# Internet Service in Dubai / Abu Dhabi



## asih7262 (Jul 30, 2015)

Hey Guys, 

First post on this forum and likely the first of many more posts & questions to come soon as I have just accepted a position in Abu Dhabi starting in the fall & will be leaving NY where I have lived my entire life. 

I am beginning a position where I have been promised first priority to relocate to an office in Dubai when available or at first promotion, within my first year, as the company knows it is my preference to work & live in Dubai. That being said, I'm leaning towards finding a nice studio apartment (I'm a young single male) somewhere halfway for the meantime, this way I am not too far from either city. 

I am trying to figure what expenses I will have to cover & what I will need.. Looking at what I use now, besides regular bills, I have TV, landline phone, internet and cell service. From those, I _never_ use my TV or landline service, but I rely heavily on a high-speed internet and on my cell service with LTE high-speed data service. I am accustomed to good internet service here in in NY in my home through Verizon Fios, I get consistent 75 Mbps Down / 75 Mbps Up at all times and never any service interruptions. I need to have very fast internet as I frequently transfer large files. From what I found in older threads (2013 and older), apparently the fastest internet speeds I could get would be max of 15 Mbps Download/ 1 Mbps Upload and even for this poor level of service, I would pay double  what I currently pay at home. Can anyone chime in regards to the current internet providers, what I speeds I can expect realistically and for what price. I hope that information I read is incorrect as I would be very disappointed and unhappy with those speeds. 
Also, if anyone knows about mobile data cell service 4G/ LTE , its reliability & speeds.. I planning to use my unlocked Samsung Note 4. 

Any input is greatly appreciated. Thanks!


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## iggles (Jan 4, 2015)

I am either drunk or lost the ability to understand English.

Standard Internet Asnwers 
Answers Etislate, AED350 for elife/internet (no you cant get any cheaper)
Mobile, I pay 50 AED month on etislate for social network only (facebook & watsapp) its pay as you go. I found it cheaper to buy a phone out right then pay as you go was cheaper than a contract 
And beer cost around AED 35-40 a pint


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## asih7262 (Jul 30, 2015)

iggles said:


> I am either drunk or lost the ability to understand English.
> 
> Standard Internet Asnwers
> Answers Etislate, AED350 for elife/internet (no you cant get any cheaper)
> ...



Thanks! 
I took a look at the EtiSalat website, and it looks like the best I can get is 50/10 internet service for 599 AED a month. Bad value and speeds are not ideal but at least somewhat manageable if those speeds are actually accurate. As tech junkie, their website is full of apparent mistakes on the services & packages. This is on the page for the 50/10 service: " Up to 500 Mbps download and 50 Mbps upload" , which is I know is wrong...and also says there home internet service includes 16 gigs of hotspot service. confusing site 

It seems the only other service is Du that I will also look into.


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## newguyintown (Mar 15, 2012)

Keep in mind that you won't be able to choose an ISP at the apartment you would rent. You would have to go with whatever is there in the building. When you take up elife with Etisalat they allow free usage of their (paid) wireless hotspots spread across mostly Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

And if it's LTE/4G that you are after you most probably again would have to choose Etisalat as it seems like the speeds on their network are better than Du.


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## asih7262 (Jul 30, 2015)

newguyintown said:


> Keep in mind that you won't be able to choose an ISP at the apartment you would rent. You would have to go with whatever is there in the building. When you take up elife with Etisalat they allow free usage of their (paid) wireless hotspots spread across mostly Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
> 
> And if it's LTE/4G that you are after you most probably again would have to choose Etisalat as it seems like the speeds on their network are better than Du.


thanks for making this point, no reason to fret over it since I will have little choice in the matter, I'll have to just suck it up and try to get the best speeds offered in the building. 

Just so I know what to expect speed wise, I would love to see people's Speedtests from anyone currently living in Dubai or Abu Dhabi posted on here along w/ which plan you are subscribed to get an idea of what people are actually getting vs. what is advertised


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## Chocoholic (Oct 29, 2012)

Depending what area you live in, you'll have a choice of either Etisalat or DU. Unlikely to be able to choose between the two.

