Thread: Hayai Broadband FAQs

Alright... We have seen too many questions from potential customers and answers from mgcarley in the various threads on the forum... I wanted to have a single dedicated thread with all the questions that are being repeated...

Help me compile the data in this thread and I would post all the latest info in this first post itself. Since, mgcarley is a moderator of this forum... he would be able to do the edits himself as well.

Location of servers: Mumbai (Bhandup and Mahim)
Location of office: Mahim

1. Hayai Broadband Website
   A. Hayai Broadband | India's FASTEST Broadband
   
2. Hayai Broadband Terms and Conditions
   A. Plan Definitions, Terms and Conditions | Hayai Broadband
   
3. Hayai Broadband Plans and Packages
   A. Accessible from here: Hayai Broadband | India's FASTEST Broadband and mirrored here: Hayai Broadband Plans and Packages (India Broadband Wiki)
   
4. Advantages of Hayai Broadband over others
   A. Several:
   • 100 mbps connectivity with other Hayai users throughout India at no extra cost (on most plans).
   • Option to pay per GB at 100mbps speeds.
   • Cheaper high speed unlimited plans.
5. What happened to 1Gbit/s?
   A. All areas are being enabled with at least 1Gbit/s access. We can't advertise this just yet, but this speed should be attainable *at least* on the Hayai network itself, if you are on one of the fully-FTTH connections and if your network card supports it.
   
6. Are uploads counted in data transfer consumption?
   A. For Data/Data Value plans, whatever you buy down, you also get up, eg 100Gbytes Download + 100Gbytes Upload.
   
7. Is uploading speed the same as the download speed in all the packages?
   A. Within Hayai's network, always, yes. Outside of Hayai's network, it depends on the speed you have subscribed to. At this point our policy says yes, all connections are synchronous in speed. High-speed (20, 50, 100+Mbit) connections may end-up being capped at 25Mbit/s unless I can convince those who are selling us the bandwidth otherwise.
   
8. What is the installation charges?
   A. Currently Rs660 inc Service Tax (10.3%)
   
9. What is the modem-rental charge?
   A. Nil. Equipment remains property of Hayai, and by nature is not useful on any other ISP (as input is fed by Fiber, not CO-AX Cable or Ethernet)
   
10. How much time would it take to install the connection at my place?
    A. It depends on your area, as we are connecting people based on the area - partially for efficiency and partially because demand in some areas is stronger than others.
    
11. What kind of hardware does Hayai provides?
    A. In most areas, a "Quad Play" unit, featuring outputs for PC, VOIP and TV (2 services to be offered in the near future). In addition, they are all WiFi enabled. In areas where we are unable or not allowed (for example, by the society or the CW), we may be able to use existing cabling and would be inclined to supply a WiFi-enabled Linksys router.
    
12. Which cities and areas are covered right now?
    A. See Coverage Map | Hayai Broadband
    
    Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane (South-West, at least... we don't cover the whole district yet). Areas which we *may* not be able to provide for one reason or another (at least until our Wireless network comes online) include 7 Bungalows, Sion, Kandivili and New Panvel. Generally speaking, most other areas are fine.
    
    We are planning to expand to Pune and Goa in the next few months, and other states in the second half of 2010.
    
13. When will you expand to Pune/Delhi/Surat/Bangalore/Kolkata/Chennai/Gurgaon/Jaipur/My city?
    A. We are anticipating entry in to Pune around April, and subject to our class-A license being granted, Delhi and Bangalore in mid-2010 and other major centres by the end of the year.
    
14. What are the charges of migrating from one plan to another (upgrading/downgrading)?
    A. Would only apply to downgrades for customers on flat-rate plans if at all. Currently at Rs99 but I'll try to get rid of it completely (hopefully our support shouldn't have as much to do as they would if they worked for another ISP!)
    
15. Can I migrate from one plan to another in the middle of a billing cycle?
    A. Yes, but once again, this would really only apply to flat-rate plans. Users on data plans may purchase more at any time.
    
16. On a data plan... Can data be purchased at any given time online using netbanking or credit cards?
    A. Of course. In my view, it would be silly and inconvenient to NOT allow such a facility.
    
