BSNL Broadband Setup (Even Corporate VPN Access) - Step By Step Instructions

As usual, i had to struggle through this one too. Setting up BSNL broadband for my pals in India was a nightmare. No Documentation, no setup documents and no CUSTOMER SERVICE at all. Two technicians come and setup the phone line. Then couple days later two more come and give you the BSNL userid and password alongwith portal id without telling you what to do with them. No fault of there bu they are not even trained to do anything. Then through your contacts and people who you know who use BSNL broadband, you atleats try to setup and see if it will work but no luck.. After spending couple of days on internert googling instructions and issues people have faced, i finally figured it out and its setup and running. Below are some of the key things that are more than enough for you to setup BSNL Broadband.

My Modem is the TYPE IV Modem from ITI (WiFi enabled)

PPPOE (configured on the MODEM directly) is the way to go with ADSL setup of broadband. You will find several posts online talking about using the BRIDGE connection but take my word for it and using PPPOE is better and simpler and works with devices which have no way of dailing a seperate PPPOE connection from the device like WiFi enabled phones, iPod Touch etc.

• Power up the modem and scan for wireless on your computer. You should find "ITI" SSID being broadcast by the modem. If not just use an ethernet cable and connect it directly to your computer.

• Your Ethernet connection/Wireless Connection most probably will connect but will show "Limited Connectivity". Don't worry.

• Just go to the network settings of the Ethernet or Wireless and under "Internet Protocol TCP/IP" properties you will have to manually specify the following details and repair your connection if system doesn't do it automatically.

• The "Limited Connectivity" status on the network connection will go away with above setup.
• Now open your browser and type in "http://192.168.1.1/main.html".
• Go to "Advanced Setup > WAN"
• On the Right pane you will most probably see a service "ppoe_0_35". If not click the ADD Button. If the service exists click the EDIT Button.
• Just Specify VPI/VCI from 0 to 35 and select all the default settings on clicking next. When you are on the USER-PASSWORD page enter your BSNL User ID and PASSWORD.
• Click the Final NEXT and SAVE followed by a SAVE/REBOOT.
• The Modem will reboot. Don't touch anything till the modem reboots and the screen will automatically refresh with the new setting.
• Try repairing the network connection and then open any webpage now from the browser. It should work now.
• I have tried corporate CISCO VPNs and they also work with this setup.
• This setup avoids setting up a PPPOE dialer from your computer and will allow you to use the conection from any handheld device as well.

I hope this post will help many who are stuck the same way i was. Send me a message if you are stuck and my post doesn't help..