Hi,
Few days back, I subscribed to Tata Indicom Broadband ( www.tataindicombroadband.in ). I chose the Infinity 1 Mbps plan. This apparently comes with no installation charges even if you don't give commitment for more than 1 month. For other plans you have to commit for 4 months to get that 1K INR waiver. I found that they do the feasilbilty quite fast and response time was quite fast as well ( this might depend on locality). But co-ordination between the tech and marketing dudes was not so good. Oh and neither of them knew if they supported Linux :O. Surprisingly the callcentre dude confidently said they do and the tech dude would setup everything when he comes to my place.
Cut to my home ( few days later, i.e. yesterday ) - the tech dude arrives. When I tell him that I have linux on all the boxes he made a few calls and finally said he doesn't know how it works on Linux but he will get a mail from his boss and will come back and do the setup. After some random conversation, I asked him if he can do the setup on Windows atleast and he managed to do it on my windows partition in my laptop ( yes, I didnot delete it yet :).
The general process these chaps follow is - login to some webconsole of theirs where they find data about the customer - go to the tata indicome bb website and register with the Serial number and PIN code. After which you have to select your username, password and the usual cruft. Then the create a account on your box and check if everything works and leave.
The Linux way works much faster :). I followed [1]. But all that is needed is "sudo pppoeconf". If you already have a /etc/ppp/peers/dsl-provider, back it up if you care for existing settings. After that is mostly selecting yes or no. For user name - please select username@vsnl.net or whatever domain they have given you. But point being the complete userid+domain has to be there, afaik. Type in your password. ( when the dudes set it up, they generally put passwd as tata123, change it using the website )
Don't know if this is worth adding into the wiki. Maybe it should be,
[1]http://users.pandora.be/Asterisk-PBX/PPPoE.htm
Cheers!
Pradeepto
On Tue, 2007-10-02 at 08:26 +0530, Pradeepto Bhattacharya wrote:
My my...another "bakra" falls prey to TATA Indicom ;) ( Not a flamebait :) ).
BTW, the way you login to TI is dependent on the way they provide you with the wire. In the places where they have their own last mile, they probably use the cyberoam client. Where they used shared fiber they use PPPoE ( what you're using ).
So please make a note on the wiki that this procedure may NOT be valid for all.
On Wednesday 03 October 2007 01:00, Dinesh Joshi wrote:
Compared to SIFY and airtel tataindicom are like li'l babes. The airtel call center zombies will actually shout at you when you try to tell them you dont have this or that doze icon. If you are in need of some therapy call up airtel / sify.
Hi,
On 10/3/07, jtd jtd@mtnl.net.in wrote:
Is there a "correct" answer to the question - "linux ka version kaunsa hai?". Kernel version? Distro name and version? Or whatever? Once sify dude scolded me for not knowing the linux version :) - "aap ko maaloom nahi, woh version hota hai.". The tata indicom tech dude also asked me the same - "what is your linux version?"
/me sings "what is your linux version?" ( to the tune of "what is your mobile number?" ) ;)
Cheers!
Pradeepto
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Pradeepto Bhattacharya wrote:
I'd rather say it is progress compared to "If you are not running Windows, we cannot help you". One aspect that can be explored is what is the basic minimum information that can be force-fed to these service providers and hence their customer care executives so that they have a comparable basic grasp of doing the thing on Linux (compared to what they have regarding Windows). Or, in other words, what is the basic minimum knowledge that they need ?
On 10/3/07, Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay sankarshan.mukhopadhyay@gmail.com wrote:
another approach is to maintain a good wiki and send them the reference to that wiki and ask them to rant it whenever they need support. If the wiki contains most of the FAQs then they will also be benifitted. Instead of using their own language, they will begin to use our language.
Nagarjuna
On Wednesday 03 October 2007 11:25, Nagarjuna G. wrote:
a couple of yrs back i made the offer to send in a detailed writeup to hutch after a hugh rukus with them. As usual nothing happened.
In the case of reliance they use the totally borked M$ pptp to "secure" secure customers.
The less said about brain dead auth schemes via cyberoam the better.
Also most mobile providers are trying to milk custmers with "email", irc etc. and linux users can spoil the party by hosting their own services.
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Nagarjuna G. wrote:
Couldn't agree more. At Pune, my experience with Airtel has been a mixed bag. On one hand, I have encountered folks who know how to get the user to check the Proxy settings for Firefox and sometimes even ask about root/super user access on the box. On the other, I get the void responses when I point out that I don't have Windows running. On the whole, a telephonic discussion with their nodal office gave me the idea that given the basic information that can help them support their users on Linux, they are not averse to putting in efforts to do so. They don't have the in-house skills to have basic script for their Support Teams ready.
However, that would really mean that the content is kept simple as are the questions. Very basic questions might put off the experienced user on Linux, but if it helps an increasing number of Linux desktops use the ISPs, then we have winners. Or, let's not think about what we could lose, instead focus on what we can win.
On Wednesday 03 October 2007 11:02, Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay wrote:
Right now ccs catering to indian customers have far more pressing and basic problems with existing skills. Adding support to fringe lunatics who know more than the sysadmins and keep asking "highily confidential information" (dns ip) is the last thing on their minds. Putting up a linux support page is much less expensive but the mbas who run these gigs cant do even that.
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Dinesh Joshi -
jtd -
Nagarjuna G. -
Pradeepto Bhattacharya -
Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay