It recently came to our attention that there are a lot of people who have doubts about whether or not they should get a broadband connection. The main problem they face is that there apparently is a huge selection of service providers and plans. We get overwhelmed by the huge selection of plans that we often pay more than what we should be paying. So to help you all out, here’s a simple guide for you to follow when choosing a broadband plan.
There are a few things we are going to go over, so let’s break it down into a few simple parts.
Narrow down your Options for an ISP
A simple google search can tell you that there are a lot of Internet Service Providers out there and they all have a huge list of plans and reasons for you to pick them. So first off, we need to figure out all the Internet service providers who can provide you with internet in your area. This can be pretty easy, you could just check their website if they have service in your area or you can simply call their customer care number and inquire about it.
Another thing you can do to narrow down your list is to ask your friends and neighbors if they have a broadband plan. This can also be a good opportunity to find out just how good the quality of service from the providers is. Some providers who may offer really inexpensive plans may have poor service or may take longer to respond to any issues. It’s a good idea to get friends or neighbors first-hand experience with the provider if you can.
Narrow down internet plans
Now that your options for an ISP are narrowed down to a workable number, it’s time to choose a plan. It might seem like a no brainer but it definitely is. Most ISPs will have a wide array of plans for you to choose from. To choose the best plan for you, firstly we need to answer a few questions
- Are you going to be the only person in your place using the internet?
- How often are you going to be staying online?
- Are you going to download lots of digital content online?
- Are you going to be gaming online?
- Are you going to stream media online often?
I think answering these five is enough for starters. Let’s address the first one. If you are going to be the only one using internet form the connection, you can easily start off from some low-end plans and slowly scale up depending on your usage. It’s a great idea to start off with a prepaid service at the beginning so that you won’t fall into many common pitfalls while picking a plan.
Some ISPs offer special plans such as weekend plans or night plans, so for students who might not use internet on weekdays. weekend plans might be the best option and if you only go online during night time then you could opt for night plans. If you are a casual user and only use the internet for minor browsing and social media, you don’t need to get a pricey plan. Plans that offer less than 50GB data monthly will be more than enough for the casual user. However, if there are more users, consider upgrading your plan.
Some ISPs offer special plans such as weekend plans or night plans, so for students who might not use internet on weekdays. weekend plans might be the best option and if you only go online during night time then you could opt for night plans. If you are a casual user and only use the internet for minor browsing and social media, you don’t need to get a pricey plan. Plans that offer less than 50GB data monthly will be more than enough for the casual user. However, if there are more users, consider upgrading your plan.
For gamers, you will need good speed and ping. If you can, let the ISP know you will be using your connection for gaming so that they can set the correct NAT for you. Some gamers often have difficulty using voice chat in-game because of NAT issues. Your ISP can fix these issues most of the time.
If you are going to watch lots of online media, then you might need a plan with higher data caps. I recommend at least 200GB per month for such users, but you can start with cheap plans and scale according to your usage.
Take care while picking Unlimited plans
Lately, lots of users are choosing unlimited plans over limited plans. These plans claim that the user can consume as much data as they want for a fixed monthly plan. So no matter how small or how large your data usage is during a month, your bill will always be the same. There are some fake unlimited plans out there so be careful when choosing an unlimited plan. Most ISP’s highlight UNLIMITED and mention some terms and conditions in the fine print. Read through them carefully. If an offer seems too good to be true, it probably is, so be careful.
Some Plans that claim to be “UNLIMITED” have a certain tactic they use called data caps. It means that they will set either daily or monthly data limits for your “UNLIMITED” plan and when you exceed that limit, throttle your internet speed to a lower speed. So essentially, you are getting unlimited data, but once you cross the data limit the ISP has set, the speeds will be reduced greatly. Let us take a look at an example.
Let’s assume your monthly plan is something like 100 GB Unlimited plan of 30 days at a speed of 10Mbps. If you happen to cross your data limit on day 20, then your speed will get dropped to 1Mbps for the next 10 days. This is a huge drop in speed and it will be noticed as your websites will take longer and longer to load, making your experience terrible.
This is one of the most common mistakes people make while picking a plan. Take care of choosing these types of plans and always do some research before picking one. These steps will hopefully assist you in choosing the best broadband plan for you and possibly help you save money in the long run.
Few usefull links
Railwire: https://www.railwire.co.in/tarrifs-and-plans.php
BSNL: http://www.bsnl.co.in/opencms/bsnl/BSNL/services/broadband/index.html
Airtel: https://www.airtel.in/broadband/
Hathway: http://www.hathway.com/Broadband
You Broadband: https://youbroadband.in/
Jio: https://gigafiber.jio.com