Getting connected in Bangalore.

At the center (centre - still getting used to the Brit spellings) of the settling down process in Bangalore - lies the all important part of connectivity. By which, I mean - Telephone, Broadband, and cable.

Telephone and Broadband - They sort of go together. Its just less hassle if you ask me, if you stick with the same provider for both. If you want to make life a little bit easier, stick with the same provider. There are 2 major providers in Bangalore - BSNL and Airtel. BSNL - is not always avaialble everywhere. Its is a LOT cheaper, but sometimes, harder to get the connection. Cheaper also highly compensates quality. For example the Rs500 so called broadband connection from BSNL is great for light users - just email and chats. If you want to do some intense multimedia downloads, youtube or vpn into work.. forget BSNL.
Airtel offers a bunch of different plans - the bottom line is - there is nothing called Unlimited connections here in Bangalore. Everything has some limit. There are multiple speed options - 256kbps, 1mbps, and 2mbps. In the 256kbps - you can get unlimited plans. At that speed, you cannot download much anyways. In the other 2 speeds you can get monthly rates in Rs650 - Rs750 range 2gb,4gb,20gb data transfers. I am currently using 2mbps connection with a 4gb data transfer. Will try this for a month and see how much i acutally use before upgrading.

So that said about the acutal product - the broadband is not all the reliable. The connections do go off once or twice a day minimum. Sometimes, it can be off for a good 20 mins. So, if you are on critical work, save it! Yep, get used to the idea of using Ctrl+S a Lot here - either its the power or the connections. UPS is a must if you to save your work.

Btw, all these guys make house calls to get your application filled out and take the order for new connections. But be patient, they never install the day they say they would. Takes a few phones calls, screams and threats before you can acutally get the connections up and running. Don't take a day off from work based on the promises. Just give them youe cellphone number and ask them to call when they reach home.

About Cable TV - I have not yet explored this area in detail yet. I know there are a lot of Dish providers - Tata Sky, Dishnet, Airtel etc. Tata sky seems to be fairly popular. This option works only for people that have a wall/balcony in the right direction to pick up the signals. Regular cable providers also have the Set-top options - Basically a cable box that can let you watch what you want and not what the provider thinks you will like :-) Regular basic cable - beware - the channels keep changing. So ESPN will switch to Ten Sports if circket is on or if the cable guy fancies F1 - then that is what you will have to watch!

So bottom line - get some connection with the Settop box and remote. These are still inexpensice. About 2k or less for initial connection and cost of the box/dish etc. Then a maximum of Rs300 to Rs500 if you get all the channels they offer. In bangalore - you get North package and South package, sports package, movie package etc. I was so confused with the North and south - they basically mean Norht Indian languages channels and south indian languages. if you watch both - then go for the all-the-nonsense packages.

But relax - there is also Pay-per-view now. So you can watch most of the prime time stuff. Also, HBO and the Star channels offers all the US Prime time programming. Not all, but most of the good ones. If you are still not satisfied - then download the HD program off the respective US channel websites.