Pune, what is supposed to be am emerging IT city of India with lot of companies opening up a office here. The internet connection remains a main concern here. Just shifted from Mumbai to Pune and its like a village. I have tried almost all options for internet and none of them worked. Slow or very slow, that’s the best you can get here in Wakad – Pune. So goes the “Internet woes in Pune – Wakad”.

Here are the options and my reviews on tried and tested Internet options:

1. Tata Photon+
The first thing I tried here, since it worked very well in Mumbai and had an awesome surfing from this. Also used to download occasionally.
Speed in Mumbai : 1mbps – 2mbps
Speed in Wakad (Pune) : 56 kbps – 200 kbps

I tried to raise ticket and all they did was closed it after a week. The speed is good in other parts of pune like Baner, Hinjewadi. Looks like they have not upgraded the tower in Wakad.

2. Airtel Broadband
Airtel has descent surfing speed, but there is no Airtel in the apartment where I am staying. Once of the premium residence in Wakad and no lines of Airtel here. Looks like it will take another year to come.

3. Airtel 3G
Pathetic, shame on the name of 3G. DO NOT use it. The speed is less than of 2G. If you are lucky sometimes in night the speed is good. But very rare.

4. Vodafone 3G
Vodafone has coverage issues in Pune, they are still covering the areas. 3G is like 2G, opt only if you have full signal in your residence.

5. Idea 3G
This one is the best option till now. But not consistent but still much better than Vodafone, Airtel 3G. The download speed varies from worst 1-10KB/s to 200-300 KB/s
Ideal for surfing. Best if you are accessing internet via smartphone.

6. Reliance/Tata Indicom 3G/Cellone 3G
Nor proper coverage, so not tested yet

7. BSNL Broadband
They have no lines in Wakad. Suffer in Silence

8. Tikona Broadband
They have no lines to my residence. Again unlucky me.

9. You Broadband/Hathaway/Etc
They still need to come to our Wakad.

The conclusion is if you are in Wakad and there is no Airtel Broadband. Your life is going to be like hell. Either change your residence or make sure that you have a descent internet before shifting. These observations are of May 2013.

After dozen of official trips to Pune in past year, finally got the chance to go for an unofficial one with friends and explore it. Pune is a nice city, and much much better than Mumbai. Not only weather is nice, there is less crowd. No Congestion or hectic life and awesome food as well. From Pune, we continued our journey to Lavasa, which was a scenic beauty.

We reached around 10 PM and headed to a famous Dhaba – “Tony Dhaba“. Had some delicious chicken dishes and then we headed, to an Area called Chandani Chowk, there is a Cafe Coffee Day, which was crowded as if it was day time and the time was 1 AM. Not to mention the gorgeous eye candies there.. And finally some sleep for the night.

Next morning we went Lavasa, a scenic beauty. It was a little sunny and hot but worth a road trip.
Few of the snapshots :

Lavasa is in the Valley and with a great scenic beauty.

No crowd, being off season, which I liked as I hate crowd.

Friends showing their photographic skills Who isn’t a photographer these days ? Everyone is

I have heard this place is more gorgeous and more lively during rains.. will try to go one more time.

So there it was, long awaited and much needed trip. Three friends residing in different cities of India came together for Mahabaleshwar Trip.

Mahabaleshwar is a vast plateau, bound by valleys on all sides. It reaches a height of 1,438 m (4,718 ft) at its highest peak above sea level, known as Wilson/Sunrise Point. Below is a shot of us all three cheering up

On the eve of Independence day, we where at Pratapgad fort. One of the best way to celebrate our country’s freedom by making ourselves free
Pratapgad is located 15 kilometres from Poladpur and 22 kilometres from Mahabaleshwar, a popular hill-station in the area. This fort stands 1,080 metres above sea level.

Here is a shot on some waterfall we went. Don’t remember the name though. But the scenic beauty was awesome.

Considering the amount of fun we had on the trip, we should go out often and have frequent trips in future