Airtel asking it's users to switch from ADSL to VDSL

sydras

Skilled
Folks, I reside in Bangalore and recently, I've been getting calls on an almost daily basis now from some folks at Airtel informing me that Airtel has "upgraded" their link to my building premises to a "fibre" link.

They've asked me to schedule a visit with a customer service representative from Airtel who will replace my ADLS2 modem with a VDSL modem for a fee of Rs 500/-.

After experiencing how beautifully these marketing folks at Failtel try to fool me into switching to a plan with greater high-speed bandwidth while trying to extract more money from me (is 1,000 rupees not enough for a basic necessity like broadband internet access in 2017?) with their sweet talk, I've been declining their "wonderful" offers.

But, in this context, I'm wondering if this is something that they are doing across Bangalore/India i.e. the switch from ADSL(2?) to VDSL.

Have you also been getting similar calls from folks at Airtel? If so, have you made the switch and how is your experience after the switch?
 
But, in this context, I'm wondering if this is something that they are doing across Bangalore/India i.e. the switch from ADSL(2?) to VDSL.
Yeah they're doing this all over.
VDSL is heavily dependant on how short the last mile copper wire is (less than 500m), and how good that wire is. If you're absolutely sure they have laid fiber to your street/building, then you can take a gamble. Else avoid. They're also providing only cheaper Realtek chipset based VDSL modems instead of the Broadcom chipset based Huawei VDSL modem they gave at the start, so that has further impacted connection stability. These 2 factors have resulted in widely varying results with most people having terrible results, and very few seeing stable 40/100Mbps speeds. If you call up Airtel CC to complain, the agents sound like they've already heard it all a million times.
I made the switch, tempted by the higher upload speeds, but my copper run is far too long and has some quality issues, plus I got a Binatone (realtek chipset) VDSL modem. I used to get up to 16Mbps on ADSL2 last year, and now it struggles to sync at more than 10Mbps :dead:
 
^^Same crap here like Eddy. Switched to VDSL and now it connects at 10 Mbps. However I used to get 5mbps earlier on adsl2 so it is an improvement for me.
 
They gave me the same marketing gimmick but for 1k instead of 500. Refused them.

That said my connection had been shit for past 3 months, it wasn't until I had to make a scene on the call and with the airtel guys that the issue was permanently resolved. In midst the Airtel person found all kinds of issues and changed the old Beetel modem to the Tenda one.

Btw, have you guys re-configured your VDSL modem? One thing I have noticed, at least on the Tenda one, is the default mode is WPA. So that opens the connection to tons of risks.
 
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Hmm...ok. I suppose I will delay for as long as I can. I'm on a 4Mbps speed up to 50GB plan for Rs 999/- per month that is working fine most of the time (I have some connection stability issues once in a while with ADSL2 itself due to a joint made with existing wiring to re-locate my telephone access point).

Based on what I'm hearing, I'm pretty sure that I will have to get the entire line re-drawn from the junction box of my building's basement right up to my telephone access point if I switch to VDSL. So, I'll hold on for as long as I can.

Btw, is the Binatone modem a VDSL, VDSL2 or VDSL3 modem?

--merged--

Is it VDSL ? I heard they are using some technology to give high speeds through copper lines that already exists.
Yes, ADSL itself was the technological improvement over the regular dialup (V.90/V.92) that enabled high-speed (broadband) internet access over existing copper lines. I believe VDSL is an improvement over ADSL.

Now that I think of it, I wonder how the folks at Failtel claimed to have "upgraded" my link to a "fibre" link :shifty:.
All they plan to do is replace my modem and not my wiring :sour:.
 
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Am I missing something here? If they are running FTTB why not FFTH then? Why the last 'mile' switch to dsl?
 
