# Bills, internet quality, cost etc



## Guest (Feb 10, 2012)

Hi, can anyone tell me how much Dubai internet is, for unlimited usage per month and possibly the best provider? I've been told that the quality of connection isn't very good generally, is this the case? Other bills I'm expecting are electric & water, what are the others? I've been told I would need to buy a tv, what are the options for this? Do people rent or buy TV's and is there any sort of licence like uk? Any info appreciated


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## RoxiRocks (Aug 16, 2011)

michaelsco said:


> Hi, can anyone tell me how much Dubai internet is, for unlimited usage per month and possibly the best provider? I've been told that the quality of connection isn't very good generally, is this the case? Other bills I'm expecting are electric & water, what are the others? I've been told I would need to buy a tv, what are the options for this? Do people rent or buy TV's and is there any sort of licence like uk? Any info appreciated


Just had Du 8Mb unlimited with phone line and basic TV package installed. It costs around 280AED a month. I am very happy with the internet as I did speed test and it registered 10 sometimes 11Mb. Very helpful customer service too.
That is my experience of Du. I am sure there will be others with horror stories.


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## Guest (Feb 10, 2012)

Great, thanks for the info, thinking about bringing the Xbox when I move so if the connections good enough can hopefully get online with it


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## fcjb1970 (Apr 30, 2010)

It depends where you live what service you can get and also the quality. In any of the newer areas of Dubai they will be serviced by du fiber optics.

Plans


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## rustysmart (Aug 14, 2011)

I read about etisalat's 'elife' packages which looked clear and easy (tv, phone and broadband) which would be good to set up - how does this compare to du's packages? Is one provider any better than the other? My wife is keen to find out if eastenders is available (cough cough!)


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## Pete C (Oct 11, 2011)

Etisilat elife is crap, Would look at other options, seen Easteneders but think its a few months behind. Worth checking if DU services your area


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## Jynxgirl (Nov 27, 2009)

You dont have a choice. Either you are serviced by du or you are serviced by etisilat. They make it seem like there are two companies... but scrape the surface and they are not so different. My 'package' deal that has internet, phone and cable (du) is subpar. The phone has never worked. Have had them out a few times but given up. My cable didnt work for a long time and it took an act of god to get them to actually give me a new box that was needed to make it work, and they knew that I hadnt been able to use the cable for months on end, but still.... they wouldnt give me another box. My internet used to be 256kb and I got 14 to 19kb on average for a year and a half. Du's response was there was a known issue and they were working on it.... FOR A YEAR AND A HALF!!!! 

Just get the fastest internet and stream from home. Less frustrating.


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## fcjb1970 (Apr 30, 2010)

Internet quality all depends on where you live. If you are in the newer parts of Dubai than your broadband will be serviced by du fiber optics and you will have good quality service. The thing is that everything in this country goes through a proxy server and filter so there is a built in bottleneck


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## Guest (Feb 20, 2012)

Getting away from eastenders is one of the greatest perks of moving to Dubai 

It would be nice to have some British tv there if possible, I don't know enough about tv/Internet packages yet but hopefully it won't take to long to set up. I need Xbox live up and running


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## rustysmart (Aug 14, 2011)

michaelsco said:


> Getting away from eastenders is one of the greatest perks of moving to Dubai
> 
> It would be nice to have some British tv there if possible, I don't know enough about tv/Internet packages yet but hopefully it won't take to long to set up. I need Xbox live up and running


We were told yesterday that once visa is through, internet and everything else can be signed for within days - although not sure about installation. Not sure I can survive without internet! 

Quite a few different TV packages on offer. Whilst we were in Dubai last year there was a good western channel that had popular programmes on along with a film channel by the same broadcaster - for the life of me though I can't remember the name of it!!


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## raptor1090 (Feb 21, 2012)

Du and Etisalat basically offer exactly the same packages in terms of features, with Du being the cheaper option. I've been a user of Etisalat until Du came along and have experienced the service of both. Regarding the internet, Du is far better in terms of connectivity / speed / latency as compared to Etisalat and IMO the variation of internet speeds is not much within different areas of Dubai. I don't care much for landline and don't use it as much, so can't really comment on the difference but it shouldn't be a major issue I would assume. The only downside with Du is that their customer service is very poor and in comparison Etisalat is better, but for the major part that isn't a issue as you don't really need customer support so often that poor service will make much of a difference. You're saving a considerable amount yet getting a better product with Du.


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## raptor1090 (Feb 21, 2012)

Jynxgirl said:


> My internet used to be 256kb and I got 14 to 19kb on average for a year and a half. Du's response was there was a known issue and they were working on it.... FOR A YEAR AND A HALF!!!!.


keep in mind that when the provider says 256kbps, that's 256 kilo *bits* per second. 8bits make a byte, so 256kbps is 32kBps (kilo *bytes* ps). But internet connectivity is always at least 5-10% lower than the capacity so 256kbps is actually more like 200kbps. It is normal for this to be the case. You obviously had a DSL connection which is rubbish even with Etisalat. In my comparison of Du and Etisalat fiber optic connections, for a 16mbps connection, Dus' actual speed averaged just above 15mbps while Etisalats' averaged about 14mbps when tested on the same random speed test servers. And I've found it not to be unique to my connection(s).


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## ibkiss (Feb 1, 2012)

raptor1090 said:


> Du and Etisalat basically offer exactly the same packages in terms of features, with Du being the cheaper option. I've been a user of Etisalat until Du came along and have experienced the service of both. Regarding the internet, Du is far better in terms of connectivity / speed / latency as compared to Etisalat and IMO the variation of internet speeds is not much within different areas of Dubai. I don't care much for landline and don't use it as much, so can't really comment on the difference but it shouldn't be a major issue I would assume. The only downside with Du is that their customer service is very poor and in comparison Etisalat is better, but for the major part that isn't a issue as you don't really need customer support so often that poor service will make much of a difference. You're saving a considerable amount yet getting a better product with Du.


Isn't internet of Du only available in freehold areas


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## Jynxgirl (Nov 27, 2009)

No.


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## ibkiss (Feb 1, 2012)

then which other areas ..


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## Jynxgirl (Nov 27, 2009)

Discovery Ghetto your only 'choice' is Du. 

Is it really a different company? 

I figure some guy had an extra son, and the irresponsible son got tired of doing nothing and was getting older, so the dad said to the others, I need a job for my other son, equally as important. 

So they sat around smoking shisha and pondered what to do. 

Ahhhaaaaa... lets make a duplicate company and to make it easy on them both, lets just set them up exactly the same and offer pretty much the same package. Hire similarly incompetent people, paying them peanuts and let the people decide what is better.

But they didnt know how to grow the new company. So they said, lets force certain areas/buildings to be serviced by either company. Inshalla, the new company thus will grow. 

And then once they did, someone said, hum, at least make the prices so appears isnt just a shell company that is set up to just mimic the other. And so it was done. 

And the father said, looks like there is a choice to the outside world, and uae has one less monopoly. And both my sons have respectable jobs 

Alhamdulillah!


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