Internet here is slooooooooooooow - you definitely don't get what you pay for.


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## jgw99 (May 26, 2014)

asih7262 said:


> thanks for making this point, no reason to fret over it since I will have little choice in the matter, I'll have to just suck it up and try to get the best speeds offered in the building.
> 
> Just so I know what to expect speed wise, I would love to see people's Speedtests from anyone currently living in Dubai or Abu Dhabi posted on here along w/ which plan you are subscribed to get an idea of what people are actually getting vs. what is advertised


I have DU and do get the advertised download/upload speeds I signed up for. HOWEVER, the annoying part is the unreliability of the network especially during peak hours. I constantly get disconnected anywhere from 5-15 mins sporadically during certain times of the day throughout the week with the most common being Thursday evenings, Friday & Saturday afternoon hours. I've tried connecting via hardwire during these times to make sure it's not my router and I've confirmed losing ping packets. 

Contacted support many times. Tech comes over many times saying they've found a solution only for it to come back several wks later. I gave up. Figured they don't have any incentive to upgrade their network hubs. I don't contact them unless connection is out for longer than 30mins.


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## rsinner (Feb 3, 2009)

in Abu Dhabi there are no internet services from Du. Only Etisalat.
I have a slower connection and get the advertised speeds most of the time when I check with Speedtest.


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## Malbec (Jan 2, 2014)

Eitsalat 100Mbps down and 20Mbps up at AED 999 / month including free landline calls, movies, documentary and sports tv package (Abu Dhabi Sports and BEIN Sports which are great). Works rock solid and very fast. I am downloading large files very quickly often with a speeds of 30-40Mbps which is great. I have had no interruptions for the last 6 months I have started using this service, which I am positively surprised being on the "desert"


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## Edino (Sep 22, 2013)

asih7262 said:


> thanks for making this point, no reason to fret over it since I will have little choice in the matter, I'll have to just suck it up and try to get the best speeds offered in the building.
> 
> Just so I know what to expect speed wise, I would love to see people's Speedtests from anyone currently living in Dubai or Abu Dhabi posted on here along w/ which plan you are subscribed to get an idea of what people are actually getting vs. what is advertised


I have in our villa 94.47Mbps Down, and 20.37Mbps up, via a 100/20 Etisalat package. There is little fluctuation during the day. Since fiber was installed several years ago in our neighborhood, reliability has been 100%. In apartments it maybe less efficient; depending on the buildings infrastructure.

The low end WIFI routers that Etisalat provide with the package are rubbish, the more devices are added to the network, the more it runs out of steam. The first thing to do is put your own quality router with 1GB LAN.


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## TallyHo (Aug 21, 2011)

You've received plenty of feedback regarding internet and you've learned two things already:

1. Expensive and crappy relative to what you can get in the US.

2. Incompetent as evidenced from their website.

I primarily posted to address you real estate concerns.

1. There is nothing between Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It's desert. Most of the lands you see is privately owned by the various sheikhs and on the AD side is private woodlands. On the Dubai side you quickly hit the sprawling Jebel Ali industrial / logistics / port area, which is decidedly not residential. 

There is one exception and that is Al Ghadeer, which is about 25 minutes south of Dubai Marina and 50 minutes north of Abu Dhabi. But it is in the middle of nowhere and I mean nowhere, surrounded by dreary desert. For food, entertainment, socialisation, you will have to drive a solid 25-30 minutes to anywhere decent in Dubai. The upside is that rents are cheap (relatively!)

Since you are starting in Abu Dhabi your best bet is to find a place in Al Raha Beach, which is just off Island and about 50 minutes south of Dubai Marina, allowing you relatively easy access to either Dubai or Abu Dhabi. 

Raha is quite nice but housing is very expensive. 1-bedrooms at Al Raha are around 110-115K and go up. I'm not sure if studios are available. 

