Category: Internet

Yesterday on Reddit someone published a step by step guide on how to file a complaint against a telecom or ISP in Kuwait and I thought it was important to share here as well. The Redditor probably posted the guide after seeing another post where an Ooredoo customer had the pop up below come up randomly on his phone.

Below are the instructions on how to file a complaint copied and pasted from Reddit but you can still check out the original post and comments here.

First of all, I’m sure many of you have noticed the frequency of spam that you are receiving on your phones. Or the mysterious charges that are being tacked on to your bills.

So in order for all of this to stop is to start reporting such things to CITRA. What is CITRA? It’s the Communication & Information Technology Regulatory Authority in Kuwait. They have been established as the overall authority over all telecoms & info tech in the country. So nothing happens without their say so.

CITRA is staffed by a lot of qualified and knowledgeable people, I have worked side-by-side with them in the past. Even participated in some of the national infrastructure (overhaul) programs that they are introducing.

OK enough of an intro, what you need to do is to report those spam text messages and the illegal usage of the EAS system for advertising. The people receiving those complaints at CITRA do actually investigate each and every one. So go ahead and visit the Complaints Page, then sign up if you haven’t done so already.

Try to provide as much information as possible when filing your complaint, include screenshots/photos where possible.

Give it a few weeks for your complaint to be reviewed then actioned on.

Most of all, don’t worry about any backlash. Nobody is going to come after you and nobody is going to deport you. Telecoms laws were put in place to protect the consumers, so use them to your advantage.

People really need to act and stop these unfair practices by the telecoms in the country.

Thanks u/thisdodobird!

Around a month ago Zain sent over a 5G router for me to test out at home. I’ve already posted a first and second impression post and now after trying out the device for a full month, I’m convinced it’s a must-have connection. There isn’t anything faster right now on the market, not even close.

Clearly 5G is super fast but there are two important questions that need to be answered here:

1) Do you really need 5G speeds?

No, I don’t think so, I don’t think the majority of people need 5G speeds, I personally don’t. Someone left a comment the other day under my iPhone 11 Pro post saying it sucks that the new iPhone doesn’t have 5G, and I have to ask, why would you need 5G speeds on your phone? On my home computers, I rarely download torrents anymore which is where I can see speeds of 500 or 700Mbps making the biggest difference and maybe for downloading a new videogame on my PS4 every now and then or a software update but that’s really it. For normal use 100Mbps would be more than enough. The reason I see the need for 5G is because not everyone can get a fiber connection at home and rarely anyone gets decent LTE speeds at home, so 5G is really the only other option.

When I tried downloading a torrent file over 5G, I hit speeds of around 10MB/s and I ended up downloading a 5GB file in around 7 minutes. 5G is so fast that it might have taken me longer to copy a 5GB file off my home server to my Mac. There is a wow factor when downloading large apps or PS4 updates and you see the progress bar fill up so quickly. 5G is so fast its stupid funny, and in my case where just until a few months ago the fastest connection I could get at home was 10Mbps, jumping up to 700Mbps is a HUGE difference.

So no, I don’t think anyone really needs full 5G speeds for normal use, but for the majority of people, 5G is the only way to crack the 100Mbps barrier at home.

2) Is it expensive?

I know a lot of people might disagree with me here but I don’t think 5G is expensive. If you compare 5G to fiber prices or how much I’m paying for Zain Beam, you’ll quickly realize the amount you’re paying for the speed you’re getting is actually great deal. Here is a quick comparison:

Zain Beam 20Mbps: KD25/m (unlimited bandwidth)
Fasttelco Fiber 50Mbps: KD35/m (unlimited bandwidth)
Qualitynet Fiber 100Mbps: KD32/m (unlimited bandwidth)
Zain 5G (500Mbps+): KD45/m (1TB bandwidth)

I think what really makes 5G seem expensive is the limited bandwidth. Optimally the minimum you would want is 1TB per month. I just checked my usage and from September 12 up to September 30, I consumed around 320GB of bandwidth which is a lot less than I was expecting so 1TB would work out just fine for my needs. If you download tons of PS4 or Xbox games, you’ll probably want more than 1TB and the next step up is a whopping KD65 for 1.8TB.

In conclusion, I want 5G at home even though I just signed up to Zain Beam a few months back. I did ask a Zain employee if I could “upgrade” from Beam to 5G and was told I could without any penalties so that’s good news. I am worried that once 5G becomes a lot more common the speeds would drop, but even if it drops to say 300Mbps I’d still be happy with it. If you haven’t checked out my previous posts on 5G here are the links:

First Impression: Zain 5G in Salmiya
Second Impression: Zain 5G in Salmiya

Also, here is the link to the Zain 5G website.

update: I was just informed that you can’t upgrade from Zain Beam to 5G so I updated my post to reflect that.

My internet was being super slow yesterday to the point where pages were taking minutes to load. I thought it was just me but according to a thread on Reddit, it turned out there was an internet line that was cut at the border Monday night. As of 2AM this morning, the issue was sorted and the internet is now back to normal.

