Airtel Black or ACT with Tata Play? (Delhi)

[sibot]

Hi everyone,
I am currently using ACT 300mbps along with LCO TV. I have the option of shifting to the Airtel Black Fibre and plan on taking the 1099 200 Mbps plan.
I am a bit lost on whether the shift is worth it. Or whether I should stick to ACT and get Tata Sky?

1. What are the monthly subscription charges for the additional TV? The only information I got from Airtel was that the HD box will cost 750 and the extra STB will be charged on an as-is basis. It is super confusing.
2. What are the English packs available on Airtel DTH? The website does not list even a single English pack.
3. How do the DTH services compare to Tata Sky?
4. How is Airtel as an ISP compared to ACT? I have the Airtel junction box right outside my house and an underground fiber line whereas the ACT is overhead lines.

Any help would be much-appreciated guys!

 

[Ssreek]

Airtel is great in-terms of internet service, but opting for Airtel black could be a trap if you don’t know what you’re going into. Airtel black has few benefits, but getting out of airtel black services is a tedious process if you want to disconnect in future.

What is the size of your tv? This is where it depends first.

I have used Tatasky, Airtel and Sundth.
Tatasky has a better picture quality compared to others. The difference is not much but you can observe that when using with bigger tvs.

Channel selection and pack selection are very easier in tatasky. Airtel’s ui is too cluttered and not straightforward. Sometimes you won’t understand what exactly you are going to get billed.

Don’t take their android based settopboxes, they are a nightmare inspite of having few features.

For airtel internet vs act or others, better to check with your neighbors, it is mostly dependent on area wise. If your area is not properly supervised with their team, internet service will be bad.

 

[sibot]

Airtel is great in-terms of internet service, but opting for Airtel black could be a trap if you don’t know what you’re going into. Airtel black has few benefits, but getting out of airtel black services is a tedious process if you want to disconnect in future.

What is the size of your tv? This is where it depends first.

I have used Tatasky, Airtel and Sundth.
Tatasky has a better picture quality compared to others. The difference is not much but you can observe that when using with bigger tvs.

Channel selection and pack selection are very easier in tatasky. Airtel’s ui is too cluttered and not straightforward. Sometimes you won’t understand what exactly you are going to get billed.

Don’t take their android based settopboxes, they are a nightmare inspite of having few features.

For airtel internet vs act or others, better to check with your neighbors, it is mostly dependent on area wise. If your area is not properly supervised with their team, internet service will be bad.

Thanks for your elaborate response. I have read quite a few horror stories about disconnecting from Airtel or opting out of services, I'll be sure to keep that in mind.

We have a 50" and a 32" TV and the picture quality is somewhat important. I was using Tata Sky earlier and the picture quality was quite good.

The plan selection on Airtel is confusing to say the least, after browsing their website for a significant amount of time - I am still not sure if they offer any English channels as a part of their packs.

STB - they are giving their Android Xstream STB bundled with the connection, though I already have Smart TVs, do you recommend that I insist on getting the HD box? The plan comes bundled with a bunch of subscriptions, not sure if they are linked with STB or are user based.

Thanks, will ask a few neighbours about the Airtel services before making the jump!

 

[scarletwitch]

I've been using Airtel for more than 20 years and I haven't made more than 10 complaints in total. Even when I do, their service team reaches me the same day or the next day at max. They've been super great with their service.
Also, I use their same plan of 999 with 200Mbps and I consistently get 240-270Mbps.

I've recently ported to Airtel Black of Rs.1799 with the same internet plus 2 postpaid numbers (It's the cheapest at Rs.200/number) so shall review that too in a month or so.

 

[Ssreek]

Thanks for your elaborate response. I have read quite a few horror stories about disconnecting from Airtel or opting out of services, I'll be sure to keep that in mind.

I too have a horror story with Airtel - here. Now when I asked to disconnect, they told me some procedure about airtel black 'separation'. While that procedure is to be completed within '4 hrs' as per their customer care, it's already 3 days, they haven't done anything yet, but keep calling me every few hours to continue the services.

We have a 50" and a 32" TV and the picture quality is somewhat important. I was using Tata Sky earlier and the picture quality was quite good.

I have a 55 inch TV. Watching hd channels on tatasky/tataplay was good. But in Airtel, even hd channels look semi hd and the difference is clear. DTH guys visited thrice to do something, but what they keep saying is, 'this is the max quality we can get in Airtel sir, as u used tatasky earlier, it takes time to get used to airtel's quality'. The xstream stb is also partly responsible for this downgrade in quality. It even messes up if you are enabling HDR.

The plan selection on Airtel is confusing to say the least, after browsing their website for a significant amount of time - I am still not sure if they offer any English channels as a part of their packs.

I have checked but didn't find any English channels only packs in Airtel app. It only shows packs bundled with local/base packs. Tatasky has packs like English movies only, English movies mini hd, etc. There was no need to combine them with base/local packs. So if you need only English, you still need to take base pack with Airtel or take a la carte.

STB - they are giving their Android Xstream STB bundled with the connection, though I already have Smart TVs, do you recommend that I insist on getting the HD box? The plan comes bundled with a bunch of subscriptions, not sure if they are linked with STB or are user based.

Thanks, will ask a few neighbours about the Airtel services before making the jump!

That xstream box is terrible. While the regular stb box used to load even before the tv loaded it's homescreen, the xstream box takes time to load up. And then sometimes while watching channels, it all of a sudden restarts for no reason.

So take that xstream box only if you need it. Otherwise have some extra patience while using the box.

 

[Ssreek]

One more crap I noticed with Airtel DTH.

A la carte channels are charged for minimum 30 days in Airtel.
Where as with Tatasky, you can add a channel for a day and then remove it later, only for those days you will be charged.