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BSNL 3G Speed Test and Review

vbb — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 08:08:51 +0000

It feels great to move to a 3G network after using GPRS as the data speed enhancement is noteworthy. Currently the state owned players BSNL and MTNL are providing 3G services in India.The 3G spectrum auctions are going on and soon we will have a lot of players

Here is a quick recap of my experiences with BSNL 3G in my area.As I live in a village,it took a long time to get 3G in my area while friends living in city areas are enjoying it from a long time.

Speed Test on Mobile

To test the speed of my 3G network, i used the site dslreports.com and mobilespeedtest.com.These sites download and upload some data from/to your mobile and gives you the speed based on time taken.Here are some of the screenshots of the speed test.

Although I got a speed of 920kbps once but I don’t have screenshot of that.Here you can see a speed test snap of 821kbps.

As you can see from the screenshots-even after repeated attempts over 3 months,I was not able to touch the magical speed of 1mbps on mobile.However I got speeds above 1mbps while browsing on computer.

I tested the BSNL 3G speed using both sites mentioned above.

MobileSpeedTest.com shows the results in a graphical manner where you can compare the speed with DSL,broadband etc.

Browsing Internet directly on mobile

I am using BSNL broadband at home as my primary internet connection and having this 3G connection from last 3 months.During these three months I have used 3G a lot.I have seen a lot of speed variations.As you know the speed depends on many factors-one being the distance from the tower.The connection once established is consistent i.e. it does not break up but speed varied in my tests.

From the screenshots posted above,you can say that the browsing speed is good enough to get a broadband experience.Normal web browsing/ email was fast.Even playing videos on YouTube is a pleasant experience.The videos I watched were delivered fast enough and it played without hiccups ie. without stopping for buffering.

Browsing on computer using mobile as a modem.

I connect my Nokia 5800 xPressMusic to my computer and use the inbuilt modem to surf over 3G connection.SpeedTest.net is a great site for testing speed of your internet connection.Here are some of the screenshots I have taken during testing of BSNL 3G speed.

However these are the top speeds I have got,but normally the speed is below than that shown above.You can compare the above to my BSNL broadband speed shown below-

What’s more?

I am happy to make a shift from GPRS usage to 3G as the speed enhancement is great.But the speeds shown above still do not compare well to speed one can get in western countries.

PC world has conducted a speed test for various providers in US last year and this year too.The average speed there is a way above 1mbps.But in India I have seen a few people reporting the speed in the same range I have described above.

Overall I have a good review for BSNL 3G speed.I have enjoyed it.What about you? Please share your experiences.

BSNL 3G Settings and Configuration

vbb — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 18:10:39 +0000

BSNL 3G is now available in many parts of India.You can enjoy high speed Internet,Video calling and novelties like mobile TV if you have a 3G mobile phone and a BSNL/MTNL connection as presently only these companies offer 3G services.Of course you should be ready to pay a premium for these services.

Here are the configuration settings for 3G mobiles which enable you to get 3G services in your mobile,particularly High speed Internet,or mobile broadband.

Settings for BSNL3G on Nokia and other mobiles.

The configuration settings has to be completed in two steps.First, you have to make sure that your mobile is set to work in 3G network mode which is denoted by UMTS(Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) mode in your mobile.If it is set to dual mode (UMTS+GSM),the mobile will fall back to GSM mode in absence of UMTS network.

However you should change this only when browsing Internet or you will not be able to get a network if UMTS is absent.Theoretically in dual mode,the mobile will work in UMTS ,if both networks are present and fall back to low data rate speed GSM only when UMTS is absent,but here we are forcing to use only UMTS to avoid occasional glitches which may sometime occur due to falling back.You can also try to browse Internet in Dual mode,and if you do not find any speed variation problem,you can keep your mobile in dual mode.

Step 1:Setup your network mode.

Go to Menu->Settings->Connectivity (or wherever you may edit network settings) and select Network.Open Network mode and change it to UMTS.The default is dual mode.

Step 2:Configure your 3G Access Point

Just like a GPRS access point ,you need an access point for 3G too.BSNL has changed its Access Point recently in some parts of India.You have to put the following access point according to the BSNL region leaving all other things to defaults in access point settings.

For BSNL UP (East) Access Point is –“bsnlnet”.

