Working from home is very much the reality for many and may be so for many months to come. Yet, this can only be successful if you actually get the job done. For that, a reliable and fast internet line is necessary—for all those Zoom calls, video meetings, file transfers and more, that may be a part of your regular workflow. At the same time, you need the fast internet line to stay sane as well once work is done, with Netflix and video streaming in general. The requirement for a fast and reliable internet line for your home is now right up there with essentials such as food, water and groceries. Airtel Xstream broadband is one of the few internet service providers in India who offers up to 1Gbps speeds on home broadband lines, some of the others include Reliance Jio Fiber, ACT Giga and Spectra. But that isn’t the only feather in the cap of the Airtel Xstream, at a time when users are relying heavily on their home broadband lines to get work done and stream some TV shows and movies on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ Hotstar, to name a few. Airtel has simplified the broadband plans they have on offer, and also have an add-on that will get you unlimited data usage every month—which means a mammoth fair usage policy (FUP) of 3333GB per month.
The highlight of Airtel Xstream broadband plans is that they are pretty much defined by the speed on offer, in a way, once you factor in the unlimited data add-on that is available. Airtel is competing with Reliance JioFiber, ACT Broadband, Spectra and TataSky Broadband to name a few, in the high-speed home broadband stakes in the country. We try to simplify which broadband plan may work best for you, depending on the speeds on offer and what your workflow and entertainment routine may need.
Is 100Mbps enough for you?
The entry-spec Basic plan is priced at Rs 799 per month and includes 150GB of data per month, at a speed of up to 100Mbps. There is also a bundled landline telephone with unlimited local and STD calls, as well as the Airtel Thanks benefit that includes the Airtel Xstream video streaming subscription. Add the Rs 299 unlimited data top-up and this becomes a 100Mbps unlimited plan for Rs 1098 per month. That would just be ideal for most homes.
What is Airtel’s definition of unlimited data?
As with most other internet service providers (ISPs) in India, the broadband plan that you subscribe to comes with what is known as a Fair Usage Policy (FUP). This means you get a pre-defined amount of data at or close to the maximum advertised speeds for your plan. Once that data amount is exhausted, your internet speeds reduce significantly till the end of the billing cycle.
Now, Airtel is offering what it calls the Rs 299 unlimited data top-up, which extends the FUP of your Airtel Xstream broadband plan to 3333GB per month.
Do you want even faster speeds?
The next Airtel Xstream broadband plan is called Entertainment, and this is priced at Rs 999 per month. What you get is 300GB of data per month, at a speed of up to 200Mbps. The Airtel Thanks benefits with this plan include subscription to the Airtel Xstream Premium content, access to Zee 5 Premium content and one year of Amazon Prime subscription. The landline phone also offers unlimited local and STD voice calls. This is a big change compared to the same subscription plan earlier—it was priced at Rs 1,099 at the time, with maximum speeds capped at 100Mbps.
If you feel that 300GB per month is a tad too less for your usage scenario, adding the Rs 299 unlimited data top-up makes it a 200Mbps unlimited plan for Rs 1298 per month.
What if You Hold 4K HDR video streaming close to your heart?
The Airtel Xstream Premium plan is priced at Rs 1,499 per month. This bundles 500GB data per month at maximum speeds of 300Mbps. The Airtel Thanks benefits with this plan include subscription to the Airtel Xstream Premium content, access to Zee 5 Premium content and one year of Amazon Prime subscription. The landline phone also offers unlimited local and STD calls. To be honest, 300Mbps is quite enticing and believe us when we say this—you will get through the 500GB cap much sooner than your monthly billing cycle closes.
It is important that you add the Rs 299 unlimited data top-up if you intend to stream Ultra HD 4K content on streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Video. That means, you pay Rs 1798 for what is an unlimited 300Mbps connection at home.
Really want to be a part of the 1Gbps club?
At the top of the pyramid sits the VIP plan which is priced at Rs 3,999 per month. What you get with the Airtel Xstream VIP broadband plan is unlimited data usage every month with speeds up to 1Gbps. This plan makes Airtel one of the few broadband service providers in India to offers a 1Gbps broadband plan. The Airtel Thanks benefits with this plan include subscription to the Airtel Xstream Premium content, access to Zee 5 Premium content and a one-year subscription for Amazon Prime. The landline phone also offers unlimited local and STD calls. There is no need for the Rs 299 unlimited data top-up here, because this plan anyway offers unlimited data usage.
As things stand, Reliance Jio, Spectra and ACT Broadband are the few other internet service providers that offer 1Gbps broadband plans for home users in India.
Can existing Airtel Xstream users Get Unlimited Data?
Existing users can add the Rs 299 unlimited data top-up to their broadband connection via the Airtel website or the Airtel Thanks app (free for Android and iPhones), or also choose any of these Airtel Xstream broadband plans if they are on any of the older bill plans.
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