Category: Information

Qualitynet and KEMS have both published their bandwidth limits. Strangely they both have the exact same limits which are the following:

Speed – Daily Download Limit
512 Kbps – 1GB
1 Mbps – 1.7GB
1.5 Mbps – 1.9GB
2 Mbps – 2.9GB
3 Mbps – 3.8GB
4 Mbps – 4.7GB
5 Mbps – 5.4GB
6 Mbps – 6GB
7 Mbps – 6.8GB
8 Mbps – 7.9GB

If you have the Qualitynet Nitro package your download limit is slightly higher. United Networks haven’t published their limits yet but I am assuming it would be similar to Qualitynet and KEMS. Fasttelco also haven’t published their numbers although I heard that they will not be instating limits but instead punish only heavy abusers. But, unless they publish some kind of numbers, a heavy abuser might be someone that downloads 2GB a day or 20, we wouldn’t know.

Thanks Dylan

Update: I think the current system in place is unfair. My line can only handle 2 Mbps which means I am stuck with a 2.9GB daily limit and no option to increase it. I know the Ministry of Communications wants to reduce the internet prices which is great but placing download limits is not the way to go about it.

On Thursday two engineers from Mada came over and handed me a router so I could review and after using it over the weekend here are my findings. I’ll start the post with the speedtest results since I know that’s what everyone has been waiting for. I used speedtest.net for the testing and although I was originally planning to test using the servers in London, New York and LA, I ended up running into issues with the New York and LA server and so decided to add two more locations which are New Jersey and San Francisco.

I don’t know why the NY and LA servers were giving me such terrible numbers but I think it had to do more with the server than my connection since the connection worked perfectly again with their neighboring cities. The location of the WiMAX router does effect the speed of your connection. For example I live in Salmiya block 9 and according to a Mada engineer, Salmiya is one of their most focused areas so the speeds I’m getting are probably the fastest you can get. When I tried the Mada router at my office in Kuwait City, I was getting on average around 2.8Mbps tops. The engineer told me it had to do with the location (Kuwait City), the fact my office is on the 21st floor (connection starts dropping after the 15th) and the fact the windows were double glazed (bounces signals). A reader called Kevin tried Mada in Mangaf block 1 and his download speed was around 6.5Mbps. So location does make a big difference on the speed. I don’t play many games online but my brother who lives next door and leeches my connection does. He spent the weekend playing on his Xbox online and according to him he didn’t notice any difference going from DSL to WiMAX.

Setting up and connecting the router was a very simple process. You just plug in the power cord, wait a minute and that’s it. You can then either connect to the router via one of the two ethernet ports on the device or by wifi. I did face a minor problem when I wanted to log into the device so I could change the wifi password as well as setup other options. Underneath the device you have two sets of login information. One is supposed to be the default wifi password the other I assumed to connect to the device to change the settings but it wouldn’t work. It was around 11PM and I wasn’t sure if there would be anyone at Mada support to help but I called them up and someone answered right away and gave me the default username and password which was just “user”. I liked the fact that I didn’t have to go through a dozen menus on the phone just to get to someone from support and I liked the fact that I didn’t have to wait on hold either. This probably has to do with the fact that the service is still new and so not many people have subscribed with them yet.

Which brings me to the future. The Mada WiMAX service currently has no download cap for the next 3 months, after that they are still not sure what the download cap will be but they’re saying it will be at least 20GB and that they will be offering a package for people who consume more. 20GB a month means around 600MB a day which is too little and makes the device really useless. 600MB a day is suitable for users who just use their internet to check email, maybe visit a few websites and also watch a video or two on YouTube. Those kind of users aren’t heavy internet users and for them if it’s a 1MB connection or 10 it wouldn’t make a difference. The real people who can use and fully take advantage of Mada’s WiMAX speed are users like me who spend all their time online surfing through a ton of websites, watching a million YouTube videos while iTunes is busy in the background downloading all the latest TV shows and Movies, the Playstation and Xbox downloading game demos and the server downloading torrents. For me it makes a huge difference if the connection is 1MB or 10.

Which brings me to a potential future issue. The connection is really great right now but that’s because the service is only a few days old, how will it be a month from now or even a year from now? I am not sure. Mada has been around for awhile now catering for the commercial industry so that gives me a bit of confidence in them. But still, 20KD for 10MB is going to attract a lot of people specially with all the problems people have with the ISP’s introducing download caps. Personally I am going to take it day by day and right now the Mada WiMAX internet connection is the fastest connection I’ve ever had. I’ve already disconnected my DSL modem at home and replaced it with WiMAX, that’s how much I’m loving this connection.

