BSNL 3G Review – Samsung Galaxy Ace S5830

After trying out 3G service from Tata Docomo and partially satisfied with it, I decided to try out BSNL’s 3G service. So, let me tell you about the procedures that I took to surf the internet with BSNL 3G.

I would also be comparing BSNL 3G on Nokia N73 and Samsung Galaxy Ace S5830 to tell you if having a Smartphone is better or not!

Getting BSNL 3G

• Fill out BSNL 3G sim card form at your nearest sim retailer.

• Get your 3G sim (recognizable by BSNL 3G written on it) and place it in your 3G enabled mobile.

• You can also use this sim with an unlocked 3G USB modem, like Micromax 300G.

• Connect your mobile with your computer (desktop or laptop) to avail 3G speeds on your system.

Performance of BSNL 3G

On Nokia N73

• Like Tata Docomo 3G, I could get full speeds up to 384 kbps that this mobile supports. So… no problems while using N73. You should remember to select UMTS in Network settings of N73 to get 3G speeds rather than 2G.

On Samsung Galaxy Ace S5830

• I tried the sim with my newest Smartphone as well and touched 2.3 Mbps download speed for the first time after Tata Docomo 3G gave me 1.5 Mbps on the same location and at the same time (nearly).

• Browsing on such great speeds is a breeze and feels like files are being accessed from your own computer.

• YouTube videos don’t need to buffer and play at 320p settings. The playback is seamless; however, since the speed varies a lot between 512 kbps to 2 Mbps, playback at 480p requires initial buffering and if the video is too long, then playback may stop at some point for more buffering.

• Download speeds varied from 250 kbps to 650 kbps on Internet Download Manager and I must say that no file was out of reach from me with this download speed. However, upload speed is not this amazing. I tested upload speed by uploading a file on my website’s server, which is HostGator and it provides nice server speeds, by FileZilla 3.2 FTP Client and got only 128 kbps of upload speed, which is not nice when uploading large files.

• But I think that for uploading large files, one should always use a cable connection, rather than a wireless one.

Best Tariff Plans

• As you might have guessed that available data finishes off quicker than GPRS connection. So, you may want to keep an eye on how much you use or opt for unlimited data plan, which is too costly right now. However, as more companies roll out their 3G services, BSNL might drop their tariff plans.

• The best plan according to me is Rs.750/- prepaid plan. It gives you 6 GB of total data usage, where you can use 1 GB in day (any day within 30 days period) and 5 GB at night (any night within 30 nights period).

• Other plans are a lot costly right now and you should choose according to your needs. I am opting for the plan that I mentioned above because for my daily needs 1GB is enough and I have no intention of wasting 5 GB within one night.

Problems and Solutions

• There is one problem with BSNL 3G that I have faced till now (and still facing) and it is ‘disconnection’. 3G does not work sometimes and I have to restart the mobile in order to gain 3G back.

• APN for BSNL 3G is ‘bsnlnet’ (without apostrophe commas) and rest settings must remain as it is. You should configure your internet browser to use this apn to connect to internet, otherwise, it would fail.

Conclusion

• Rest is great and I still think that some extra competition with other operators would have been nice. Tariffs would come down and we will be able to enjoy unlimited data on 3G.

• Connecting 3G to laptop via Galaxy Ace is a breeze. Tethering is very easy in both USB and Wi-Fi mode and works perfectly every time. Have fun with BSNL 3G friends.