Now ISP

True Telecom based in UK helped me with many queries and has given me great value for money over this time.

The staff is so friendly and genuinely, they want to help you sort out any problems or changes you need to make. They are fast and efficient, they really are ahead of their game, when it comes to business and home use telecommunications. Well done to the team. For me you are the best!

This was about 2 years back if I remember right. I was at a book stall looking for some books (college time you see :) ) & a guy walked up to me with a nice looking package. He was marketing for a new ISP in Bangalore. NOW had launched newly in Bangalore at that time & the man talked on length about the technology behind & all sorts of tech jargon. Did make a little sense to me though since I am a computer lover too. So I thought i'd give it a shot. I did'nt have any connection at the time so this was my first own connection (i'd been using my friends' connections before that & ofcourse our cybercafes). The first day was a major letdown. I was unable to register myself!!! UI immediately called NOW's customer care. Goodness me!! The response I got from them was mindblowing. In no time they got my connection up & running. Now I know this happens with everyother ISP (I dont have an experience of abt 10 years with computers with nothing that ive seen). It was what I had to experience later that made me fall in love with NOW. The performance.........absolutely none to match it. I was able to get excellent speeds during downloads & uploads too. No connections being terminated for reasons known to GOD alone. No time wasted on a 100 redial attempts. No waiting for an hour for the lights on your connection icon in the tray to start flashing. I mean the whole service is so well maintained that one could never complain. They have a very knowledgeable customercare group which is well informed & very helpful. I still have the connection & difinitely my Broadband connection leaves something to wish for when compared to my NOW connection. The best thing is the Post Paid connection that NOW offers. Most helpful. Are you looking for one good ISP? You definitely must try NOW. Trust me you WILL like it.

THIS REVIEW ON N.O.W. (Network Of the World), IS STRICTLY BASED ON MY TV-CABLE OPERATOR’S CLAIM THAT HE HAS TIED-UP WITH N.O.W. TO PROVIDE “CABLE-INTERNET” TO OTHERS AND ME IN MY BUILDING. IF I AM MISINFORMED, I APOLOGISE TO N.O.W. FOR DRAGGING THEIR NAME IN THIS.

Modern day usage of Internet, invariably ends up in HEFTY telephone bills. Hence, I was on the look out for a good Cable-Internet Service who would provide good connectivity and good speed. I was not looking for a very high-speed (Broadband, or DSL) connection. (not after the experience with DishnetDSL anyway https://mouthshut.com/readreview/3282.html) I would be quite satisfied something that gave a better speed than the one given by a good dial-up service (like say VSNL). The person providing TV-Cable service in my area contacted me that they had started providing Cable-Internet. No Telephone Charges, connectivity: On-line 24 hours a day, and 5-6kbps download speed, all that for just Rs.1000 per month. (One Time Installation charges of Rs.3500 extra). I immediately signed up for the service. Within the first week itself, all claims went flying out the window. Connections would break down twice every three days, download as well as browsing speeds were pathetic. I would get download speeds of anywhere between 0.70 to 1.5kbps. While browsing, a page like “YAHOO” would take more than 1½ minutes to download completely. That IS pathetic compared to just about 25 to 30 seconds using VSNL dial-up connection. Within no time I stopped my subscription.

A couple of months later my tv-cable operator approached me again claiming that he had tied-up with N.O.W. for bandwidth, and that since N.O.W. had their own gateway, and did not have to depend on VSNL for bandwidth, All earlier problems would be sorted out. Depending on my experience for service provided by him for TV-Cable, I agreed to give him another try. From a choice of about three or four different schemes, I opted for a committed download speed of 5kbps for Rs.1000 per month. I must admit for about two months or so everything went quite smooth. Sure there were problems, occasional drops in speed, occasional breakdowns etc. But, most times the problems WERE rectified reasonably promptly. THEN things began to deteriorate. Breakdowns were more frequent, in fact , it reached a stage when, the breakdowns would occur, on an average, two to three days a week. Speeds began to drop to pathetic levels more frequently (download speeds of only 1 to 2kbps as against 6 to 8 as committed by them), they would remain slow for days together, what’s more, it stared taking longer and longer to get problems rectified. I got fed up of repeatedly complaining. Contacted the cable-operator and told him that I would start reducing the monthly charges (which by the way were collected on Quarterly basis IN ADVANCE) for all the days that his service remained “down” on a pro-rata basis.

