Configuring DSL Modem for Airtel Broadband

Airtel Broadband DSL modem configuration is similar to BSNL one. If you already have a modem you can configure it with the following the settings. I had a BSNL DSL wireless router/modem, which I was able to configure successfully for Airtel Broadband connection.
1. Login to your modem/DSL router typing 192.168.1.1 on your browser with username : admin (default password would be password)

2. Go to WAN(Wide Area Network) Setup and click edit on the first entry in the table with settings Vpi/Vci as 1/32 with protocol PPPoE (If you are using BSNL modem, Vpi/Vci would be 0/35 - change that to 1/32)

How to change DNS Server Configuration in BSNL Broadband?

If you are using a BSNL broadband connection, you may have experienced problems in hostnames not resolving into IP Addresses. You thus, end up seeing page requested is not being loaded. Problem is with the default BSNL DNS servers, which are often unresponsive.

To resolve these DNS related issues, just change the DNS configuration in your BSNL modem/DSL router.

1. Login to your BSNL modem/DSL router typing 192.168.1.1, which is BSNL DSL router IP, on your browser and username : admin.
2. DSL router configuration window opens. Click on DNS in Advanced Setup menu on left hand side.You get DNS Server Configuration window. There are Primary and Secondary DNS Servers configured. Change these to Open DNS servers : Primary - 208.67.222.222 and Secondary - 208.67.220.220. To know more about open DNS visit - opendns.com3.Click on save and Reboot the modem/DSL router for the changes to take effect.

P.S: The procedure explained above for resolving DNS server related issue, is the one I followed to resolve it in UTStarcom ADSL 2+ Modem/Router, Model No : WA3002G4 got from BSNL.

BSNL DSL Router Username Reset Problem

If you are using BSNL broadband connection then you may have experienced a peculiar problem of username in the modem settings getting reset to 'multiplay' for unknown reasons. Due to this, Internet LED in the BSNL modem keeps blinking and you are unable to access the net. This shows up as Authentication Failure in PPPoE protocol status. To see the status of PPPoE protocol status and resolve this issue,

1. Login to your BSNL modem/DSL router typing 192.168.1.1, which is BSNL DSL router IP, on your browser and username : admin.
2. DSL router configuration window opens. On the left hand side of the window, click on WAN in Device Info menu. Check the first row(VPI/VCI - 0/35, Protocol - PPPoE) of the WAN info table displayed. Below image shows the status in normal working scenario. If the username is reset, Status column in this row displays Authentication Failure.
3. To resolve this error, click WAN in Advanced Setup menu. WAN Setup table appears. First row in this table displays settings for PPPoE(VPI/VCI - 0/35), click Edit at the end of this row.Clicking edit takes you to ATM PVC Configuration window, where you need to make sure that the value of VPI is 0 and of VCI is 35 and UBR Without PCR is selected as Service Category. Click Next button after the changes(if any).
4. After clicking next, Connection Type window appears. Make sure that PPP over Ethernet radio button is selected and LLC/SNAP-BRIDGING is selected as Encapsulation Mode. Click next.
5. After clicking next, PPP Username and Password window is displayed. Enter your Username provided during installation of the BSNL broadband connection by BSNL guys and password. Enter PPPoE Service Name as dataone and select AUTO as Authentication Method. Check Bridge PPPoE Frames Between WAN and Local Ports(Default Method). Click next after that.
6. Network and Adress Translation Settings window appears. Make sure Enable NAT and Enable Firewall check boxes are ticked. In Enable IGMP Multicast and WAN Service, see that Enable WAN Service check box is ticked. Enter Service Name as pppoe_0_35_1. Click next.
7. WAN Setup - Summary window appears which gives the summary of settings you just made. Click on save which opens a WAN Setup window(2nd image from top in this post), where in you need to click the Save/Reboot button for your changes to be reflected. Once the modem/DSL router comes up, you should be able to see Internet LED on that is stable and is not blinking. Now, you should be able to access the net.

Note: This problem was showing as Authentication Failure in WAN status previously. Recently, I observed even though WAN status showed PPPoE protocol status as Up, I was not able to access the internet. I found that username had been reset to multiplay and after changing the username, I was able to surf.

P.S: The procedure explained above to resolve BSNL DSL Router Username Reset problem, is the one I follow to resolve it in UTStarcom ADSL 2+ Modem/Router, Model No : WA3002G4 got from BSNL. I am not sure whether the same things apply to other DSL Router models provided by BSNL. Also, note that after change the username from 'Multiplay' to yours and reboot the modem, Wireless settings would have been reset, which need to be setup again.

Update 10/05/2009 : Fellow blogger Manoj has informed that the same problem occurs in UTSTARCOM UT300R2U modem(Type I), provided by BSNL.

Thanks
Raveesh

Gmail now in Kannada, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam

Gmail is the latest addition to the Google's services(Google Search, Orkut, Blogger), which provides transliteration option for Indian Languages. Now you can compose your mails in Kannada, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu or Malayalam by clicking icon showing an Indian language character in formatting options bar.
To enable this feature,
1.Go to Settings, at the top of gmail window
2.Go to General tab
3.Check the Enable Transliteration checkbox
4.Select the default transliteration language
Problem with Google Transliteration: Google transliteration has some inherent flaws in its coversion of English letters to Indic. What I have observed when typing Kannada using Google transliteration is that, there is inconsistent transliteration of vowels and consonants of Indian languages written in English script. Following are the examples to illustrate the problem in Google transliteration. I have compared this with the transliteration provided by Baraha software.

1.Google - nenapidi - ನೆನಪಿಡಿ
Baraha - nenapidi - ನೆನಪಿಡಿ
Here 'i' is interpreted as 'ಇ' by Google transliteration

But in another case,
Google - ramaNiya - ರಮಣೀಯ
Baraha - ramaNiya - ರಮಣಿಯ
Here 'i' is interpreted as 'ಈ' by Google transliteration
But in both cases, Baraha interprets 'i' as 'ಇ'

2.Google - kaDDaaya - ಕಡ್ಡಾಯ
Baraha - kaDDaaya - ಕಡ್ಡಾಯ
Here 'D' is interpreted as 'ಡ' by Google transliteration

But in other situation,
Google - ODu - ಓದು
Baraha - ODu - ಓಡು
Here 'D' is interpreted as 'ದ' by Google transliteration
But in both cases, Baraha interprets 'D' as 'ಡ'

Note that in Google transliteration you can change to the required vowel/consonant when you do a backspace on the word just transliterated. This time google provides pop down list of optional transliterated words to choose from. But doing this most of the time can be a tedious task and sometimes, you dont get the word you are looking for in the pop down list. On the positive note, one can notice that google transliteration is trying to provide a transliterated word, which is most commonly used or which is in the dictionary of that language. This is similar to the technique which is commonly used in typing messages in mobile phones(known as the iTap or T9 word prediction technology). But unlike English, in case of Indian languages what you speak is what you write. There is no difference between the way you write and pronounce as in English. So, I still prefer baraha to type in Kannada and then paste the unicode text in the applications, I am using.

Google, are you listening?

Raveesh