A couple of weeks back I posted my first impression of Zain 5G at my apartment in Salmiya. I was having issues with speeds fluctuating from 3Mbps to 350Mbps and I couldn’t understand why. After my post, Zain ended up sending over a technician to look at the issue and it turned out to be a fairly simple fix.

This might get a bit nerdy but basically the 5G router has two kinds of wifi connections, a 2.4ghz and a faster 5ghz. The router I had received had been set up to combine the two wifi signals to one and depending on where I am in the apartment, the router would decide which connection I should be on. Whenever I was getting slow internet speeds it was because the router was connecting me at 2.4ghz. So we fixed this issue by having two separate wifi connections and I manually connect to the 5ghz one. We tried it out and it worked and after that issue was sorted I decided to just plug the 5G router to my home network which was already running at 5ghz and I’m really loving it now.

The lowest Zain 5G connection speed I’ve been getting is around 500-550Mbps. The connection usually hovers at around 650-750Mbps and on occasionally hits 1.0-1.2Gbps. It’s incredibly fast, like so fast I have no idea how I’m going back to my 30Mbps Zain Beam connection once I’m done with this review unit. I used to think my Beam connection was the fastest thing I could get in my apartment but I’m so blown away by 5G!

The only reason I haven’t posted a full review of the connection yet is I’ve now come across another issue. For some reason, my 5G connection at home currently dies on average once or twice a day and I need to restart the 5G router for it to come back to life. I spoke to support and we think something is wrong with the 5G router itself so I’m going to get it swapped out for another unit. My Zain 5G router at the office in comparison, I had to restart just once in the past 2-3 months since I’ve had it.

If you guys want me to try anything out or run a specific speed test then let me know in the comments below. Here is a link to the Zain 5G page.

I have Zain 5G at the office in the city and I average around 650Mbps there which is pretty incredible. This got me curious to see how 5G would perform at my apartment in Salmiya so Zain hooked me up with a unit to try out. Right now I have a Zain Beam connection at home and I get a stable 30Mbps.

My experience so far with 5G in Salmiya has been really weird. I’ve gotten speeds as low as 3Mbps and as high as 350Mbps. I don’t understand why the speed fluctuates so much here. I’m gonna continue to experiment with it and move the router around to see if that helps. If I can get a stable connection over 100Mbps that would be pretty crazy considering just up until a few months ago, I couldn’t get anything higher than 10Mbps at my place.

Update: Problem got solved, click here for an updated post.

Back in February Zain hooked me up with Zain Beam to test out. Previously I had been using B Wirless (WiMD) but my direct line of sight with their tower had been blocked and so my connection was no longer stable. A regular LTE connection in my area was also unstable with speeds varying between 2Mbps to 4Mbps, maybe a bit more sometimes. After trying out Zain Beam in February for a couple of weeks, I loved it so much I decided to commit for 2 years and subscribe to it. This is now my follow-up review around 4 months later.

If you want to read my previous post on Zain Beam including details on the installation process, click here.

Since I installed Zain Beam the internet connection has been pretty flawless. I subscribed to their 20Mbps service but I rarely get speeds less than 27Mbps, in fact, it’s usually always around 30Mbps. For those of you with LTE connections in fancier less congested areas, you’re probably not impressed with my internet speed, and that’s understandable. I find it frustrating that my phone’s speed can reach 120Mbps in some areas, but yet my Zain Beam connection at home gets me only 30Mbps. It’s even more frustrating now to see my friends get upwards of 600Mbps with 5G as well. But, 30Mbps is the fastest connection I’ve ever been able to get in my apartment.

That’s the thing you need to be aware of when comparing Zain Beam to other internet services in Kuwait. Not everyone has fiber optics or fast LTE in their areas. Zain Beam is meant for people like me living in heavily congested areas with no fiber, no decent 4G connection, and no 5G either. So 30Mbps is super fast for me, it’s three times faster than my previous 10Mbps connection I had with B Wireless, and the only other connection that I can get which is faster than mine… is the 40Mbps Zain Beam package.

Another thing I want to point out is that Zain also limits the amount of Beam users in an area, I guess to keep the experience consistent. A friend of mine wanted to get Beam in my area but Zain told him all the slots had already been filled.

In the 4 months I’ve had Beam I did run into one issue. Around a week or two after signing up I woke up one morning and found my internet down. No biggie, I called up Zain to talk to support and this is where I ran into a problem. With B Wireless, if I had a problem I’d call support and someone would pick up right away. The support guy would then try and solve my problem over the phone and if the problem was more complicated, he’d either tell me he’d call me back or that a technician would be sent over. Fairly simple and the whole process of solving my issue would take less than 5 minutes. With Zain, on the other hand, you don’t talk to a support persona, instead, you have to call up the regular Zain call center and leave a complaint and then someone gets back to you. Wouldn’t be that big of a deal but the process to leave a complaint takes forever! It took the call center guy over 10 minutes (not exaggerating) just to file my complaint. Their process for taking complaints is excruciatingly long, that’s over 10 minutes just to tell them my internet is down and for them to tell me someone will call me back. Other than that I didn’t really have any issues and that day it turned out my connection was down because they were doing maintenance.

