WiMAX Internet in Kuwait
I got an email with details of a new Internet provider in Kuwait that’s providing WiMAX which is basically a wireless internet connection. The provider is called Mada and the email said they’re offering a speed of 10Mbps with no download limit and for just KD60 for 3 months.
So I just called them up and this is what I got from the salesman:
- Cost is KD20 per month
- Speed is 10Mbps
- If you subscribe for 3 months you get the WiMAX router for free
- There is a download cap of 20GB a month BUT, if you sign up within the first week starting today then you won’t have a download cap
- You can sign up from their booths at either Marina Mall or Mohallab
I am going to pass by tonight and see if I can get more details. I am curious to know if I sign up today will I have no cap as long as I renew or just for the 3 months. The download cap would be a deal breaker for me. You can call them up on 1801888 or visit their website [Here]
Thank you very much Mark for making a separate post for that. I will be waiting for more details from you tonight then. Thank you and Good luck !!
Calling right now ?
Waiting for more details, could you ask how are the upload speeds please? is it great for gaming? if so, i will cancel my viva subscription and go there in a heart beat.
you could always call and ask them although the salesman i spoke to seems unprepared on this subject since it seems they cater more towards corporate clients
Mark as per my experience and knowledge, Wimax technology has an inherent limitation called “cell breathing”. This means that with increased users, the coverage area shrinks faster than 3G services. In case you are close to “border areas” of a tower coverage, you would not only get deteriorated service but at times would also get disconnected. Also 10Mbps is maximum limit not a “committed” speed. So before going ahead with the deal, ask them what if later you face some problem and they tell you “well we have more customers now”.
wouldn’t trust a new company so fast, remember how Viva was famous when they first came out with their internet service, now nobody wants them.
actually they are not a new company, they have been on the market since 1997, but their main domain was corporate sector , they have the same company in Jordan, check their Jordanian web site
http://www.mada.jo
have tested this for a month…steady once you get connected…
how fast is the upload and download. Also u mentioned steady one connected, what do u mean by that?
they were in the test phase, so had connection drops in the mornings(the signals), probably they were tweaking the thing before going live…The device is pretty unique, the router has a usb port and you plug in a usb dongle into it…
Yes but how fast is the upload speed? and the download speed.
got a download speed of 3-4MB and the upload close to 1MB.
i really don’t know what was max speed for it as it was a test case..
Did you have any problems when the towers were not in line of sight? We previously tested Wimax for an alternate DR site but then switched to FOC.
The towers are very close to my apartment..
Can you please post us a speedtest. Here is the link ( http://speedtest.net/ ) once your done, there is a link you can copy from there to post it to us here. Thank you !!!
Hmm, i’ll be awaiting more details today. Hopefully, nothing but good news would come out from them.
Its the “up to” part that doesn’t go well with me, and WiMax depends on distance much more than DSL, also as far as I know its only available in certain areas so not everyone will be able to get it. Be sure to update us Mark.
i live in salmiya, the signals had good strength when connected….100%…
is the 10Mbps shared between people on the same area?
Good news. Lets hope they are good and have enough infrastructure to bear all us gamers and as ISP’s put it “bandwidth” abusers, we just call ourselves “Users”….:P
Just ended my call with them. The good thing is they know since they are new, people would be skeptical about them, so the sales rep told me they have a money-back guarantee. I’ll check the details today from the booth and if I can get a refund if I don’t like the service I’ll sign.
a 20gb cap – thats horrible, less than 1GB per day.
Mark please update us with all pertinent technical details about the connection:
- Is speed dependent on other users downloading from them?
- Whats the upload speed?
- Is 10megabits the actual download speed or only the fantasy theoretical top speed.
- Whats the ping like?
- Also please drill them hard regarding the ‘unlimited’ offer. If they normally give 20GB/month to corporate accounts, I find it hard to believe they will let me use my average monthly downloads of 250GB/month. The difference is just too huge.
