After six years+ of continuously being a Nepal Telecom ADSL subscriber, I have finally switched to Vianet’s Fiber Optic Internet. I am an internet user from Nepal and since the introduction of internet to this country; it has been quite a journey for us users to stay connected. I started from cyber cafes (Maas Planet, Speedy Net and Fass Cyber) to getting dial-up internet passwords from friends to having my own internet connection. The first reliable one that I had was the ADSL Internet service provided by Nepal Telecom (NTC or just NT).

NTC ADSL was introduced on Baishak 17, 2065. After enquiring about it, I rushed to the closest Nepal Telecom office which was at Teku. I filled up the form, submitted the papers and I was told to wait a week or so for the line to be provided. Good enough. The next thing to do was purchase a ADSL Modem/Router, and I did it from a shop in Baneshwor which was one of the first ones that sold them.

The customer care interface accessible just for ADSL users at http://192.168.117.7:8080/ISCare/NewAge/H_home.js shows that the start date of my ADSL subscription was on 2065/02/29 (June 11, 2008). This was approximately 1 month after the introduction date.

I subscribed around 6 years ago and till date I am an active subscriber. The last payment I made was on 2071/07/17 (Nov 3, 2014) of Rs. 3051 for my 192 Kbits/s internet plan and that is the final payment unless there’s some major changes.

Why I am Unsubscribing

Well, when ADSL got introduced back in 2008, for me 128 Kbit/s was a decent speed. I upgraded to 256 Kbit/s to get a faster connection. Then at times, during these recent years, our bandwidth was randomly bumped to 1 Mbits/s which supported 100 KiloBytes or more download speeds while the upload speed remains the same. I just found out recently that this bump no longer happens – at least for me. However, I see downloads of 50 KiloBytes at rare times.

So, my current plan of 192 Kbits/s no longer fits my needs. Nepal Telecom has been stuck on this plan for the same price for years now. There’s no word of upgrading the bandwidth—I mean technology prices go down all the time and NTC’s seems to be stuck in the last decade. They’ve introduced reasonably faster bandwidth limited plans but nothing for us unlimited users.

Is Nepal Telecom Internet Slow?

Well, everyone knows it. The plans that they are offering are slow. 192 Kbits/s or 384 Kbits/s is really slow for the content that is available today. They offer 24 KiloBytes per second and 48 KiloBytes per second theoretical download speed (1 Byte = 8 Bits). You’re not supposed to get 192 KB download speed with 192 Kb/s plan.

This speed is really slow when compared to the demands of the modern internet. There could be background updates taking place (Browser Updates, Java Updates, Flash Updates, Windows Updates), there are Chrome browser’s feature which pre-loads websites and all those are consuming our bandwidth behind the scenes. Turn them all off and you might be able to browse Facebook. Websites alone are so heavy with content that the ADSL bandwidth doesn’t just cut it. Unless you subscribe to better plans that offer 1 Mbits/s or higher you can’t load websites let alone videos. I think this plan is available for registered companies or something.

Additionally, you get low or no support from the company if your internet is troublesome. Now, with most users, I’ve seen that the problem is on their end with their modems, wires and splitters but still, a company should provide support to its users. I was fortunate enough to have 0 (ZERO) long term problems for the 6 years that I’ve stayed with them.

If you’ve come across a problem, my suggestions are:

• Ask your neighbor how ADSL is working.
• Bring your friend’s modem, router and splitter. Switch them and see if there’s any improvement.
• Try connecting your modem to the first telephone wire that enters your house, before phones are connected.

Why Vianet?

Simply put, they were the only ones that brought their awesome Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) service to—you’ve guessed it—my home. I entered my details on their website, a few hours later a service representative called me up. I think it was on a Friday. On Sunday another service representative visited my home. After four days on January 8, 2015; seven service men brought the fiber service to my home and finally connected it.

My Current Internet Plan with Vianet

I subscribed to the FiberHome Plus plan which provides me 2/2 Mbits/s bandwidth with a 30 GB monthly limit. After the 30 GB is consumed, I still get a 512 Kbits/s unlimited connection for the remainder of the month. Not bad, eh?

My costs

• One-time Installation: Rs. 3999 + Rs. 519.87 (VAT) = Rs. 4518.87
• Monthly: Rs. 1600 + Rs. 208 (VAT) = Rs. 1808
• Total: Rs. 4518.87 + (Rs. 1808 X 3) = Rs. 9942.87 ; I paid for 3 months in advance.
• Installation is 3999 + VAT for three months advance installments. If you pay monthly it is 4999. There are further discounts if you pay for 6 months or 12 months.
• I also got the New Year offer which means additional bandwidth and time for one additional month.

Notes:

1. If you are looking for 1 Mbits/s plan, it just costs Rs. 1200 + Rs. 156 (VAT) = Rs. 1356 with 20 GB bandwidth and 256 Kbits/s after that.
2. When compared to Nepal Telecom’s Rs. 1017 for 192 Kbits/s and Rs. 1695 for 384 Kbits/s the costs are far more reasonable and even cheaper, if you think about it.
3. Besides the installation and internet charges, we also need to buy a Wireless Router separately from outside. It costs around Rs. 2000+. Your normal ADSL Router won’t work.

Here’s my 2 Mb/s Vianet’s Internet Speedtest Result

Final Words

I’ve just used Vianet’s internet for 18 days. It’s great for me. Works way fast than what I am used to and it helps me complete my work easily. No more waiting around and frustrations. I haven’t experienced any downtime and I hope I won’t. I also consume around 1 GB of bandwidth a day and that’s going according to my plan.

For NTC, I think that they need to soon upgrade their bandwidth plans. Their phone wires have reached every ally and that is one of the major reasons people are subscribed to ADSL. The current subscribers might be frustrated but they still stick to Nepal Telecom’s ADSL because of switching costs and availability. Also, I still loved the fact that Nepal Telecom provides widespread internet like no other provider. It was the only reason that I could connect, use and build websites and work online. Without NTC, I surely wouldn’t be posting this today because I probably wouldn’t even know how to make blogs.

But for now, after 6 continuous years of being a loyal subscriber; I have to bid my farewell to Nepal Telecom’s ADSL service.