Mada currently have a booth setup at Marina Mall right outside the Mac store Digits and they also have a booth at Mohallab. It’s KD20 a month and if you sign up for 3 months it’s KD60 but you get the router for free. Here is a link to their website [Link]

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]

I just found out that Habchi and Chalhoub will be opening up a bunch of their brands at the new luxury expansion of The Avenues. Some of the brands they will be opening there are Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Chanel, Ralph Lauren, Tods, and Lanvin. The LV store is going to be the largest LV store in the Middle East. I’m not sure where the biggest store currently is, I’ve been to the one in Beirut, Bahrain and Dubai and I think Dubai’s is the largest right now.

Should be cool but sadly the launch is still far away since as you can see above, the expansion is still under construction. They’re expecting to open sometime at the end of 2012.

Ruby’s is one of my favorite places to eat and I noticed they’ve added new items on their menu and also increased their prices slightly. They now have 4 salads, 4 sandwiches, 4 pasta and 4 burgers. They’ve also added some breakfast items as well. I took a picture of the front of the menu which you can see [Here]

In case you missed my original post on Ruby’s here is the [Link]

Note: Ruby’s is NOT Ruby Tuesday.

Update: Here is their full menu as PDF [Link]

Patrick from Projekt Cyan was at the movies in 360 Mall yesterday when he noticed a section Cinescape had setup with information and visuals from the start of Cinescape (previously called KNCC) around 50 years ago till today. They had old ticket stubs, a logo history and even some old 3D glasses that they used to give out (although if my memory serves me correct the 3D glasses I got when I watched JAWS had black and white stripes all over.) The pictures are pretty bad quality since they were taken by phone but it should give you a rough idea of what’s on display.

In case you previously missed it, here are two links with pictures of old KNCC theaters:
The Original Al Hamra Cinema
Old Cinemas in Kuwait

If you’re looking for an activity to do this summer then the Kuwait for Kenya (K4K) project by LoYAC might be one to consider:

The K4K trip will take place in Mombasa, Kenya as usual. The duration of the trip will be 3 weeks, from 02 July 2011 to 23 July 2011.

The objectives of this year’s trip will be slightly different from the previous years. We’re looking at 2 projects to conduct during the trip; an agricultural project in Barani community and starting the infrastructure for the MYCC (youth center) building.

During the trip, we will have two weekends, which we’ve planned a safari trip and a rafting trip respectively. Both should be plenty of fun.

For those of you that are interested in joining us, please keep in mind that the age criteria is 18-28 years old. Also, the trip will be self-funded with an estimated total cost of KD 800 (excluding Safari and Rafting activities). Interested volunteers should review the pre-field manual, to be aware of the trip’s process and risks.

If you’re interested then you can contact Aisha Alsayegh ([email protected]) or Sara Al Ansari ([email protected]) for more information. Here is a link to the K4K website with info and picture of their previous projects [Link]

Aramex Shop & Ship have now set up Chinese mailboxes for all their customers which sounds great but what exactly can we get from China and where do we order it from?

The first thing that comes into my mind is buying stuff from Hong Kong sellers on eBay. A lot of times when I am looking for Tamiya parts and cars on eBay, the sellers with the good stuff are based in Hong Kong. Another thing I can think of but still hobby related is websites like HobbyKing.com who have most of their stock based in Hong Kong as well. You can now order stuff from there HongKong warehouse and have them ship the items by EMS to your Chinese mailbox.

Does anyone have any other ideas? Did you know there is a Chinese Amazon?

Note: If the Chinese mailbox hasn’t shown up in your shopandship.com page be patient, they’re currently in the process of generating accounts for all their clients in all 26 Shop & Ship countries.

[YouTube]

Ali Taqi, a student at AUK emailed to tell me about their performance in the Microsoft Imagine Cup that was recently held in our region. The Imagine Cup is a student technology competition where the aim is to create technology that will help solve the worlds toughest problems. The AUK students came first in Kuwait and second in the GCC and have now qualified to the next level which is to compete on an international level in New York. Their idea is very simple and according to them was inspired from the blog.

The students saw how when I took a picture of a problem and posted it on the blog the proper authorities would find out about the problem and get it fixed. So the students came up with the idea of creating a software which would be set up with a variety of different authorities (emergency services, garbage collection, health ministry etc..). They then would create a phone application for people so that when they find a problem, they can just snap a picture of it and then have the application send it to the proper authorities along with a geotag so that the location of the problem can be located quickly. They’ve called their idea the Revolutionary Reporting System or RRS for short.

