We arrived in Hyderabad armed with a list of nine ISPs that were operational. Our bureau updated the list, and we finally had 11 ISPs to test out. Since we already had our homework done from the ISP Websites, we knew which numbers to punch in to buy the accounts. However, the numbers of VSNL and ETH turned out to be wrong. Thanks to directory services, we soon found out the right numbers, but here’s the lesson—not all ISPs keep their Websites updated about their latest dial-up and helpdesk numbers.

Help!

You could be surfing the Net any time of the day or night—which means you could need help anytime. So we didn’t wait for anything—not even breakfast—and started calling up helpdesk numbers with questions on tariffs, where to buy the packs, and some trick questions too.

Who were the sleepyheads? Global Online—the security guard answered the call; Southern Online who answered the call in five rings, was able to give only half the information we were looking for, and asked us to call back at 9:30 am (maybe we should have had our breakfast after all). Pioneer answered promptly, but the answers were far from satisfactory.

So, who fared well? Sigma was prompt and their answers were satisfactory. Satyam scored high for its prompt response and to-the-point answers. But they let us down when we needed them later in the day for some troubleshooting—they wouldn’t pick up the phone. Whoever was on duty at VSNL’s helpdesk during our lunchtime call was in the middle of his lunch, and in a hurry to get us off the phone. He did give us a satisfactory answer to one of the queries. But for the second one—"We can’t connect", the answer was a curt—"Please complain to DoT", and he promptly hung up, even before we’d finished.

ETH was on par with Pioneer—prompt but unsatisfactory answers. Nettlinx’s helpdesk was helpful, but some work was needed from our side to arrive at the right answers. We were also given a gentle warning that while we could get connected that day, browsing was likely to be slow because of some problems at VSNL. City Online did a bit of transferring the call around and discussing our "problem" with other support personnel, but finally they found someone who seemed to know his job fairly well.

And finally, Intech Net—this was our most frustrating experience in Hyderabad. Not that they were not helpful—they were. Only we ended up calling up their accounts department to get the information we were looking for. And finally, brush up on your Telugu before you try this helpdesk—English may not work at all times, nor Hindi.

Mantra wasn’t yet operational in Hyderabad when we were doing our tests. They were supposed to start off within a week.

Whatever happened to those smaller accounts?

Some of the local ISPs in Hyderabad have only hefty account options—no smaller trial packs. The exceptions are NettLinx (25 hours for Rs 375), and Pioneer Online (one-month unlimited access for Rs 399). City Online’s helpdesk categorically told us that there are no options below Rs 990, but we were able to find out from someone else in the company that they do have a 25-hour account for Rs 495. Compare these to the other minimum packs from the locals—Southern Online’s 100 hours for Rs 1,350; Intech Net’s three-month account for Rs 3,000; and Global Online’s 50-hour pack for Rs 999. Hefty indeed.

Some hidden costs

Some of the smaller cities show a trend—that of installation charges. This isn’t so significant for those ISPs who themselves register you online, as the registration happens through dial-up networking, over the phone. But when you have a starter CD or floppy involved, be sure to ask about installation charges. Especially if you have a "Channel Service Partner"—more commonly known as a

dealer—coming in to give you the account. If he does the installation, you may have to pay anything from Rs 100 to Rs 500. So, be sure to ask about installation costs before you order your account. The best option in such cases is to do the installation yourself—our article "Setting up Your Net Connection", page 40 in this issue will tell you how, or the helpdesk will walk you through it in case you get stuck. Do remember to ask the helpdesk person’s name, so you can get back to her in case of recurring trouble. Also, not all accounts get delivered at your doorstep—you’ll have to pick up some of the low-end ones yourself.

Is registration easy?

Nettlinx force installs Netscape on your machine when you try to register the account. We faced a bit of problem while registering too—we were finally told that we had to add an @nettlinx to our user ID (notice that there’s no .com after that). The helpdesk also asked us to enter an AT string in the Modem settings, but that simply locked up the modem nice and proper. Some bit of troubleshooting got us online.

VSNL gave a bit of trouble too. We managed to go online after some tinkering around—we had to enable the "Bring up the terminal window after dialing" option to get going. We didn’t need to do that in other cities, barring Trivandrum. We couldn’t test Global Online—they were unable to register us as they had no electricity (and we thought that ISPs had backup power supply). We were also unable to check Southern Online out, because they didn’t have a package below Rs 800.

With City Online, Intech Net, and Pioneer Online, we configured Dial-up Networking manually, and registered over the phone, skipping the wait-for-the-starter CD bit. These went off smoothly.

What about connects and downloads?

Once the registration was done, the connection bit was a breeze with most ISPs. We were able to connect at first try, except with Intech Net—its lines were busy throughout the testing period.

But unfortunately, our joy was short-lived. Most of the ISPs failed to measure up when it came to our FTP tests. Saying that Internet services in Hyderabad crawl would be being too optimistic. Many ISPs seemed to have problems with their DNS also.

Sigma scored well, both in connecting and in transfer rates. VSNL crawled in transfer rates, and so did City Online. The others just couldn’t make the grade—miserable transfer rates resulted in the file being transferred failing to come through completely.

And that brings us to our choice of ISP in Hyderabad—Sigma. City Online and VSNL gave Sigma some competition, but better transfer rates and a more helpful helpdesk gave Sigma the edge. A word of caution though. We had problems registering the Sigma account in both Bangalore and Mumbai. At Hyderabad, we didn’t try to register the account, opting instead to use the one we registered after much trouble at Mumbai.