This is when he had me talk to one Mr.Bhushan Thakkar, who he claimed was the “technical-person” from N.O.W.. Mr. Thakkar heard my complaints, regarding slow speed, breakdowns etc. he inquired which OS I was using, if I had any download managers or not, about all the network-settings etc. After taking all the information, he promised me that he would take care of all problems. Things went well for a few days, but then, again, it was business as usual, pathetic speeds, this time even lower, down to 0.70 to 1.5kbps, as against committed speeds of 6 to 8kbps. Again, I complained to my TV-Cable-operator (TV-Cable Operator, because he was the one to be contacted in case of any problems), who in turn MADE me speak to Mr.Bhutan Thakkar again, who in turn, once again assured me to rectify the problem immediately. This time however, he made me another offer, he offered to give me very very fast speeds at night, (from 10pm to 6am) if I paid him just Rs.200 extra per month. He claimed he would keep the whole pipeline open for all those who agreed to take advantage of this offer, and we would be sharing the whole bandwidth between us. Since there were only three others who had agreed to take this offer, it would guarantee download speed of at least 40kbps. I thought it would certainly be worth it, and agreed to take up his offer. BUT, the fast speeds lasted only for a week, and then, after a week, even the night-time-access (as they called it) started giving download speeds of about, 5 to 6kbps. Whenever I lodged a complain, the speeds would improve, but, only for 2 or 3 days, after that it would go back to the same pathetic levels. Tired of complaining repeatedly I stopped the night-time-access and continued only the original one, of committed 5kbps scheme. This is when the attitude of Mr.Bhushan changed drastically. He became very rude and negligent. The speeds started remaining pathetic (1 to 2kbps) permanently. It started taking “forever” to rectify breakdowns. Twice when I complained, Mr.Bhushan Thakkar rudely replied that this all he could offer and that whether there was commitment or not, if I was unhappy I could look for another ISP if there were any available in our area.

I immediately unsubscribe their service. Gathering from my own experience, I think people at N.O.W. are living in the babu-raaj days of yore. Corrupt and monopolistic attitudes have prompted me discontinue their service and go back to good-old dial-up connection.

.....Continue to ''COMMENTS''

I had started using NOW ISP after a very disappointing experience with Dishnet. At the outset I faced a few problems in setting up the dial up account but the helpline was helpful and my feedback was appreciated and worked upon.

It has now been six months and I have rarely ever been disconnected when I am surfing and once in a while the connection has taken two ties. Overall the speed has been good+! I use the post paid method and their bills are on time ( by the 10th of the month). It does turn out to be much costlier than Dishnet but I enjoy the convenience and surety with NOW. I recommend this ISP to all interested.

Maneesh

After buying a PC in November 1999, I first took a connection of MTNL. It was a very nice experience. After that I took a NOW ISP connection. I have the monthly bill system. I liked the monthly bill system but surely did not like the speed of the connection. It is far too slow from what I expected it to be. There was a lot of hypw when it came into the market but there isn't much stuff which will make NOW ISP grow. But another important factor is the correspondence between the customer and the provider. NOWhas a 24 hrs helpline which really works. This was not so in the MTNL duration (it might have changed now).The speed of NOW sometimes goes awfully slow. But the connection never breaks.

NOW-ISP is one of those ISPs which will eventually stay and flourish in the long run.

Features:

(1) Superb Connectivity (Both Speed and Getting Connecting)

(2) Excellent Customer Care Support

(3) New Billing System is nodoubt the new age thinking.

(4) 100% uptime for Surfing, 75% uptime for email

Few Lagging Points:

(1) It is becoming more and more costly.

• Rs. 10 per hour

• Min Rs.50 per month levied whether you use it or not.

(2) Sometimes the connection is like choked tunnel. Need to connect again.

If you people are in search for QUALITY ISP, then go for NOW-ISP. It is very close to VSNL, in terms of speed and connectivity. And it is fore-runner with respect to Customer Support.