The other thing to keep in mind is that rental contracts are for the year and it's very expensive to break them midway through the year. In Dubai there's usually a two month's rental penalty to leave a contract early. Not sure about Abu Dhabi but I imagine it's the same. Rents are usually paid a year upfront or in 2-3 cheques if you're lucky, especially in Abu Dhabi. If you are young and want a flexible living situation so you can move to Dubai easily, your best options are either a hotel apartment (10K a month for a studio on average) or find a western villa/flat share where you pay monthly. 

If you still want your own place, on top of the rent you have the following expenses:

5% agent's fee - you pay the agent, not the landlord. 
5% deposit - sometimes refundable, sometimes not. 
Monthly utilities costs. If you run a lot of electronics, large screen Tvs and computers, even in a studio you're probably looking at 200 a month? 
District cooling (air conditioning) - most of the newer developments in Abu Dhabi like Raha, Reem, Reef, Saadiyat etc are district cooling, which means you pay separately for the air conditioning. There are flat charges then your actual usage. It can add up to a thousand a month on average, or even more. It all adds up. Older buildings on the island itself tend to have free air conditioning. 
Internet - 350 up to 1K a month. 



asih7262 said:


> Hey Guys,
> 
> First post on this forum and likely the first of many more posts & questions to come soon as I have just accepted a position in Abu Dhabi starting in the fall & will be leaving NY where I have lived my entire life.
> 
> ...


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## asih7262 (Jul 30, 2015)

Chocoholic said:


> Depending what area you live in, you'll have a choice of either Etisalat or DU. Unlikely to be able to choose between the two.
> 
> Internet here is slooooooooooooow - you definitely don't get what you pay for.





jgw99 said:


> I have DU and do get the advertised download/upload speeds I signed up for. HOWEVER, the annoying part is the unreliability of the network especially during peak hours. I constantly get disconnected anywhere from 5-15 mins sporadically during certain times of the day throughout the week with the most common being Thursday evenings, Friday & Saturday afternoon hours. I've tried connecting via hardwire during these times to make sure it's not my router and I've confirmed losing ping packets.
> 
> Contacted support many times. Tech comes over many times saying they've found a solution only for it to come back several wks later. I gave up. Figured they don't have any incentive to upgrade their network hubs. I don't contact them unless connection is out for longer than 30mins.


This is along the lines of what I read in older threads and raised concern. The issues of connectivity issues and network congestion during peak hours is an issue I also dealt with at one point in NY until I switched providers to one that setup a direct fiber optic connection. Night & Day difference, my internet has now worked 100% flawlessly for years. ..the old hub technology isn't sufficient. Since I can't choose my provider in UAE, I will definitely keep it it consideration when searching for an apartment that I can have a fiber optic service connected at that apartment




Malbec said:


> Eitsalat 100Mbps down and 20Mbps up at AED 999 / month including free landline calls, movies, documentary and sports tv package (Abu Dhabi Sports and BEIN Sports which are great). Works rock solid and very fast. I am downloading large files very quickly often with a speeds of 30-40Mbps which is great. I have had no interruptions for the last 6 months I have started using this service, which I am positively surprised being on the "desert"





Edino said:


> I have in our villa 94.47Mbps Down, and 20.37Mbps up, via a 100/20 Etisalat package. There is little fluctuation during the day. Since fiber was installed several years ago in our neighborhood, reliability has been 100%. In apartments it maybe less efficient; depending on the buildings infrastructure.
> 
> The low end WIFI routers that Etisalat provide with the package are rubbish, the more devices are added to the network, the more it runs out of steam. The first thing to do is put your own quality router with 1GB LAN.


Thank You for these very helpful answers! I will be looking into this 100/20 package seeing as you both have this service package, with reliable service and good speeds. Its a lot more than I want to spend, but not the end of the world.. maybe they have a cheaper 100/20 package with just internet/phone? ..I have my own high-end router I will bring with me


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## asih7262 (Jul 30, 2015)

TallyHo said:


> You've received plenty of feedback regarding internet and you've learned two things already:
> 
> 1. Expensive and crappy relative to what you can get in the US.
> 
> ...