Hi folks, I just brought one from marina mall… Here are the benefits:
- It’s instantly activated
- extremely plug & play
- wow… my bandwidth hit 8Mbps
- I can take it with me everywhere
- They ‘ll be introducing ISDN in the same device very soon means I have a local number
leaders are leaders
you sound like one of their reps…
+1
+2
+3
+4
+5
+6
+5.5
i doubt this guy knows what the “+” means.
@ Tweezers:
i’m sure he knows what it means, He’s a Leader & “leaders are leaders”…!!
Frankly, it sounds like a slogan of a self-help tape..!
@TweeZ*
@TweeZ *
sorry
that’s just rude. behave.
+7..lol
Mada isn’t new, they have been in the market at least a couple of years, but I guess only for corporate. They approached our company a couple of times, but since we had already had contracts with other ISP’s and their pricing wasn’t too favorable then we didn’t make the switch. I guess they finally decided to tackle the retail/home user market. They probably want to capitalize on this new policy from the other ISP’s to attract customers. I hope it is true for the unlimited, but i’ll take it with a pinch of salt. ISP’s in Kuwait seem to be notorious for changing their minds, and screwing the customer on a whim and all in their interest. Looking forward for more info Mark, bol.
If am not mistaken, they are part of Zain
From my engineering experience, WiMax is pretty unreliable due to the extreme environmental situation we have in the Gulf, more it does not scale.
As more users get added, the worse the speed becomes.
Just wanted to correct the info given by Mark regarding the unlimited download if you sign up now. The rep i spoke to was not clear or may be not fully aware regarding bandwidth policy. So, I talked to his supervisor who was there at the time. He clearly stated that if you sign up now for three months for 60 KD, you will get a free router plus unlimited download ONLY for these three months. After that you will have 20 GB monthly cap. If you reached your cap you can pay for extra bandwidth or your speed goes down to 256 kb/s.
I connected to their network while I was at their booth in the marina. This is what I got 162 ms ping, 4.80 Mbps download and 0.73 Mbps upload.
Hope this clears things up.
So they are even shittier than qualitynet. Any news from KEMS? They are our last hope.
They have FUP , But no limit , just Looking for abusers , and when they reach the limit , they just drop it for 24 hours ,so the next day their Safe until they abuse again .
They do not have a “”Limit”" yet , but the system will tell them if Someone is abusing , Also , they Can’t tell yet Whats the Daily limit as in how many GB .
Also , Blame the ministry of Communications for the FUP , their the one’s who are forcing them .
Wow.. I never knew that internet connections were such a hot topic. What concerns me is the fact that these ISPs are acting together ehem.. ehem.. cartel… A raw example of diwaniya decision making if you ask me. Another thing I did not guess was that companies in this day in age play such games. A big ‘f you’ to the informed. Blogs have been a good way to apply social pressure to bad business, but I wonder if the ‘connected youth’ have enough voice to overturn larger decisions in Kuwait.
There is only one thing small and big companies respond too : mass boycott of their products. But that would require the majority of kuwait’s population to sign on too. A few thousand boycotters wouldn’t do anything.
Except no one in their right mind would want to boycott the internet.
Mark I have a 7.2 E-Go USB device, and I hate it.. it;s slow most of the time, should I ditch it for this? I pay 13 KD per month, what’s ur advice?
I don’t download anything, I just want fast browsing, would this device be good for that? advice from anyone is highly appreciated.
Thanks
What we need is a very clever man to sue them some how.
ha! I think you’ve got it backwards.
I can live without it for a month. It will be hard, but I did it once (not by choice).
Frankly, I think if everyone boycotts one company at least, then they will be forced to do something…maybe.
they say there’s no cap for those that sign up this week, but what prevents them from deciding 6 months from now to cap everyone like all the other ISP are doing?
It is written clearly on the brochure they’re handing it out to the people in the mall:
20GB per month
I just went to their booth in Marina to ask about it. This is exactly what the salesperson told me you pay KWD 60/- for a 3 month subscription. That includes a 60 GB cap broken down to 20 GB per month & the “Soho” wireless router.
