Testing Delhi: Does the Wi-Fi around CP work? We find out

Full signals but no real connectivity, this is what Connaught Place’s free Wi-Fi service had to promise

In 2014, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) had started a free Wi-Fi service in a few places in Dlehi, including Connaught Place. The business hub which is one of the most popular shopping places in the Capital with Indians and foreigners alike. Cut to 2018, we went around CP to test the Wi-Fi service. When you look for the network, the two options that appear on the screen are: The Tata Docomo Wi Fi (which was offered initially and is referred to as ‘pre-existing’ service by Delhiites) and NDMCConnect WI FI. But does either work? If yes, in which blocks? Here’s what we found out:

We tested the free Wi-Fi service around Connaught Place. (Gokul V.Shine/HT Photo)

N- BLOCK

We tested the Wi-Fi around Connaught Place. (Gokul V.Shine/HT Photo)

Pre-existing service: Didn’t work

NDMCConnect: Didn’t Work

So we tried connecting to the pre-existing service, and were impressed with the full bars. But that was all there was to it. We were able to connect but were not able to use any service that requires an internet connection. To make things worse, the network quickly times out too. The NDMC smart poles connected easily too, and had great range to them, but were equally disappointing.

D-BLOCK

We tested the Wi-Fi around Connaught Place. (Gokul V.Shine/HT Photo)

Pre-existing service: Didn’t work

NDMCConnect: Didn’t Work

The story at D-Block was similar, but here the pre-existing Wi-Fi connection was extremely weak too (the bars were constantly flucatuating between a full connection and no connection). The smart pole here finally did load the google home page, but within a minute we realised that it had actually disconnected and the mobile was using its network provided 4G connection for browsing.

B-BLOCK

We tested the Wi-Fi around Connaught Place. (Gokul V.Shine/HT Photo)

Pre-existing service: Didn’t work

NDMCConnect: Didn’t Work

Connections here were still at maximum strength, but could barely even load the sign-in page. We had realised by now that the Wi-Fi in Connaught Place is just a cosmetic thing to show off. Another issue we faced here was that the device started shuffling between the two Wi-Fi services since it couldn’t acquire a single working connection.

CENTRAL PARK

We tested the Wi-Fi around Connaught Place. (Gokul V.Shine/HT Photo)

Pre-existing service: Didn’t work

NDMCConnect: Didn’t Work

Having tested most blocks, we tried to access the Wi-fi at one of Connaught Place’s busiest selfie spots, Central Park. The pre-existing connection was weak here and had the same old performance issues. But the NDMC connection despite being strong took quite some time to connect properly and we once again met with the disappointing ‘No Internet Connection’ screen.

Test Results:

The results for this test were pretty obvious. Connaught Place’s Wi-Fi cannot be depended on (at least for now). All we can do is wait for the authorities to fix the issues with both connections so that we can finally browse using the service. If we were giving it ratings, it would be a 1 out of 10, and that point too is only for having the right things in place for the connection (and for the excellent marketing done for it).

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