Thank You!!! Definitely useful info.. can't believe the AC bill alone gets up to 1000, another major thing I will keep in mind when searching for an apt. I will have a lot of tech in my apartment, 3 screens and 2 high-power PCs, surround speakers,, but I will configure everything into power-saving modes to run as efficiently as possible & to stay off when I'm not home.. I am leaning towards finding a nice apartment in Dubai and dealing with the commute at first for the sake of getting settled in & not having to work worry about moving around. I've commuted for an 1 hr+ each way in the past, not a huge deal esp if temporary


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## LesFroggitts (Dec 30, 2013)

asih7262 said:


> Thank You!!! Definitely useful info.. can't believe the AC bill alone gets up to 1000, another major thing I will keep in mind when searching for an apt. I will have a lot of tech in my apartment, 3 screens and 2 high-power PCs, surround speakers,, but I will configure everything into power-saving modes to run as efficiently as possible & to stay off when I'm not home.. I am leaning towards finding a nice apartment in Dubai and dealing with the commute at first for the sake of getting settled in & not having to work worry about moving around. I've commuted for an 1 hr+ each way in the past, not a huge deal esp if temporary


Whilst you may have commuted 1+ hrs each way in the US - please remember this is the Middle East and driving standards take quite a bit of getting used to.

Average driving speed for most DXB-AUH drivers is 130-140 kph (80 - 87 mph) all year round irrespective of weather conditions. Be prepared for being persuaded to get out of the way with lots of flashing lights, horns and tail-gating ! And if you don't get out of the way they'll go round you on the emergency lane if necessary.

When I do the run from the southern outskirts of Dubai (JVC) to the corniche area of AUH it can take around 90 minutes for a 137km journey.


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## TallyHo (Aug 21, 2011)

As LesFroggits pointed out, it's not a relaxing commute. I do it several days a week and you do need to focus on the driving and never let your guard down. I average 140km/hour the entire way.

From the south end of the Marina or JLT to Corniche area in Abu Dhabi via Yas Island it's about an hour and ten or twenty minutes, depending on how quickly you get out of the Marina/JLT and off Yas to your office. It's definitely doable and tens of thousands do it daily. The good news is that there rarely is a slowdown or traffic jam between Dubai and AD, and despite doing the commute since January I've only seen a handful of accidents.

If you want to rent in Dubai, keep in mind that in addition to all the expenses I mentioned, you also have to pay a 5% housing tax (divided by 12 months), which is included with your monthly dewa bill. 

The good news is that most buildings in the Marina are not district cooling, meaning the AC is included with the rent. The main exception is JBR. JLT is mostly district cooling with one or two exceptions, but JLT rents are cheaper so it ultimately comes out to about the same.

You will get more for your money, housing-wise, in Dubai than in Abu Dhabi. There's no denying Dubai is a much more attractive place to live with many more amenities, but just be aware that the commute can be wearisome. 



asih7262 said:


> Thank You!!! Definitely useful info.. can't believe the AC bill alone gets up to 1000, another major thing I will keep in mind when searching for an apt. I will have a lot of tech in my apartment, 3 screens and 2 high-power PCs, surround speakers,, but I will configure everything into power-saving modes to run as efficiently as possible & to stay off when I'm not home.. I am leaning towards finding a nice apartment in Dubai and dealing with the commute at first for the sake of getting settled in & not having to work worry about moving around. I've commuted for an 1 hr+ each way in the past, not a huge deal esp if temporary


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## 200256 (Jan 16, 2013)

DU 100/10 - with tv is 810AED/month, my experience till now is that it is reliable and I do get advertised speeds. However 6 months ago they changed whole building ONT from Ericsson to Alcatel Lucent and as a result you don't get public IP on your router but a private one

for mobile internet, Etisalat all the way... du is pretty crap in Dubai...


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## imac (Oct 14, 2012)

i was told the reason why etisalat higher value packages are better at being more stable is the traffic gets routed differently than the "budget" packages over lower latency switches... 

the way it was explained to me (and i do not kid) is, its like when you flush a toilet full of poop... the solid stuff goes down the hole right away, where the fragmented stuff tends to spin around for a bit...


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## twowheelsgood (Feb 21, 2013)

Don't believe everything you are told 

Especially in Dubai.


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