Posts Tagged ‘review’

Dhiraagu Internet Home Unlimited Review

// September 14th, 2009 // 18 Comments » // Reviews

I am using the Dhiraagu Internet Unlimited Package as a home user. I don’t know if it is just me but Dhiraagu seems to be limiting my usage although it is supposed to be an unlimited package. Of course I am aware that as a package for the home users there is going to be more sharing of resources among users. But that is not what I am talking about. I thought I’ll just review the dhiraagu internet home unlimited package and maybe get some idea from other users on your situation.

To start with let’s take a look at what Dhiraagu promises for this package:

  • Monthly subscription: MRF 690 (US$ 53.69)
  • Speed (download/upload): 512/128 kbps
  • Usage (bandwidth) allowance: unlimited

When I applied for the package I needed to install a new line to my place. I was told that Dhiraagu aims to complete 95% of installation requests within 10 days and indeed I got my connection within that time even though the weather was pretty bad during those days. A point to note here is that when you are getting a new connection you might need to get an ADSL Router. You can either get a router from a shop elsewhere or get one from Dhiraagu itself. Well, the routers from Dhiraagu are about twice as expensive.

With a download speed of 512kbps I would expect a steady speed of at least 20 to 30 Kb/s after giving allowance to loss in the data line and sharing among users. I admit that I do get peaks of around 90Kb/s but these never last more than a few seconds. I w0uld say usually the the browsing speed is below 12Kb/s.

A lot of users take the unlimited package to download stuff and therein lies the issue. The problem is that when i try to download anything from the popular file sharing site rapidshare, my download speed never goes above 10Kb/s even though I am using a premium rapidshare account. I have been able to download from rapidshare at 300Kb/s on some other limited Dhiraagu package so I know the issue is not with rapidshare but with Dhiraagu. This video of me trying to download a file from rapidshare shows how the speed peaks at 10Kb/s.

The other reason I believe Dhiraagu is limiting my rapidshare downloads is because when I download torrents using the uTorrent client I can get sustained speeds of around 50Kb/s. I know that torrent speeds are dependent on the number of people sharing the file but the point here is that the Dhiraagu unlimited package is capable of giving it’s users a sustained speed of 50Kb/s but it doesn’t. This video shows the download and upload speed of uTorrent client at the bottom a Bandwidth Monitor window above. As you can see, the speed holds steady at around 50Kb/s and even goes higher sometimes.

I am not a really big techy but I smell something fishy here. And this speed limitation is not limited to just rapdshare downloads. Other http downloads such as documents and software also rarely go above 15Kb/s.

I have been told that the RoL Internet Unlimited Package gives rapidshare download speeds sustained at around 40Kb/s. I am yet to see that and that would be another review another day. But as for now, the Dhiraagu Unlimited Package sucks when it comes to downloading, watching online videos or streaming any other kind of media.

What has been your experience?

BYET Internet Services Byet Host Review

// September 9th, 2009 // No Comments » // Reviews

As I start another iteration of my blog I want to start with a review of my previous web hosting provider Byet Host. I was with them for the past couple of years. In fact my first experience was with their free hosting service and that was so good that I stuck to Byet Host when I opted to go for a premium hosting.

I took their standard annual package which cost $35.88 per year. For this low price you will now get:

  • Unlimited Disk Space to keep your files
  • 250 GB per month of bandwith
  • 20 Addon Domains
  • 20 Sub-domains
  • 20 MySQL Databases
  • No Advertising
  • 1 free TLD

These might seem limited compared to other web hosts that give unlimited everything now-a-days. But this is more than enough for the casual blogger who wants to host a couple of blogs and forums. But what you get from Byet Host is quality of service. Their server speed is visibly faster than my current web host which is ranked as one of the best around these days. They also have outstanding up-time.

What I appreciated most about Byet Host is their online Technical Support. Usually I get a response within half an hour at the most. And they always helped me with any problem with the same level of courtesy and technical knowledge until the issue is solved. I guess I should specify here that most problems I had were usually caused by myself and not on their end.

Byet Host might not be among the biggest web hosting companies in the world. Recently I saw somewhere that they claim to have 400,000 happy customers. This might seem really small but it is better to have a few happy customers than bite more than they can chew. What this means to us users is that since they have less customers their servers will be less overloaded. Which means better service for us. In fact when I signed up they said that they have put me on the server with the least load among their over 15 servers.This kind of attention and care to their customers is rare in today’s globalized corporate world.

Before I end this review I guess I should explain why I left Byet Host. Well, it was completely my fault. I don’t want to get into how I messed up but believe me even to the last moment the Tech Support at Byet Host were willing to retain my costom. I can’t praise their tech support enough.

There are many reasons why you should host your own blog. Domain names are just $10 a piece these days and in fact signing up with Byet Host means that you will get the domain for free. Hosting your own blog gives you complete control to customize the blog. And for the casual blogger Byet Host is an ideal partner.

Visit Byet Host and Sign-up Now