing it all up with these stupid hidden clauses. 99% of the people I know who are on Sify Broadband are stuck with it for two reasons. Lack of an alternate option (including me) and the fact that they paid a massive 3500 as installation fee. It just needs a new competitor who notices these faults and attack Sify at its core business module, and I am sure they would suffer massively.

GSM survived Reliance because they learnt from their mistakes. Net through cable might not survive Bharat Broadband. And I just cannot wait to move on...