sameenak
Hello,
We booked tickets to visit Lebanon for a month, but my husband has to work online for a few days (10-15) while we are there. I didn't think it would be too hard to find high speed internet access, either through a 3G network or in a hotel. I was wrong. So I am turning to this forum for help.
We will stay in Beirut a few days, but mostly we'll be in Nabatieh province (in a little town called Arab Salim) for a few weeks. My husband *has* to have internet access that is fast enough for him to join his webconferences for work. He also uses VOIP.
I saw the forum posts about the VOIP/skype workaround and the lack of 3G (boo!). My friend in Arab Salim currently has NO internet at her house. We were going ask her to start it up, but I don't think it will be fast or reliable enough to justify the cost. Also, it seems like a big process to install it just for a couple of weeks of access. I don't know who the ISP would be, or what choices I'd have. I could ask her, if you guys advise that it would be worth the trouble. From what i understand, she has scheduled power outages that we'd also have to work around, so this is not looking like a good option to me.
Plan A: I guess what I'm ideally looking for is for someone out there to tell me where I can purchase fast and reliable high speed internet, close to Arab Salim. My husband would need 8 hours of access a day, from 3 pm to midnight.
Plan B is to find a good hotel in Bierut and try to pay for internet access only without having to pay for a room, but I am reading in hotel reviews that many hotels don't have reliable high speed. But I'd like your recommendations on hotels or cybercafes (though it will be hard for him to conduct his meeting in a public cybercafe).
Plan C is... husband doesn't get to come to Lebanon.
So any ideas? Any tips/information?
elchebib
To tell you the truth. Plan C is very plausible and I would personally go with that option. If he needs high speed internet access for his teleconferences for all this extended time, I would personally go with plan C.
However, if in the case he wants to come to Lebanon, I would suggest getting any of the Mobi/Wigo/Pesco connections from any of the ISPs (same level of service with same prices). But keep in mind that they are relatively expensive and with your husband requiring that much of time on the internet, the qoutas of these connections is small and you'll be paying even more.
You can check the different sites of the ISPs for their offers but keep in mind that even with these options, video conferences (personal experience with skype), is horrendous to say the least.
Samer99
In general there are no fast reliable Internet connection in Lebanon... but there is a solution if you need the connection only for few days... Some universities (notably the AUB), have high speed wireless Internet... but you have to be able to enter its campus first, and have a password second... that is easy, if you know any registered student, then he/she could help you doing that...
I hope that other members suggest more solutions, other than plan C :(
MrClass
try mobi. but expect to pay large for such slow connections and tiny quotas. mobi allows the user to roam around without the need of a landline. the account creation is fast, and does not require months like DSL. I recommend you go with lynx's mobi service.
if your husband requires bandwidth more than 1Mbps, then plan C please.
nuclearcat
Skype most probably will work, audio you can find good ISP who can run it stable, video - not sure will work properly. It is matter also WHEN he need to be online. From 6pm to 24:00 usually it is peak time, quality of most of ISP's terrible, also it is bad at time when some ISP's introduce double speed/unlimited night.
VoIP as SIP/H323 most probably is blocked(by Ogero, main telecom here) and will not work reliable.
Don't rely on hotels, they dont have proper QoS installed and internet quality usually poor there. As guys suggested - Mobi, Wigo, i-Fly maybe will be solution for you. Note - you need to find place with good reception.
Or find furnished apartment with Sodetel,Ogero or Cyberia DSL for example, with some it will be good choice. But not sure such offers exist in Lebanon.
Let him check also amounts of bandwidth he use, it matters. If you post numbers (consumption per day, and peak consumption by speed) i can give more suggestions.
ranibalaa
I Skype and FaceTime regularly on a 512kbps connection from IDM and yesterday i had a ping of 82~,and video and audio is very clear. I would go with 1mbps just to be safe.
sameenak
Thank you all! I really do appreciate the quick and detailed replies. I'll look into mobi, find out more about how much bandwith he needs, and cast around for an AUB student. The furnished apartment is also a good idea.
So, anyone know any student at AUB? :)
I guess plan C is Lebanon becomes a stopover (since we already bought tickets there) and we'll buy tickets to a country that does have highspeed internet.
sameenak
One more quick question - What cities in the coverage list are close to Arab Saleem?
http://www.mobi.tm/covered_areas
Also, it's strangely convenient that the prices are posted in USD - is that something I should expect in Lebanon?