In the video above for example they’re showing you how this software can be used to report an accident. Usually you would waste time trying to get a hold of the emergency call center and then trying to tell them what the problem is and where the problem happened. With this software they created things would be a lot easier.

I wish the guys involved in this project the best of luck (Ali Taqi, Bader Al Mohammed Ali, and Eissa Al Qadeeri). It’s a great idea and I for one would use it all the time. I do think they need to work a bit more on the video presentation before the New York event so maybe a local film maker can volunteer to help them out with this.

You can read more on this project by visiting the AUK website [Here]

Just an FYI to anyone planning to order the iPad Arcade Cabinet from Think Geek. Mine shipped a few days ago and according to UPS it weighs over 10lb’s, that means it’s going to cost around KD30 to ship from New York using Aramex! So just a warning to anyone planning on getting it, the thing is really heavy. [Link]

A reader emailed me saying that all ISP’s have started applying a fair access policy meaning they will now be placing limits on our bandwidth. I checked the Qualitynet website since they’re my provider and noticed that at the bottom of their DSL page it states “Terms and Condition & Fair Usage Policy Apply.” I figured that was something that was always there but I checked the google cache version of the page and noticed it wasn’t there before.

Of course I freaked out and quickly called Qualitynet, the support guy I spoke to didn’t know what fair usage policy was but after explaining it to him he said there is a temporary limit imposed at the moment due to a technical problem but once it’s solved everything will be back to normal and we won’t have any limits. Hopefully that turned out to be true because I would hate to have a limit.

Here are the links to all the ISP’s where fair usage policy is mentioned:

Gulfnet: https://gulfnet.com.kw/web/FAP.html
Qualitynet: https://www.qualitynet.net/?page_id=269
KEMS: https://www.kems.net/price_list_new.aspx?id=1
Fast Telco: https://www.fasttelco.net/AxCMSTemplates/FAP_1471.pdf

Thanks Ebrahim

[YouTube]

I’ve posted about MILSIM before [Here] and [Here] but in case you missed it MILSIM is short for military simulation. It’s an outdoor activity where unlike paintball you use very realistic weapons and the game focuses more on strategy than running around shooting randomly. Anyway they’re now open in Shaab Park, I haven’t been there yet but you can see a bit of the place in the video above in which they demonstrate some of the weapons you get to use. If you need more information you can visit their website [Here]

I just heard awhile ago from a source that Tesco and Sultan Center have just worked out a deal where Tesco will supply Sultan Center with an extensive range of British lines. This will include Tesco products and British brands that are not yet available in the region. I don’t know how reliable this source is so count this information as a rumor for now but if it is true it contradicts my previous post in which I said that Alshaya was bringing Tesco to Kuwait. Or maybe both things can happen?

Back in October I posted about a reader who’s neighbor installed telecom transceivers on his roof and covered them up to look like decorations. After complaining to the baladiya they came and removed the telecom towers a few weeks ago. So a happy ending right? Well a few days ago another neighbor suddenly had what looks like a water tower popup on his roof. After careful inspection turns out there were telcom transceivers hidden inside them.

So now he’s going to go back to the baladiya to complain again. This time he knows the correct department to talk to so the towers should get removed pretty quickly. It is illegal to place telecom transceivers on the roof tops of residential buildings. So know your rights and know how to spot them.

I found out the other day that you can actually order items from Amazon.co.jp and have them shipped to you via a mail forwarding company called Tenso to your Aramex mail forwarding mailbox in New York. This opens a whole new door on gadgets we can buy and price wise it seems pretty reasonable.

Basically you need to open an account with tenso.com who are a company that specialize in forwarding products from Japan to other parts of the world. Their prices are ok, I checked how much it would cost for 1KG and it turned out to be approximately KD10 including their service fee and shipping fee. Once you have an account with them (free to setup) you can order items from Amazon Japan and pay with your Kuwaiti card or order from other Japanese websites or even the Japanese eBay Yahoo auctions. When you place your order you give them your Tenso address in the same way you give US sites your Aramex address. Once the package arrives to your Japanese mailbox they will ship the item to your US mailbox. They sadly don’t ship directly to Kuwait. They also don’t ship batteries so if you order say a camera, they will remove the battery before they ship it to you. You also might have to pay US customs depending on the items you order.

I know there are quite a few negatives but it’s still good to have this option. Check out tenso.com by clicking [Here]

Update: I was just told another option for buying from Japan is using the site From Japan. From what I understood they ship to Kuwait directly as well. Check them [Here]