What’s Dhiraagu’s best “Unlimited” ADSL Broadband Package?

If you are the kind of person who watches Youtube all the time, download movies and software, and is heavily dependent on the internet for your work, then limited internet packages are definitely not for you. I’m saying this from experience since previously I used to have a Dhiraagu 3G modem with a 2GB plan and each month the bill would run in excess of the original MVR 250 into around MVR 1,000 or more. Since then I have switched to one of Dhiraagu’s Pro “Unlimited” ADSL Broadband packages.

Notice how I put the word “Unlimited” inside quotes. The problem with Dhiraagu’s Unlimited packages is that they come with a huge catch. It might not be apparent at first from their ads but once you read the fine script it becomes clear that these so called “Unlimited” packages have a “Fair Usage Allowance” that greatly limits their potential.

Currently there are 4 Pro Unlimited packages from Dhiraagu which are 1M, 2Ms and the recently introduced 3M and 5M packages (You can find out more about them here and here). Each of these packages have Fair Usage Allowances that when used up, the connection speed gets throttled to 128kbps! Usually this turns out to be even lower and actual connection speeds are around 50-70 kbps when throttled. That’s around the same as dial up speeds!

Anyway after seeing Dhiraagu’s post on their Facebook page, announcing their new 3M and 5M Unlimited packages, I thought of comparing all the pro packages to see if the new plans were worth the extra money. Here is what I came up with.

So if you are looking for the best speed for the lowest cost, the 5M package is the best. If what you want is the highest Fair Usage Allowance for the least Rufiyaa, the 2M package is the best. But in real world usage the FUA is going to matter more than the highest maximum speed. After all you don’t want your connection to be throttled in the middle of the month and be left with 90’s quality internet.

With the higher speed packages you’ll definitely be downloading more and consequently these packages will run out faster even with their higher FUAs. So it doesn’t make sense to get the 5M package since (if you are like me) you’ll most probably be left with a 128kbps connection after just a week. The most dumb package here is the 3M one. It gives you just 10GB more for the extra MVR 200. If you compare the 1M and 2M packages, you are getting 25GBs  for the extra MVR 200. So whoever at Dhiraagu that came up with the 3M plan is pretty stupid (or cunning).

Personally I’m using the 2M plan. The 2Mbps speed suites me when it’s running well and if I’m cautious about my usage I can make it last all month (but that has happened only twice in the nearly 12 months of using it). More often I would run out of my allowance around 20th or the 25th of the month.

So my recommendation is to go for the 2M package and completely ignore the 3M and 5M packages. If you are a moderate user and you are content with 1Mbps speeds, then you can go for the 1M package. If you want a true unlimited high speed package with no catches, the only option currently in the Maldives that I’m aware of is ROL’s Mega Pipe 1Mbps Multi Package for MVR 1,200 per month.