After using the BSNL Bharat fiber for more than 2 years now, I finally decided to try the Airtel Xtream fiber connection. Since I use internet a lot (literally a lot) I thought of trying other options to compare between the two. I have already posted a review of BSNL fibre connection in a different blog post. If you want to know more about the BSNL fibre review please click here.
Since this blog will be totally on the Airtel Xtream fiber, so let’s start on that. So few months back Airtel Xteam fibre came to our colony. Airtel people reached every home in our colony and shared the promotion cards. They also reached me asking if I need new fiber connection, but as I was already using BSNL at that time I told them I am not interested at that moment but in future I might be needing to switch to Airtel. So they shared their number with me and told me if I need fibre connection in future, I can call on that number and they will provide the fiber connection with in 24 hours.
Now fast forward to yesterday that is 01st July 2023. I called on that number and told I want a new Airtel Xtream fiber connection. The other person on the phone said okay and asked few details over the phone and said the connection will be done with in today (means on 1st July itself). He booked the connection and I got a link from Airtel asking to make a payment for 2828.46 Rupees towards for the connection. Since I opted for the 799 plan with 100 Mbps speed for 3 months the total was 2828 (including the taxes).
FYI- If you are taking a 3/6 months plan during a new connection the installation changes will be waved off. So I opted for the 799 plan.
Installation process-
After I made the payment, I got the call from the person asking may preferable time for the installation. I asked if it is possible for them to install by today itself (01st July ), the person said okay and booked the slot for me. Around 3 PM on the same day the installation engineer visited our home and stared the installation process. The FAT box (from which all the connection is distributed to customers) was just outside our home. So it did not took them much time to complete the wiring. Within 1 hour all the wiring and setup was done. They also provided a new Nokia ONU cum router.
Then it was time for waiting. The engineer told me within 15 mins the connection will be active and I can start using the internet. So we waited, and within 15 mins I got a message from Airtel which included my Wi-fi username and password. We connected to the internet and performed the speedtest (Since speedtest is necessary)
My experience with Airtel Xtream –
It is now more then 24 hours I have been using the fiber connection. Till now I have not faced any issue but I will update in this same blog if I’m facing any issue in future. But in my experience the onboarding experinece with Airtel Xtream was super smooth. The installation was done with in 12 hours for my case. And the setup was also very very easy now with new Airtel thanks app. As a user you do not have to do anything related to router settings or configuration things. That part was automated. Once the engineers connected the device within 15-20 minutes you will receive the password for the wifi and once you connect to the wifi you can start immediately.
And with the new Airtel thanks app you can also manage your router settings like wi-fi name, password and see the health of the network, range etc. I mean that was super cool. I am not saying any other provider is bad, but being able to access everything with just using an app instead of using your router login cred every time to manage things is way cooler.
Speed test-
Now coming to speed test. In this 24 hours I have performed 7-8 speed tests with different platforms to find out the speed stats. I am adding the screenshots for those speedtest results below.
As you can see I am almost getting 90isshh speed both upload and in download in different platform, sometimes I get speed unto 120 or 110 Mbps up and down speed also but not every time, Most of the time the speed will be around 90-93 Mbps. But I have seen some YouTubers claiming that Airtel gives little more speed what they promises, but for me I am not sure why little less. But if you ask me it’s not a deal breaker for me, as in BSNL also I am getting the same speed. But in BSNL I am getting better pings. May be I need to talk with Airtel expert engineer to know if any issue with my connection or router.
Conclusion –
Overall I am very happy with my new Airtel connection. If I compare with the BSNL fibre with Airtel, the main difference I feel is the websites now load faster with Airtel fibre. With BSNL I have an issue where some web sites won’t open or will open in very late. But with Airtel I have not faced that issue, websites loads very faster and in YouTube 4k videos play very smoothly no buffering. And one more advantage which I felt personally is the Airtel thanks app using which I can manage most of my router settings easily.