I support the NOW's move of introducing the NEW Monthly Billing System. But, it tends to be more costly as compared to the Conventional Prepaid plans.

Anyways, 5-star for NOW-ISP.

The service provider has provided excellent levels of service and convenience for the regular dial-up users. Personally I started the using the service exactly a year ago and there has yet be an instance when the service was inactive or the download capabilities lacking.

The payment gateway for online payments - excellent thought with the possibility to view all transactions with the ISP -good amount of transparency.

Given the fact that most ISP operators flood you with offers or usage discounts you will find few & far here with NOW!! As matter of fact a very hands-off approach to the customer base. NOW thats something they should look in to - I could be logging on else where morrow!!

The NOW Internet Service provider is one of the very few ISPs left standing after the cut throat competition compelled many to shut shop and evaporate like Pacific and Mantra online to name a few.

By far I personally would rate it the fastest connection and the best in terms of connectivity and speed.

It is very easy to install, configure and I was up and running in minutes.

The help desk was indeed helpful and when they said they would get back to me with some queries I had, they did call back which was quite a pleasant surprise. I have bitter experiences of others who besides never calling up have to be refreshed with my problem all over again a good number of times before I could expect a solution.

They have two schemes: INSTA in which you have prepaid packs with no expiry period (a boon for light users) Prices are Rs.290/-for 25 hrs and Rs.975/- for 100 hrs. A bit on the higher side but worth the money if you consider the speeds offered.

They also have a RAPID pack for Rs.237/- wherein the first 20 hrs. are free and you have to pay Rs.10/- per hour for every hour thereafter billed to you on a monthly basis.

Having checked about 4 ISP's, I think, I can rate VSNL at a better rate. Earlier, ie., 3 to 4 yrs back, this was not the scene with VSNL. I was really bugged up with their service. But now, VSNL has really improved a lot. Even in ordinary Dialup connection, you will experience a good speed now.

The scheme with VSNL is really attractive. If you purchase 100 hrs dialup package, it will cost you Rs.750, which is valid for 3 years, during which the service between 11 P.M to 8 A.M and full Sunday is free.

If we talk about Dishnet DSL, I can say that, they are the worst ISP providers on earth. It has got a very very Lousy connection and the speed is really horrible. If you have 24 hours connectivity thru cable line, then your life will be still misserable. One will never know, when the link will be down and when it will be reactivated again. If you are thinking of purchasing with Dishnet DSL, then probably please rethink.

I really do not understand why people entre market with this quality. There are many plyers in the field. Cheapest one may be sancharnet and connectivity is very fast may be fastest. They are fastest even at remote places because of their too many nodes through out the country.

Once again I like to mention that ( many may not like this) telephone system is most important to get better connectivity. NOW may have too many features but all this will be working for me only if connectivity is good. So before talking about added features by any ISP should consider our telephone system that is going to carry these added features to me. Otherwise added features are of no use.

So do not waste your money. BSNL is quite good even at many remote places due to availibility of their node at a reasonable distance.

This is one of the reviews written when I was trying to learn the art of writing reviews.

As of today, I write better but I must acknowledge the efforts taken by some members to help me to write better.

This is a very short review with minimum information.

Thanks for reading the review.

Arun

Now ISP was when launched offered the service at competitive price. And remember they put a star above the price card. So Rs five was introductory offer and it was gradually increased to current price. Its email id extension is so bad everyone misspells it and most of the members use other email ids after they feel that they have made a mistake. Biggest problem I felt when I joined NOW some time back that they rejected my modem or my modem rejected their net connection. I called up support section but even after more than 2hours of conversation they couldn’t found any problem. Finally they said you modem has some problem, They at last connected me to their higher executive, he talked to me for 5 minutes and said will call me next day or visit my home. It is almost a year I am still waiting for him, and still using the same modem for all other ISP’s I have connected to. My friends say it has poor connectivity

Now help centre is really very supportive.

they are really helpful and patient to listen to the genuine problem.again connection quality in terms of speed is really fabulous . its only cons is its high price but even that is justified by the quality service it provide to its customer. all it need to do is to somehow reward its permanent users and customer and increase the visibility of there site now-india.com.their site is not what it should be. u dont find people their to chat and chatting is slightly difficult then in yahoo.com. all they need to do is to advertise more about the site. and site should be reflection of the name NOW.

After the much hyped convergence & bandwidth thing I decide to buy the now Internet account. But what followed is a story full of trauma, which I will explain step by step. It was one fine evening when I bought the NOW rapid account .I was very happy to buy it as it cost me Rs 199 but I got much more than it as two cassettes that of Zubeidaa & Indipop2 Now that’s what I call music worth Rs 130 came for free & that was not it 15 days of free surfing excited me like anything. I thought now is the best thing to have happened to me. But the problem started as soon as I played the installation CD on the comp. It took a little time in the first time when it got played I was not aware for quiet some time as to what was happening to my comp.

Well it took a little time bcos after playing that CD an RCO file got installed in my Hard disk. Now for those who don’t know it I will explain it. By virtue of this software programme which gets installed in your hard disk when you play the installation CD the engineers at the NOW isp are able to monitor your activities while you are online. They even have access to whatever stored files or documents you have stored on your computer thus meaning they have full access to your computer.

Well I am an engineer so I could detect it but think about those who do not even know that they are being watched & monitored while online.

Any ways this is just the start when I tried to remove the programme it took a lot of effort on my part because it is such that you cannot delete it as the access to that programme is denied.

THAT’S REAL CHEAP: AINT IT?

Any way the story is not finished. Their big claims of NEED MORE WIDTH fell flat on their face when I went online. The speed was really slow well actually terribly slow. This is not the end of the story it takes a hell of time to connect to NOW & if you manage to get connected there are lots of disconnections so much so that after only 2 days I bought myself another account of different ISP.

I am having fun out here and yes if you think trying out new ISP is a fun then I am having fun.

Yes,September month is turning out to be a good month for me, wherein I am getting to try out new ISP of India.

Internet has always been a passion for me and the line which read something as ''CUT OF THE NET AND I AM A DEAD MAN'' suites me a lot.

But what exactly is Internet.Go beyond the camera and most of the people really don't know the meaning of it.

Then what do they do when they don't know what it really means.Well I walked out of a cyber cafe and asked a few people.

Some said that they just were happy until they got to chat with some stranger, some said that they used net for emailing and some for some disgusting purpose.

What to why I use the net.

1)E-mailing(my sub-passion)

2)Earning points

3)Writing reviews

4) to know about latest teach. and

5)Trying out new services(normally new ISP)

So my 5th point bring me to try out this new ISP.Well they call it NOW-ISP.

NOW stands for Network of the World.Their banner in V.T(A place in Mumbai) and many other places like cross-roads really put my steps ahead to try out their services.

Great Broadband, good speed , lesser telephone bills thus and great download speed is what they promised but many use these catch lines to get new customer but ends up giving their customer nothing but slow connection.

But did NOW-ISP really stand up to their words and offers a great service?Well I decided to check it out.

Searching...where is it available

PLANET M is the place from I collected the Internet Kit.I got myself a 25 hours pack which cost me Rs 225/- for the pack.

Their kits are also available at many places at nearby stores and if you can't find one, just log on to https://now-india.com to activate your account on line and then pay them by cheque.

Now that's easy availability I would say so thumbs up I would say.

Internet Starter Kit...WHAT'S INSIDE

Well Rs 225/- were really worth the price, they provided a free mouse pad and a great CD, packed with great softwares and games such as Tomb Raider 3 and many other great stuff.

The FAQ's listed on the CD are simply great, with everything explained in detail and pictures provided to assist you better.

Registering...please wait

Well I had a hard time with their registration and it took me nearly 12 minutes to register and I said that this 12 minutes would be a waste if they really did not provide a good service.

Well user ID not available, password is short and many other error met me of my way of getting registered and finally I had my account registered.

Few easy steps and bingo there I was with my NOW-ISP account activated.

Connecting...

Well first time every time.Yes, I could connect to their services first time every time and their system authenticated me in just 2 seconds.

I never had a problem till now with connecting to their service.They are really keeping up to their words I said and I moved on trying their speed and customer's service.

''Speed of Lightening''

I would say that this word really for the first time is put into place where it really suites.Their speed is really mind blowing and web pages loaded in just time of 15 second or 10 second at times.