For Chennai region it’s “gprssouth.cellone.in”

You may have to fiddle with access point because BSNL does not have a unified access point all over India.You can try “gprs3g.bsnlmobile.in” or “bsnlnet” to get 3G in your handset.

If you do not know where to put the access point,read the guide to GPRS configuration first.

That’s it.You are now ready to experience mobile broadband in your device provided by BSNL 3G.If you really want to test how fast is the connection,watch any video on YouTube and let me know in comments whether you enjoyed 3G or not.

How to get BSNL and other's GPRS settings for all N-Series,E-Series,Nokia 5800/N97 and all s60 modern mobiles.

vbb — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:46:52 +0000

You have earlier seen GPRS setting for almost all types of Nokia mobiles.Setting up GPRS in these mobiles required either sending a message or entering the settings manually.But this is not actually required if you have a latest mobile running on Symbian S60 3rd edition Feature Pack 3 and later.This includes all N-Series,E-Series mobiles and latest models like 6600 fold.

You don’t have to send a message for settings neither you need to enter it manually as all these mobiles have a Setting Wizard with them which can be used to get GPRS/MMS settings automatically.

Getting GPRS settings using Settings Wizard

Please note that you need to have GPRS activated for your number.For which you will have to send an SMS.But for settings you do not need to send any SMS as you will be using Settings Wizard now.Here is how to do it.

Menu->Tools->Settings Wizard (IN most of the mobiles this will the location but it may vary for some ,kindly search)For Nokia 5800 and Nokia N97 this location will be Menu->Applications->Settings Wizard.
When you start the wizard for the first time it will ask you for operator selection.Select your Operator.It will show you the first time setting wizard instructions as shown in figure.

Now select start on the settings wizard.It will automatically select the settings such as GPRS/WAP and MMS.Once it download the settings,it will show you summary as shown in right figure below.

Finally you will see this window which shows that the the operator settings has been and if you want you can go for Email settings on your phone.

As compared to the other procedure for getting settings (such as manual configuration or sending SMS to 58355),this is very easy and fast.

Moreover this way you can get settings for any operator.

This settings wizard can be found in all devices which has Symbian s60 3rd edition FP2 or later.and all latest devices in the medium to high price band category such as E-series,N-series and have this OS .Please note that your latest mobile may not have s60 as s40 version is more popular in the mid range category of mobile phones.

So if you have a s60 mobile ,then this is the preferred way of setting GPRS/MMS and WAP on your mobile.

Do let me know if you find difficulty in setting your mobile in this way.Setup and Enjoy internet on mobile.

Here settings are shown for Nokia 5800 but they are almost same for all mobiles with settings wizard.

BSNL EVDO and NIC card :Price and Tariff updated :Now with Roaming support

vbb — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:15:21 +0000

It has been long since BSNL started to provide NIC and EVDO cards for Wireless Broadband.For the uninitiated BSNL provides wireless Internet access through CDMA 1X based PCMCIA NIC(Network Interface Card) and EVDO based USB data card,both of which have different speeds.

Till now the price was high,availability was low and it came with no roaming support.That means unlike Reliance data card which you can use anywhere in India ,BSNL’s card could be used in your home network only.But BSNL has now updated the prices ,revised the tariff and all with roaming support.

BSNL Data Cards –NIC and EVDO

One Time Purchase Pricing

NIC card-Rs.2500 (Or Rs.1680/- during promotional offer)

EVDO card –Rs. 3500(Or Rs.2100/- during promotional offer)

Rental Pricing

NIC card rental –Rs.150/-

EVDO card rental –Rs. 200/-

Tariff

Unlimited Internet on NIC-Rs. 350/-

Unlimited Internet on EVDO card-Rs.650/-

Apart from these there may be other charges as activation fee,security deposit,taxes etc. for which you should contact BSNL site.

How is Browsing Speed on EVDO and NIC card?

Theoretically CDMA 2000 1X technology based NIC card can give speeds up to 144 kbps which is somewhat higher than the normal 128kbps dialup connection.Practically being a wireless service, the speed varies a lot as it’s dependent upon the signal quality,signal strength and so on.

Similarly EVDO card can provide Speed up to 2.4 Mbps which is even more than the conventional wire line ADSL broadband.Again it depends on the network as not all area have EVDO coverage and the issues of varying signal will always be there.

Can I Take It Anywhere in India?

