Reliance Jio 4G data speeds are all over the place, and that’s not good

Reliance Jio 4G speed-tests show the company has to figure out how to manage bandwidth and latency soon.

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Reliance Jio 4G speed tests show it is all over the place. From 33 Mbps it fell to 14 Mbps.

I bought a Reliance Jio SIM and a JioFI Wi-Fi hub over a month back, lured primarily by the promise of high speeds that could potentially improve my productivity. The speeds were indeed impressive and I was happy to brag about the little black pod in my bag which was powering most of my devices. But then Mukesh Ambani opened up Reliance Jio with the offer of free voice calls.

A couple of weeks of people queuing up for Reliance Jio SIMs and those who already have it trying their best to make full use of what is a free service till the end of this year, and things have changed drastically. Over the last week the speeds have been erratic and that is putting it mildly. I first noticed this when the office Internet had gone for a toss and I turned to my JioFi to get some work done. The connection was even worse than the office broadband that had almost crawled to a halt. I could have let it go as a one-off.

But the very next day, the connection went bust when we were doing a Facebook Live, prompting us to switch back to the original network on the mobile device. One Facebook Live had to be delayed as there was no signal to be found. Another had to be abandoned because the data connection kept dropping.

Also, while testing a review phone in Noida last week, I had to wait close to 45 minutes to download the 140MB Subway Surfers game. Minutes after this ordeal, another app of round 70MB downloaded in a jiffy.

Also read: Reliance Jio 4G: Terms and conditions you need to read before

This is when I decided to study the speeds again. The results have left me more confused. Today morning, I started with an impressive 33Mpbs download speed around 8.15 am in East Delhi. By 10 am the speeds had fallen as low as 14Mbps, though there were times when it was showing more than 26Mbps. Also, there was a significant difference in the speeds shown by Ookla and the TRAI speed test apps, with the latter clocking a lower speed most of the times.

TRAI speed test results for Reliance Jio.

Yes, we are used to this inconsistency in our mobile lives in India. But wasn’t Reliance Jio supposed to be the change? Why is the world’s most “advanced mobile network” acting so erratic even before its full launch? I am so confused. And I am sure there will be a lot of other users too who are trying to take a call on whether they should go paid with the service after December 31, 2016.

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The various speeds for Reliance Jio’s JioFi device.

Reliance Jio has to really look at how it manages bandwidth and latency in the weeks to come, or they will have a serious issue getting people to convert from the free welcome kit to the paid packages they have on offer. Indians love things that come free, but when they pay they want value for the last rupee. With this inconsistency, they might feel shortchanged.

Nandagopal Rajan

Nandagopal Rajan writes on technology, gadgets and everything related. He has worked with the India Today Group and Hindustan Times. He is an alumnus of Calicut University and Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Dhenkanal. ... Read More