All About Kerala and Beyond

Check out 10 different ways of bypassing internet blocking.

You can also try setting up your own proxy server at home!

Posted by onkerala at 10:39 AM | Permalink

Now passports can be applied online in Kerala! After applying online, the application print out must be submitted to a dedicated online counter at the passport office. So this can be used as a short cut for bypassing queues (like the credit card queues at the railway stations) :)

The new online registration service should reduce the rush at the passport office (In trivandrum, passport office is like a market - too many people, too little space).

But it appears there are some start up problems with the service. The registration site https://passport.gov.in/ seems to be having load problems and is slow.

Posted by onkerala at 12:02 PM | Permalink

Yesterday I came across this interesting site. This allows you to scan all Malayalam blog posts that is happening on the Web! Pretty big collection (probably covering all Malayalam blogs). Another good feature is that it is updated in near real time!

Posted by onkerala at 11:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Check out this interesting site. This site allows you to register and then submit your favorite kerala links, stories and news. The content is driven by users! Hence a story which gets maximum votes gets to the front page.

If you like my site, vote for it here. :)

Posted by onkerala at 09:02 PM | Permalink

In Kerala, most popular broadband services are dataone from BSNL and dataline from Asianet. Arrival of dataone service has now improved Asianet services since their Internet market is seriously threatened.

I have home 500 from BSNL dataone and WOW 199 from Asianet dataline. Recently I switched to Home UL 900+ (which costs Rs. 900 including free telephone line!) of dataone, which is an unlimited service. Following are details of the services I currently have.

I am using BSNL broadband for about a year. Surprisingly I never had any problem. The uptime as far I know is 100%!! Also the speed is almost always at offered 256kbps.

Asianet broadband also offers decent speed. But I found it to be less uniform than BSNL probably due to the fact that it is on cable. Also uptime is decent. Sometimes I had connectivity problem. Also in between there were some problems with their server software upgrade. I mainly use this as a backup to my main BSNL line.

Overall I find that both BSNL and Asianet services are quite good in Kerala.

My recommendation – Take Home UL 900+ of BSNL if you do a lot of download else go for Home 500. Back this up with a WOW 199 service from Asianet.

Posted by onkerala at 06:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

This article explains the setup i have at home to ensure failsafe broadband access. Since I have multiple pcs at home I have setup the whole thing on Wireless network. If you are in Kerala I recommend my setup.

Here is what you need,

1. Two broadband connections(In kerala BSNL and Asianet are best).
2. Two Wifi routers(Netgear or Dlink).
3. Wifi adapters for each PC(Netgear and Dlink).

In my case I have a BSNL broadband connection (UL900+ which offers unlimited download) and Asianet broadband (WOW 199 which offers 375MB traffic per month) as the backup line. Whenever something happens to the BSNL line (which is yet to happen!) I switch to Asianet using the Wifi Adapter software setting. Another scenario is when you have a big download going on and at the same time want to do a voice chat on another PC!

Following diagram illustrates my setup which uses SmartAX MT882 ADSL Router, Asianet cable modem, D-Link DI-524 wifi router, Netgear WGT624 Wifi Router, Netgear WG311 internal Wifi card and Dell TrueMobile 1180 Internal 802.11b Mini PCI Card.

In my case, BSNL has provided a simple SmartAX MT882 ADSL Router without wireless support. So I have connected D-Link DI-524 wireless router to this. Following diagrams illustrates the main setting(WAN) on the wireless router (accessed via http://192.168.0.1/). Also ensure that Wifi is secured using WEP encryption. Otherwise your neighbours will enjoying free broadband internet at your expense!

Related
Check out my BSNL broadband experience!

Posted by onkerala at 11:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Many movie theatres in Kerala are now offering online booking of tickets. But i am yet to find a site which offers payment gateway integration. Also some of them charge almost 30% extra per ticket! Even then it is worth it since there is no need to go to theatre in the morning just to reserve a cinema ticket!

Here are some sites which offers online movie reservation in Trivandrum.
Kripa cinema in thiruvananthapuram
Ajantha cinema in thiruvananthapuram

Following is a sample online ticket issued by Ajantha Theatre.

Posted by onkerala at 03:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Many companies are now providing broadband services in Kerala. BSNL, Asianet, Reliance, etc. now provides broadband lines with speeds varying from 128kbps to 1mbps. This article summarizes my experience with BSNL broadband service(dataone).

BSNL started its broadband services sometime in 2005. Initially I was skeptical about the service. BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited) is a state owned telecom company. Most of the state owned companies are notorious for their inefficiency in India. But anyway I thought I will apply for it and see what happens. Suprisingly, the broadband installation and delivery of modem took only about a week. Since then I am browsing at 256kbps with a monthly cap of 1GB. Recently I switched to the unlimited plan called UL900+ which gives free phone connection, unlimited traffic at 256kbps for a price of 900 rupees. To me this plan is a real good bargain!

Getting the service
Initially I filled up the online form. Nobody followed it up. Then I went to the BSNL office and gave an application. In a week, broadband installation was done. For changing the plan also I had to go to the office and give an application. It took 5 days to change the plan.

Reliability
Reliability is 100% for me. I never had any problem since I started using BSNL!

Speed
I am getting the promised speed of 256kbps almost all the time. This is a welcome surprise for an unlimited plan!

Customer Service
The customer care numbers provided at the BSNL website doesn't work. But if needed I can report a problem at the Trivandrum telephone customer care number - 1500 .

Yes, BSNL broadband rocks! BSNL dataone broadband is the best broadband service I have seen. I am sure there are some good guys in BSNL who are maintaining this service. Thanks Guys!

Resources
Setting up a perfect wireless broadband network at home!
http://www.vinuthomas.com/Forums.html - Forum discussing various broadband services in India.
http://10.240.89.199/webLogin.jsp - BSNL account details page (Works only in IE).
http://www.bsnl.co.in/service/dataone_tariff.htm - Take a look at various BSNL broadband plans available. I recommend Home 500 or Home UL900+

Posted by onkerala at 08:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)