Yes.BSNL now provides roaming on these cards but please note that the service is dependent on type of network coverage.So if you are travelling to a place where there is no CDMA/EVDO coverage ,you are out of luck.

Get details about the schemes and promotional offer and to read the official news from BSNL here.

How to setup BSNL Missed Call Alerts

vbb — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:42:31 +0000

Whenever you mobile is out of coverage area(A common phenomenon in India) you may miss any important call.This also happens when you keep your mobile switched off.Many service providers facilitate you to view Missed call when you you enter any coverage area or switch the mobile On,but at a cost.

BSNL provides Missed Call Alert Service at FREE for both prepaid and postpaid customers.All you have to do is follow this simple procedure to setup your mobile for Missed Call Alert.

Missed Call Alert by BSNL

The procedure is simple.What you have to do is “Divert all your calls to number 17010-When unavailable or out of reach.”What happens is that the calls are diverted to this number when your mobile is switched off or out of coverage area, where the call details are logged.When you re-enter the area or switch the phone on,they send a message about the missed call including logged details.

How to divert calls

Go to Settings->Call settings->call divert.(It may differ from phone to phone but the steps are almost same).Now it will list conditions when to divert calls.

You have to divert voice calls -

If Out of reach divert to 17010
If unavailable divert to 17010

This is all done.You must test it sometime after testing as wrong setting may make you miss call even if you are on the network with phone switched On.Test it with both conditions.And never miss any call now.

Read the official news here at BSNL site.

BSNL GPRS Activation/Deactivation/Plan Change and Settings SMS codes

vbb — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 18:31:43 +0000

Here are the SMS codes to be used if you want to activate or deactivate GPRS in your prepaid or postpaid mobile.Please note that for prepaid customers there is no plan but you pay as you use based on the tariff,while the postpaid customer can choose between three plans.

SMS Code for GPRS Activation

Prepaid customers can send message GPRSPRE to 53733.

Postpaid customers can send message to 53733 with the following codes

GPRS49 if you want plan 49.
GPRS199 if you want plan 199.
GPRSZERO if you do now want a rental but pay as you use.

SMS Code for GPRS Postpaid Plan Change

Suppose you are using Plan 49 and want to upgrade to Plan199.Just send a message GPRS199 to 53733 and vice versa.Within 48 hours you will get two messages –first saying that GPRS has been deactivated on your mobile (for plan 49) and second message saying that GPRS has been provisioned on your mobile for (plan199).

SMS Code for GPRS Deactivation

Send a message GPRSD to 53733.May be that you first get a message that,”GPRS has been provisioned”.Within 48 hours you will get a GPRS deactivation confirmation message.

SMS Code for Fetching GPRS Settings for a mobile

To receive settings for GPRS/WAP and MMS send a message to 58355 with your mobile model number.Suppose you have Nokia 6300 send “Nokia 6300” (without quotes) to 58355.If you have an uncommon mobile use any popular model of the same mobile operating system.

Leave a comment if you need any clarification about the above codes.

How to Setup Internet on PC Through GPRS Enabled Nokia Mobile Using PC suite

vbb — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 18:35:32 +0000

You can browse Internet on PC if your mobile has an inbuilt GPRS modem.Most of the modern mobiles which have Internet browsing facility do feature a modem and can be used to get Internet on PC.All you need is a GPRS connection from your mobile operator.

If you have a Nokia mobile and want to setup it for Internet access on computer, all you need is the data cable through which you can connect it to computer and latest version of PC suite installed on your PC.Here is how to setup.

GPRS Internet on PC Through PC Suite

Once you connect your Nokia mobile through data cable and have all the necessary drivers installed -your computer will show you a system tray pop up saying “Nokia xyz is now connected via USB”.Now here are step by step simple instructions to setup internet access.

Step 1

Open Nokia PC suite.And click on “Connect to Internet” as shown on the menu.

Step 2

Click on settings.

Once you click on settings,it will show you the available modem.Suppose you have connected Nokia 6300,it will show you Nokia 6300 modem.Select the modem and click next.

Step 3

Here you get option to either have automatic connection setup depending on the operator or manual settings. Select “configure the connection manually”

Step 4

This is the final step where you have to enter your GPRS access point.

For BSNL North Zone enter access point as “gprsnorth.cellone.in” without quotes.

It will be different for each region.Most probably it is gprswest.cellone.in for West region and so on.

