Tale of an ISP !

As i moved into my new Home @ Cherallapally, Hyderabad , Beautiful Location (err. Will cover that later in detail....) i had no option except to surrender my BSNL Broadband (at my old home) and go in search for an ISP.. After trying in vain with Airtel, Reliance..etc etc... only option i had is with Sify....

With Full of Enthu of getting Connected to internet at home i quiclk paid up the installation, Wiring , Activation & Service charges etc..... the connection came up in about a week (After consistent followup).. We'll that was just to start with....

Sify has a different strategy than compared to other Service Providers (ISP), the "Near " Customer Premise Equpment (CPE) to a locality, street, building etc is outsourced to an external provider who is Ignorant, non technical and dumb Cable TV Walla's... Of course this is their strategy to offload the Equipment cost, first level customer cost etc. & another way of going PUBLIC to generate money without alloting Shares :) !!!

After having used BSNL Broadband for 2 + Years (i would rate the BEST ISP in india) not a glitch or a problem ever occured (Propably my luck). The troubles of getting the Sify BB was just the begining (No different than hagling with your Cable operator...'cause both are same atleast in my area) only to know that was Just the Begining !!!

With the Sify BroadBand Cable Activated the operator didnt know how to create a userID hence he gave me a old user ID of a guy who just Moved out of town !!!! Even today i dont have a User ID of my own after 3 Months !!!!!

After he successfully tested the connection on my Laptop i told him to activate on Wireless Router...(Wifi router at home is no more a scifi thing....it's there at almost every Other household today) What should i expect...he says "Sify BB does not support Wifi" ...what the hell....
i being a IT guy myself... had no choice except to get my hands dirty... i had to buy a brand new Wifi router as my old bsnl router (ADSL) didnt' work on Sify's BB which gives out a direct Ethernet ... Trust me there's no OFFICIAL Support of Wireless Router by Sify....I had no Choice except to escalate to next level ...which often results in "O.k sir i will get back to you"

I have 2 Desktop PC's, 2 Laptop's at home, Wireless Printer (All in one) and a Wireless PDA(Wifi Media extender and a Xbox on the way....) ...i can't imagine living without wifi....
Sify not only limits on Wifi configuration but also on the no. of pc's restricted by MAC Address to only 2 PC's / Equipments.....so what am i supposed to do......!!

Added to that authentication is based on a small Sify client (which people have been trying to hack All over the net) which needs to be installed on all the PC's... ...In what world is sify living God knows !!! how do i download EPG (Electronic Programme Guide) on my MCE ?, How do i listen to live radio on my PDA, Pathetic !!!! sify are you listening ?????

The "Near" Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) controlled by operator neither has a UPS or Power protector it keeps conking off every week...(what do you expect from a Indian cable operator)...

Cost !!! when i called Sify team asking why are you so expensive ..."Sir we provide the best in customer service" ...this is what Sify calls "BEST" ....then they dont know what is "Excellent" and that goes to BSNL... i am used to paying Rs.750/- per month for unlimited 256Kbps bandwidth with Sify it's Rs.1000 /- per month + Local Operator charges + all the freebies like cable down, Userid wrong, Horrible customer support etc....and they call it the best !!!.

the problems has been endless .. till date i never had a single week without a Outage...
.....all thanks to sify...when reliance and BSNL's of the world can offer Fibre right upto the home ...Wonder where will sify be in few years down....

This is my review, my feedback, my experience of an ISP whom i would "Love to Hate"...
i am just waiting for the day when i can get rid of this ISP at home....and Hope other's looking for Sify Broadband Review .. this is my feedback..."Dont GO FOR IT unless you are desperate with no other option& Able to live with all these Pains !!! ".

Hope it helps someone...

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