Btw, is the Binatone modem a VDSL, VDSL2 or VDSL3 modem?
VDSL2. Airtel is using VDSL2 17a profile with vectoring.
I'm pretty sure that I will have to get the entire line re-drawn from the junction box of my building's basement right up to my telephone access point
Probably, and Airtel have some funny rules about not touching any wiring inside the building.
With ADSL, lower speed plans would cause the modem to sync at those lower speeds and improve stability. With VDSL, the modem will negotiate whatever max speed it can, and any speed cap Airtel applies is simply bandwidth throttling. But they've been rolling out frequent firmware updates for the VDSL modems, and the latest ones look like they're negotiating lower speeds with higher SNR.

Now that I think of it, I wonder how the folks at Failtel claimed to have "upgraded" my link to a "fibre" link :shifty:.
There's always fiber upto some point in the network. With ADSL it was just up to the exchange. With VDSL they need to extend the fiber further to your street. But yes in most cases they're just upgrading the modem.
If they are running FTTB why not FFTH then? Why the last 'mile' switch to dsl?
Airtel was caught off-guard when all the Fiber players jumped in. Theoretically FTTC allows a faster roll-out since you don't have to individually wire up each house. However they still seem to be moving slower than the competition, and they're wasting endless time tweaking the VDSL network, which they might as well have used for FTTH.

changed the old Beetel modem to the Tenda one.
They're giving Tenda VDSL modems now? Tenda uses Broadcom chipsets in some of their networking gear. Which model is it?
 
Few day back I went ahead with this new plan/new modem which they charged 500/- , they gave a Binatone DT910W modem. I was paying 1599 for 16 Mbps 100GB earlier now the new plan is 140 GB with upto 40 Mbps speed.
Most of the time I am getting around 16 to 30 Mbps speed.
 
wow airtel really is robbing everyone with these expensive plans that you guys are paying for.

Hopefully in 2 years we can expect competition to take over and we will get 100mbps no(atleast 500gb) fup at less than 1k.
 
Yeah they're doing this all over.
VDSL is heavily dependant on how short the last mile copper wire is (less than 500m), and how good that wire is. If you're absolutely sure they have laid fiber to your street/building, then you can take a gamble. Else avoid. They're also providing only cheaper Realtek chipset based VDSL modems instead of the Broadcom chipset based Huawei VDSL modem they gave at the start, so that has further impacted connection stability. These 2 factors have resulted in widely varying results with most people having terrible results, and very few seeing stable 40/100Mbps speeds. If you call up Airtel CC to complain, the agents sound like they've already heard it all a million times.
I made the switch, tempted by the higher upload speeds, but my copper run is far too long and has some quality issues, plus I got a Binatone (realtek chipset) VDSL modem. I used to get up to 16Mbps on ADSL2 last year, and now it struggles to sync at more than 10Mbps :dead:

Weird, I had the Huawei modem initially but was having a lot more issues with connection dropping and would require a restart. It got replaced by a Beetel 777VR1 and connection stopped dropping. Speeds might be 1-2mbps slower but its worth it.
 
They're giving Tenda VDSL modems now? Tenda uses Broadcom chipsets in some of their networking gear. Which model is it?
I have not yet upgraded to VDSL. I was having issues with my connection so they first replaced my modem with a Tenda ADSL one. Then later it still dint work, they got me a Tenda VDSL one. The connection still dint work, turned out the issue was in the underground connection. They took back the VDSL one. So, no idea about the modem model.
 
Yeah me too upgraded by paying 500 for a colorvision brand modem. Earlier i could get max 1mb per sec speed on torrents and now touched 4 mbps after upgrade. Yes its connection sometimes does not connect especially after power cut. Range is same as prev beetel modem.
 
I got the router free of cost. I refused to pay and asked them to disconnect if it's mandatory.
Oh f**k. I should have tried that. :( Got it done today.

I got the D-Link DSL-224 Modem. Speed test and fast.com say 30 Mbps but somehow that is not translating to download speeds, those start 3MBps but then slowly gets restricted to 1MBps.
 
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