Once you have entered this access point,leave all other fields blank and save and close the settings.All this done- you should be able to connect to Internet when you click connect on the one touch access menu.

Once Internet is connected the OTA(One Touch Access) is minimized to task bar and you can continue browsing.When browsing is over,click the disconnect button(which you used initially to connect).

Please note that browsing at computer will consume more data than normal mobile browsing.So check your plan before you set out for Internet on PC through GPRS.

Free Incoming 3G Video Calls Promotional Offer from BSNL

vbb — Fri, 29 May 2009 06:51:01 +0000

BSNL seems to entice all 2G subscribers with what 3G can do.For this BSNL is offering free video calls to all subscribers independent of whether you are a 3G subscriber or not.Needless to say you will need to have a 3G capable handsets.This promotional offer is valid for 3 months from 18.05.2009 or date of launch of 3G service, whichever is latter.

Read the new here from BSNL.

Getting Internet on PC through GPRS enabled Motorola Mobile

vbb — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:29:07 +0000

Having GPRS on your mobile is only half of the fun.Most of the mobile handsets are able to act as a modem,so you can surf Internet on your computer.All you need to have is a data cable/Bluetooth link to connect your mobile to your PC and of course GPRS connection on your mobile.

If you have a Motorola mobile and want to get Internet on PC then here is how to do it.You will need a data cable and Motorola Phone Tools, a software suite usually supplied with the mobile.Here it is configured for BSNL GPRS.

Connecting your Motorola Mobile to get Internet on PC

Step by step procedure is as follows.

Step –1

Install Motorola Phone Tools on your computer.When you have installed the application,keep you data cable ready and launch the application.When you run it,it will ask for a profile.Choose default profile and click OK.Phone connection wizard will appear.choose here to connect the phone ‘via cable’.Now connect you data cable.and let it install the mobile phone.When your phone is properly installed ,a figure of your phone will appear on the system tray.For example,my phone is Motorola v3i and it looks like this in the system tray,complete with all the menu.

Step–2

Click on the “Internet Connection” as shown in the figure.Running it for the first time ,it will start an “Internet Connection wizard” .Click next to start configuration.
Click “Create a New Connection” in the next screen” and then GPRS as the type of connection.
On the next screen give a name to your connection say “BSNL GPRS Internet” ,choose your country and operator.If your operator is not listed ,choose other.
In the next step you will be asked to enter your user name and password.If you have a BSNL GPRS connection,leave these fields blank and enter your Access Point Name(APN).For BSNL North zone APN entered here is gprsnorth.cellone.in

In the following settings leave everything to default and do not change anything.

When the wizard completes ,it will say that a new connection has been created .Click on it to launch the connection you just created.

If every setting is correct and GPRS signal is present on your mobile ,the Internet should be connected within seconds.

Once connected it will show as a notification on system tray as shown in the figure

and you can enjoy surfing.The only downside of this GPRS connection is that it is pretty slow.To disconnect or connect again you have to click the same Internet connection shown on your phone picture menu.Comment if you have any difficulty in setting this up and enjoy Internet.

How to check BSNL/other Broadband Usage

vbb — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 10:18:57 +0000

Almost all ISPs have broadband plans which allow only limited free data transfer in a month.For example, in BSNL broadband plan-Home 250 you are allowed to use a maximum data transfer of 1GB per month.Any data transfer above that is chargeable at a premium rate.

Hence it becomes quite important to check your usage regularly.ISP make special pages where users can login and see their usage.But it’s best to check the usage yourself.There are plenty of tools to monitor usage but many of theme simply do not work at all.I have found a tool which I have been using form 3 months and quite satisfied with its reporting.

Tautology Bandwidth Meter

This freeware tool measure the in and out traffic by monitoring your network interface.And thus monitors the usage.

Salient Features of Bandwidth Meter

Apart from some advanced features ,this has regular features as

Logging and reporting of daily and hourly totals

Can export logs to a CSV file

Low and exceeded monthly bandwidth warnings

configurable timing

The one feature I liked the most was “configurable timing”.It means that I can set time when it has to monitor an when not.I have a BSNL broadband plan which allows unlimited download between 2am to 8am.Once configured this bandwidth meter does not monitor the traffic at that interval.

Please note that there will be a little difference between the usage it records and your ISP data.However this tool is a WORKING and is a must download for every broadband user.

Download here.And let me know if you get any better tool for this purpose.