Mouthshut was really up in time of 7 to 8 second and other sites too had a quick load up.Really talk about Bigger Broadband and this ISP will take away the award.

I was really really satisfied with their speed and really could not ask for anything more from them except for a good customer service.

Customer's Service...checking

Well I think this is my fav. part when it comes to checking out new ISP.Yes I really like talking to the customer's service people and really like troubling them with query never heard before.

They have a 24 hours open help line.You van call them up at 1600-112112 and have your query clarified.They really answered my query quite nicely and were nice to their customers.

FIRST ISP KEEPING UP TO THEIR WORD'S

I think on my quest of finding the best, I have found the best ISP in my mid-way.Yes I am relating to NOW-ISP.

They have kept up to their words, when they said that good speed and great download speed.Really my download manager downloaded many files at a fast rate.

But when they said less telephone bills thus they kept me wrong, really who would like to disconnect when everything is loading up fast and you and enjoying the speed.

MY DAD is going to have a hard time with me this month end when the telephone bills will show up.But I have decided to not quit this ISP.

Conclusion

My previous paragraph should have talked my conclusion.Yes really ''NOW'' is really the best ISP.But available in not so many cities and their cost compared to many other in line really pull them a step back.

But for those people who live in India and can afford a good ISP.I would recommend you to try of their service.They really are the best.

Good download speed and worth the price of the pack, this guys have nothing left behind.

So what are you waiting got go check it out.

Compared to the old ISP like VSNL and Satyam, NOW really is the best on the line.Up to now, but many many new ISP to be still checked out and many more to come , right.

NOTE The words said above is in accordance with my experience with their service, and I have tried this service in Mumbai.Results may vary in other cities, so I am putting my words only with my experience.

I registered to use NOW ISP after seeing their ad coming out of the woodwork in Bombay. I must confess that the registration process was easy and painless as I could do it using my existing VSNL account.

I was also thrilled when I got 57K connects. But hold on. Thats only when I could get the connect. Most of the time you get an engaged tone. The only times you can get a good connect is early in the morning or late at night. The biggest problem is that I have yet to remain connected for more than 10 mins at a time. After 10 - 12 mins you can bet your a--e that the connection is going to drop and you have to re-connect.

Now they have sent me a bill which says that I have not used any hours but I have to pay a Rs 199 activation charge. Can someone advise me what I should do.

I have already renewed my VSNL account using my credit card and I find that this is the most reliable connection albeit slow. I always get through at the first attempt and the connection rarely drops.

Last week I saw their advertise & then my friend told me that they are offering a free trial version for 1 week then there is a nominal activation charge of Rs.199/ = only.

The most important feature I found is pay as you use, just like your normal telephone bills.

So I registered at their site.But I found that connect speed is 33k & speed is not that fast as I used to get in vsnl 6 months back but it is consistent which is better than vsnl.

Advantage over VSNL is

1. You are never disconnected when you dial their number.

2. No engage line problem.

3. No congestion problem.

Hey I think I am the first one to use the bold & italics feature of this site.

. . . . . .. . . . . . .. . .. . . . . . . . .. .

I have been using VSNL services for over 4 years now, tried a small stint with Satyam but turned away dissapointed.

Now comes around as the first ISP to offer a similar type of scheme as AOL offering first 15 days of usage FREE. The first 7 days are absolutely free and then u need to send in activation fees. I registered over 12 days ago and haven't yet paid any activation fees. That's good for us freeloaders.

NOW has too much hype when it come to bandwidth. They ask you to change your NS settings to improve your speed. But what they do is provide Now-india.com portal at high speed and rest other websites at pathetic speed. Now-india.com is a wonderful portal no doubt and succesfully manages to retain the user within the website, but you need much more than just now-india.com, don't you?

Several times at the peak of net congestion, you get pages from the NS that there was a problem in getting the page. I think it is NOWindia running out of bandwidth then, not the server or website hosting the actual page.

So you see, finally NOWIndia is managing to fool a lot of people into going for their service by their attractive schemes, but their services remains as pathetic as the worst ISP in INDIA.

And also their connection drops quite a lot.