17. Prepaid, postpaid or both options available? (Frame this question in a better way)
    A. Yes. Prepaid for all data and value-data plans, Postpaid for flat-rate plans. We want to eliminate the possibility of there being any nasty surprises in your bills.
    
18. What are the payment options available for prepaid/postpaid account?
    A. All of the standard payment options available in India - Cheque, Cash, Net-banking etc. I'm currently deciding on which bank(s) to have swipe machines with also (mobile card payments if you have a credit or suitable debit card). I think customers using net-banking would attract a slight discount. Suggestions welcome here also - it should be as easy and as seamless as possible.
    
19. What is your policy on user log retention? What is the position of Indian Law in this aspect? How safe is the user's privacy on your network?
    
    A1. We comply with Indian law only to the extent that is required.
    
    A2. Indian law requires that we do maintain (somewhat extensive) user logs for all access. This is also one reason why we have added WiFi to all of our equipment - it save you having to register the equipment with us and allows us to have a convenient central authentication system so that you may use your account anywhere you can find someone with an access point.
    
    A3. We have no intention of responding to queries from foreign agencies unless an order is issued by an Indian court.
    
20. Q. So, if the customer wants to use his own Wireless Router... Is it allowed?
    A. Yes, but, 1. if you have an existing one that you want to use, it must be registered with us (legal requirement) and 2. you wouldn't need buy an additional wireless router when our equipment already includes one.
    
21. Installation charges of Rs. 660 include: Wiring and Hardware? Including Wi-Fi Router? What if the hardware goes bad (not because of customer's mishandling)
    Yes. Hardware remains property of Hayai. If it goes bad, that is our responsibility and we get the warranty replacement. If the router goes bad, we provide a spare (either new or refurbished - depends on what is in stock).
    
22. In case a customer manages to damage the hardware provided to him by Hayai... What would be the possible replacement charges?
    Unfortunately they are a bit on the expensive side. I will amend this answer with the retail price after connecting with the team.
    
23. If the installation prices are so 'low' how long would the customer be required to stay connected to your network? Is there a minimum period? It's hard to enforce of course here in India... Of course, you own the hardware provided to the customer... But you would still bear the expenses on wiring and logistics. This question is relevant because you are charging a small fee for users who would be downgrading their accounts.
    Stay tuned: currently there is no minimum contract, however we may add a clause in the near future to suggest that people stay for minimum 6 months or something like that, excepting the usual circumstantial changes (although billing cycle is completely up to the customer).
    
    The way we see it is that customers shouldn't want to switch away - if they do for reasons other than they literally can no longer afford the service or other unfortunate circumstances which may arise, then chances are that there is a problem with our customer service or the service itself which would need rectifying.
    
    As for the downgrade fees, these would only apply to the flat-rate connections. Data and Value-Data plan users may buy more data at any time: if they buy 100Gbytes one month and 5Gbytes the next month, this is no issue and there is no penalty.
    
24. As a broadbandforum.in member, will I receive a discount to Hayai Broadband services?
    Yes. The only rule on this is that you must be active within the community (in other words, a regular patron of IBF).
    
25. Is there any other way I can get a discount on Hayai Broadband services?
    Yes. 50 points on your user account will give you a 2mbit flat-rate connection. Points are gained by helping us generate more profit: you can help us do that by getting us more subscribers (who must mention your User ID when they subscribe).
    
    50 points does not necessarily equate to 50 new subscribers: it could be 3x 100Mbit flat-rate customers or 60x 5gb data plans, or any number in between of a variety of other plans..
    
26. Is there any kind of port blocking planned/implemented?
    Not at the moment. *MAYBE* on the unlimited plans we *MIGHT ONE DAY* do some traffic shaping on certain types of traffic (such as BitTorrent).
    
    With that in mind, I hope by the time this sort of usage would be an issue, we would actually have a lot more connectivity and much cheaper wholesale prices, and thus we wouldn't have to implement any kind of shaping, as I don't really agree with the concept.
    
27. How the heck do I pronounce "Hayai"?
    Like this... Hayai Transliteration to Devnagari (courtesy of my good lady) on Twitpic

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This information is subject to change without notice but is accurate to the best of my knowledge at this time.

Add your questions below and I would edit this list for mgcarley to answer.