Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Comparison of gmail,yahoo,rediff,hotmail and sancharnet

Rank 5
HOTMAIL

Microsoft looks bleak.
Well this is one of the first mail service (interface) i started using.. by then the concept wasnt so popular and hotmail was better.
But as the days went on hotmail ...didn improve.And while all other mail service providers are provided airbus for a trip hotmail is
still providing the old cart.
Advantage(s) :

* The only advantage is easy access to host of other servces like MSN messenger , passport.Net etc.

Disadvantages :

- Spam spam spam spam......everywhere, the only mails i get are spams nearly 20 everyday(no use in reporting) .
- Mailbox size..is prehistorically small.2MB??? (nwdays each fwd wud exceed 2MB).
- Dull interface.
- Removal of POP3/SMTP support.

Rank 4
SANCHARNET.IN
India Shines.

Sancharnet is the national mail service by BSNL. Its improving quite well.Its not exactly a free service.

Advantages :

*Unlimited and free POP3 access.
*Fast email access.
*Availabilty.
*Service inside the country(increase Indian traffic)

Disadvantages :

-10 MB mail space.
-No extra features(the new interface beta is good)
-Its not totally free , u need a BSNL account.
-security..is not tested.

Rank 3
REDIFFMAIL
The old man is still alive.

Thanks to the thousands of greatful old rediff users rediff is still going.But many feel it is losing the battle with yahoo in terms of commercial use of the site.

Advantages :
* 1 GB mail storage.
* Improved and simple interface.
* Reliable.
* Indian brand.

Disadvantages:
-The changed interface is slow and is not intuitive.
-No groups/other services.
-No POP access.


Rank 2
YAHOO!
Yahoo is bright again and thanks to yahoo groups.
Yahoo is fighting aggressively to keep its competers at bay.The increased Mail space and aggressive redesign and extra features help it.

Advantages :*Yahoo groups is the singlemost reason many use yahoo.
*Yahoo instant messenger increases its usage still.
*Host of other services.
*1GB mail box(is it 2 GB now?).
*New layout.
*Fast and reliable.

Disadvantages :
*No POP access.
*No radical new change in mail delivery.
*Ad based mail service.

And the winner & Rank 1
GMAIL
Google smiles...

The present 1GB space with yahoo,rediff all can b attributed to Gmail.The aggressive new concept in mail delivery, simple standalone client has redefined mail service world over. No ad whatsoever. The best of all u dont have to refresh and see ur mails.ur page automatically refreshes instantly as soon as u receive a mail.

Advantages :
* Cool Interface.
* Unbelievably fast mail delivery.
*Auto refresh on mails.(extremly useful and unique).
*Ever increasing space (today its 2245MB).
*Free POP3/SMTP access.
*reliable and secure.
*allowing . in user names.
*attachment size.
*extra features.

Disadvantages :
-Need to get a invite.
-some old systems struggle.

I may use yahoo messenger, MSN spaces ,My MSN ,Sancharnet POP acces but when it comes to email my choice would be GMAIL(atleast as long as some one beats it)
--

K J Dinesh

Sunday, May 22, 2005

BSNL GPRS Settings and configurations

Hi all, Well right now im in Vellore ,No broadband here and hence should look for an good option for Internet. BSNL dialup is little costly(inspite of 2nd bfone line i have) for my kind of browsing ie all though out the day.
I saw in the bsnl website about new GPRS and WAP access thru the postpaid connections.So made my mind into checking out how it fares.. the plan i chose is Rs 349/month on an unlimited internte access and free MMS.The activation procedure is quite different from that of Hutch where we can juz call customer service and activate GPRS.Here as usual(with BSNL) is a little complex..go to ur nearest mobile customer care and fill an application form to activate the GPRS.The procedure takes nearly a day to activate.
Then comes the problem... they have given settings for the GPRS access in their website but only to a limited number of handsets. And that too the settings vary for different zones.(the one in website wont work in tamil nadu).
My model is somewhat very different, Windows based Motorola MPX200 smartphone,and when the guy in customer centre saw it he juz wrote it off...no way we dnt know how to configure it. I got the settings and went on searching the web in order to find what are the setings.(MPX200 doesnt have internetconnection mngr s/w and we have to make changes).I was putting in various combinations and after nearly 5 hours (i should say lucky me)one of thecombinations worked. I browsed all websites thru it(in mobile, MPX200 supports html and wml with Pocket IE)... but then the biggest problem ..how to connect the mobile to Laptop for browsing.As i have mentioned there are no sw associated with the mobile to connect it as a modem(though active sync is present it wont manage internet connections ) .. i searched in the web and found the mobile operators in US(cingular and others ) clearly defined the settings..but none to suit our BSNL.. finally had a breakthru after 8 hours i was directed to the GSM 0.7.0.7 documentation which clearly stated the external initialization commands to be given in modem options(in PC).
Once connected internet acces is hassle free(if you have good reception in mobile).It gives a decent speed and coupled with unlimited access(30*24*7) (even in remote areas juz for Rs 349/-) is cheap.The reason for preferance of BSNL over HUTCH or AIRTEL is the presence. Hutch is available only in chennai and a similar plan costs Rs 499/- ,outside chennai no GPRS support.Airtel's package is very restrictive and it doesnt have mobile penetration everywhere.
If you are in a remote area and if ur only option is BSNL dialup (sancharnet) then u can try BSNL/HUTCH GPRS...i have provided settings
BSNL
APN : bsnlsouth(for TN and southzone) / bsnlwap
IP : 10.31.54.2
port : 9401 (nokia) and 9201(for motorola) (its not compulsary in all mobiles)
username : ppp
pwd :user123
extra initilization for all models(to be given in modem hardware settings)
+cgdcont=1,"IP","bsnlsouth"
Hutch
APN : portalnmms / www
IP : 10.1.10.100
port : 9201
username : (blank)
pwd :(blank)
extra initilization
+cgdcont=1,"IP","www" / +cgdcont=1,"IP","portalnmms" (suitable)
If u r using modem sw for ur mobile u dont have to initilize.
Hi if u need help u can always contact me.........

-- K J Dinesh