There is no “uncapped” option, I asked about it & was told that the idea was discussed but management decided against it. If you exceed your 20 GB limit your speed is reduced. After the 3 months are over you can go back & buy 10 GB worth of service, the price for that still hasn’t been announced. I picked up their literature & can scan it; it would be nice if Mark put that up on this post. You’re paying KWD 20/- per month for speeds of up to 10 Mbps with a cap of 20 GB per month, if you do the math I think its inline with what Viva, Zain, Wataniya have to offer. I really don’t see what sets this apart from Viva, Zain, Wataniya.
Guys !, to correct their contact center number is 1822888. I called them as well and they were able to answer all calls with accurate answers. I guess they have a good corporate experience. try asking them technical questions also.
Cheers !!!
Leaders are Leaders
you are one of their reps alright…
Oh yeah, seems like it! Would be better if he gives us all the answers instead :)
LMAO !
this guy is obviously pulling a Servo on us!
LAMO.. hahaha LOLZ…
@Leader
That’s pretty pathetic – you know that you will lose customers if you insult their intelligence, right??
Not when they’re your last hope for a normal internet connection.
@ john alkuwait
One user (Jebla) had download speed of <0.5 Mbps & upload of 2000ms (didn’t know ping comes in 4 figures)
Another user (Blushberry) had a download speed of 2.77 Mbps & an upload of 0.13
All users are paying KD20 for 10Mbps AND 20GB/month cap, yet they’re only implementing the download cap, whilst the speed you get is laughable.
They are not our last hope for “normal” internet – you can’t say that about them, unless, maybe, your money depends on their success… Does it??
depends? no.
get money anyways? sure why not.
Really hating the caps that ISP are enforcing.
Any information if it would be a shared IP or public IP that we receive ??
Spoke to multiple Reps, none of them knew what I was talking about :-/
I was told that they provide a static IP for each subscriber.
Also, their router can broadcast two different SSID at the same time. Not a big deal for me but just wanted to share this info with you.
Thanks for the update. Its about time we get into the WiMAX 4G zone. I called them up and they gave me their call center number 1822888, where i got further info on their products and services. They are not new, infact they are pioneers in wireless internet services since long time. I guess its worth a try as far as the price is catchy.
You’re sick if you think that we are believing you
This one’s pretty obvious. I’m starting to side with Mr. Pink
Was that for me?
Here are mada resaults from Ghrnata city .. too bad !! they said to me at least 6mbps and thats what i got !
http://www.speedtest.net/result/1322288924.png
damn .. that’s bad
A 74 ms ping to their own server ???? That’s CRAPPY !!!! I’ll still wait before I go to them.
my review ..
http://jebla.net/?p=560
Looking at this, I’ll think again. Viva is much better.
i am confused which internet should i get viva or mada wimax ? I want internet with the static IP and good speed, viva internet is fast and viva provide static ip. Wimax on the other hand i am not sure provide static ip or not, and so far mada wimax net speed test results doesnt look good. i dono what to dooooooo :S
Wrong !! .. Viva does NOT provide static IP’s. Why would you need a static IP anyways ?
i said it wrong sorry. what i meant was that viva provide ip which is not shared, and i need that to set up my ip cam which is sitting on my desk from last 3 weeks :S
Just to correct iamthestig (which you aint)
Static ip is fixed ip
While dynamic ip is shared ip
Get your facts straight before giving facts
and it take time for wimax to setup porperly give it a day or to and also
mada is there since many years the last company i worked with dealt with them it filled with computer i dont know where they got there stupid call centre staff from
get the difference from here for the ips
http://whatismyipaddress.com/dynamic-static
im studying in the us, my download speed is 30mbps. couldnt get any better. and the price is great.
cant wait to get back to kuwait :)))
http://www.speedtest.net/result/1322868207.png
Test To a US server
Guys !!!
help please !
should i buy this or wait for KEMS ??
or go VIVA??
why the internet is becoming so lame here and no one make complain or sue these companies??
what u recommended ? should i risk & go with these guys????