MrClass
lol. Lebanon uses both USD and LBP. Everything is posted in USD because if our currency goes down, the product value stays the same. Good for the merchants, bad for the economy.
Samer99
sameenak wroteOne more quick question - What cities in the coverage list are close to Arab Saleem?
http://www.mobi.tm/covered_areas
Also, it's strangely convenient that the prices are posted in USD - is that something I should expect in Lebanon?
It seams that you haven not visited Lebanon for a long time...
USD dollars are used normally in Lebanon, just like the Lebanese pounds, and everybody accepts it (restaurants, supermarkets, shops...).
Regarding the relative position of Arab Saleem to the coverage areas, then you can check
Google Maps... Arabs Saleem is located next to Nabatieh, start scaning from there :P
sameenak
Thanks, MrClass
Samer99 - Never been to Lebanon. We're not Lebanese. Just coming to visit a friend. I looked at the map, but it's hard for me to know which city will be easy for us to drive to. I think it's a mountainous area where we are going to be. Also, the spellings can change from the list to the map, and I don't always make the connection. But I'll send the coverage list to my friend and see what she thinks.
I'm optimistic about mobi working for us. I had no idea wireless broadband was an option. So now we just need to ask my friend in Arab Saleem to purchase the necessary cards/dongles, and maybe an antennae to improve the speed, and then we need to locate the closest covered area.
Thanks so much to all of you guys!!
xterm
sameenak wroteI'm optimistic about mobi working for us. I had no idea wireless broadband was an option. So now we just need to ask my friend in Arab Saleem to purchase the necessary cards/dongles, and maybe an antennae to improve the speed, and then we need to locate the closest covered...
I think the first thing your friend needs to do is contact the ISP and inquire about whether there's a decent signal in Arab Saleem. Possibly even request a test prior to purchasing the items.
Either way, we hope it works out for you and for your husband.
Despite all the problems, Lebanon is a beautiful country with beautiful people. *wink*
sameenak
I'm pretty sure there will be no signal in Arab Saleem. The coverage list doesn't mention it, so I'm not holding out any hope. That's what I'm looking for the next closest covered city. Even then, I need to locate an office or room or coffeeshop in the covered city. I don't think my friend has a computer. We'll have to stop at a mobi reseller office in Beirut after we land to test and buy the hardware.
Next time we'll learn our lesson: no work, no computers, only vacation!
Bij
I am an AUB student. The best speed I ever got was 1.2 MB/s, Summer term, at 8 AM, in the engineering labs room right next to the server room (wired connection) , all the labs were empty and am sure no one would have already logged in. On the upside I downloaded BackTrack 4 in an hour ! I was practically using the whole AUB internet connection for myself.
Anyway VOIP is blocked in AUB, unless you know someone who knows someone who knows the top heads in the Computer and Networking Services. There is a network called "AUBguests", I don't know on what bases they give accounts, usually it's again only for the higher-ups, naming it "guests" just to hide it or something. It has no proxy (direct internet connection).
[off topic]I got to know about it when the second person in the CNS (my boss in my student work) was using whatsapp, while we as students can only receive push notifications.
sameenak, like what the guys said about DSL, has low latencies, slow speeds, you know the usual "bad internet" drill. Maybe it will work, but unfortunately, like us, don't get your hopes up :P We all hope that someday you will visit us again when we get our status as "a hub between the east and the west" back. Enjoy your stay !
ma7
Hi Sameenak,
here's Arabsalim on google maps:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Arab+Salim,+Nabatieh,+Nabatieh+Governorate,+Lebanon&aq=0&sll=33.410738,35.493479&sspn=0.067778,0.132093&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Arab+Salim,+Nabatieh,+Nabatieh+Governorate,+Lebanon&ll=33.429006,35.516396&spn=0.067764,0.132093&t=h&z=14
And go for Wigo, it's the only provider that cover ArabSalim:
http://corp.terra.net.lb/Dial-Up/Wigo/regionofcoverageNabatieh.asp
If your husband will be using skype, wigo 512kb would do the job...
if you need more help pls drop me a pm.
Enjoy
your stay:
http://www.facebook.com/3arabsaleem
Regards,
ma7