NEVERRRRRRRRRRRR go with VIVA…NEVERRRRRRRRRRR
ola laish?
go with KEMS so far they are not using caps.
BTW i heard KEMS will do cap 2.6 / 2.8 GB daily, KEMS already agree with all other isps in kuwait , Quality. FTEleco & GulfNet.. they all agreed together,
So guys be careful , when u called them they say no we don’t have capping but in a matter of fact they will do it!!
I want an answer too! :(
The rep I talked to a minute ago didn’t know what the hell I was talking about, she seemed clueless!! then she asked me to visit the Marina! I told he to put me through with a supervisor, that’s when I got all my questions answered..
i wouldnt mind if it was capped but we had ultra fast speeds, like in australia… over there u buy the amount of gb u want, but everyone has the same speed
old swedish women with connection 40GB/sec
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/internetlife/2007-07-19-swedish-woman-fast-internet_N.htm
Guys i guess its for everyone to know what they are going for…
http://www.cellfanatic.com/2008/12/15/samsung-enters-taiwanese-and-kuwaiti-mobile-wimax-market/
http://www.speedtest.net/result/1114921353.png
Faster than 98% of Kuwait LOL.
What ISP do you use and how much do you pay for that speed?:o
KEMS
HOW???????
each 1 KM is 300 KD a month from the nearest FO Point (MOC), 20,000 KD a Year (ISP), or you could simple have wasta on both the ministry and the ISP and end up paying around 5000 a year.
come again?!
Translation please.
I guess he’s full of it.
i wonder if the wimp will work in this weather hehehehehehehehehe
internet speeds are like car ,
geeks think that a faster connection is an extension to their willy
sorry but the faster the connection the faster u get dumped
- random :P
Went to their booth, the speed is not what they say. It’s got the infamous “upto” slogan written on it, that says it all.
I also went to their booth and found out DSL was better.
i’ve worked is ISP’s, and i had a friend who worked in mada jordan, all these type of wireless connections (GSM,3G, WiMax) are all shared bandwidth no matter what, never dream of dedicated speed.
+ wireless is not reliable for online gamin and live video streaming, high latency and burst affect, no good. am sticking with kems
We live in Salwa in a building with only 6 tenants in total. We rushed out and got it today. Speed was ok but router only works when placed near a window. We are returning it tomorrow. Qualitynet still best for our needs!
No product can give you satisfaction until you experience and feel the difference and compare it what others can give you..
its an opportunity for one to test whether its bad or good… I’ll try to buy one tomorrow
Just called qualitynet…. 1.8GB is the download cap. Cancelled my subscription and getting my money back.. What should i get now?
told you guys,
all of them will do capping,
even KEMS,
so we all f** , thanks a lot
in other countries they evolve in internet technology & speeds, but it seems here is a different story.
worst ISPs I have ever encountered !!
The speed test result for switzerland…
http://www.speedtest.net/result/1326480689.png
I just got mine today, the speed is not as good as everyone hyped for… I’m actually getting about 2.20MB on speedtest, which is still not as fast as I hoped it would be.. when I tested it on Marina before purchasing it, It solidly gave me 9.82MB from the first test, which is pretty darn awesome..
I called the customer service a moment ago, they told me they have problems atm… the problem started 30min after I left the mall lol :s.. so lets see how things will be in awhile.
I don’t mind though, I still have 1 week to test this thing, hope I’d get at least 7MB on where I’m at.. I live on Al-Qurain/Al-Qusor.. which is still a crowded place.
Hey There
I have had Mada now for about two months…
and it sucks….
variable speeds.. from 0.2 to about 4 mbps…
support staff are very annoying… they think all clients are idiots… and keep repeating same instruction with every phone call..
close down the modem for half an hour..
try relocation the modem elsewhere in your house.. and more of the same…
I am sorry I paid for the full 12 months, for the deal of a free modem…
I will definitely not renew my subscription again…
Not worth 20 KD/month for around 2mbps…