With the launch of 5G last week the only thing that I’m bothered with right now is the price vs speed ratio compared to 5G. Viva, for example, offers 5G at KD25 a month (although with a 250GB limit) which is how much I’m paying, so I now feel like my connection is starting to feel overpriced. If 5G in my area can get me speeds over 100Mbps I’d be super upset that I’m committed to two years of Zain Beam and just getting 30Mbps. What I’m hoping is that Zain will eventually upgrade the speed of their two Beam packages in the coming months from the current 20Mbps and 40Mbps options right now, to maybe 40Mbps and 80Mbps instead. That would make things more palatable when compared to 5G.

If you have any specific questions on Zain Beam you can ask me in the comments below. If you’re interested in signing up to Zain Beam, here is a link to their product page.

5G was officially announced late last month but this past weekend the packages finally went live. A friend who signed up for the service is getting anywhere between 150Mbps to 300Mbps depending on where he is which is pretty fast. From the three telecoms, Viva has the most affordable packages from the bunch and you can check them all out below:

Ooredoo
KD45 – 500GB (Free Access Point)
KD65 – 1TB (Free Access Point)
Minimum 1-year contract

Viva
KD45 – 1TB (Free Access Point and iPad or PS4 Pro)
KD85 – Unlimited (Free Access Point and iPad or PS4 Pro)
Minimum 2-year contract

Zain
KD45 – 500GB
KD65 – 1TB (Free Access Point)
KD100 – 4TB (Free Access Point and iPad or Xbox One X or PS4 Pro)
Minimum 2-year contract

Although the prices do seem high when compared to LTE, I’m paying KD25 a month for a 20Mbps Zain Beam connection. So KD45 for 1TB isn’t so bad when compared to that if I’ll end up getting speeds over 150Mbps.

Today both Viva and Zain launched their 5G networks in Kuwait. Neither of them have yet to announce their plan details but instead have set up registration pages for those interested in 5G. Viva have slightly more information up on their website including a 5G coverage map and a frequently asked questions page. If you’re interested in 5G, check out the links below:

Viva 5G
Zain 5G

Also here is a great writeup on 4G and 5G bands in Kuwait.

Around ten days back I asked if anyone had tried the Zain Beam internet service and a few of you responded with high praise for the service. Zain also read my post and got in touch with me with an offer to try the service for a month, so I jumped on the opportunity and yesterday they installed Beam at my place.

The installation process is supposed to be fairly simple, they install an antenna on your balcony or the roof of your building, and then run an ethernet cable to your apartment where they hook it up to an LTE modem. In my case the installation process was slightly more complicated and took around an hour and a half because they were having trouble finding a strong signal. My building which back in the 90s was the tallest in the neighborhood is now surrounded by much taller buildings and so it was difficult to find a good signal. Thankfully, just as I was about to give up hope, they found a spot on my roof with ample signal and then ran the ethernet cable from it down to my apartment.

First impression? It’s fast! I asked for the 20Mbps connection and I’m getting around 30Mbps which is similar to what other people are reporting. What’s also great is my upload speed is between 10-20Mbps.

This right now is the fastest connection I’ve ever had at home and it feels strange because I’m so not used to having a fast and stable connection at home. YouTube videos play instantly as well as HBO, Amazon, Hulu and Netflix. The video quality from the streaming services also looks to have improved because of my now faster connection. I also managed to update all the apps on my two ipads plus two macs really quickly. I know all this sounds very normal, but you have to keep in mind, my connection for the past year or so has been terrible and I now finally feel like I have fast internet like a normal person.

For those of you who are gonna leave a comment saying I should get LTE or B Wireless or whatever, those services might be great where you are, but not where I am. I’ve had B Wireless for the past 7 years but you need a direct line of sight to their tower for it to work properly. A few months ago I lost what little line of sight I had which is why I had to look for a B Wireless alternative. Regular internet services from telecoms also doesn’t work properly where I live. Zain Bolt which can easily hit 60-70Mbps at the office barely gets 12Mbps at my place and spends most of the time hovering at around 5Mbps. So I understand you might have super fast mobile or fiber optics internet at your place, at mine it’s a different story.

Its too soon to tell if the Zain Beam speed will remain consistent, but I’m optimistic since Zain are limiting the amount of Beams they install per area. A friend of mine also told me these antennas can be upgraded in the future to work with 5G, so Zain could potentially end up providing much faster internet than their current two options (20Mbps or 40Mbps). Personally, if the connection continues like this for a the next few days I’m not even going to wait for my one month trial period to finish, I’m going to sign up right away.

The cost of the service is KD25 a month for 20Mbps, and KD40 for 40Mbps. With both options you need to commit to 24 months which is a tough pill to swallow. But with no better option, I’m willing to commit. If you guys have any questions about Zain Beam or want me to try anything let me know in the comments below.

Now that Zain’s Beam internet service has been out for a few months I’m wondering if any of my readers have tried it. I’ve been using B Wirless (Wimd) for the past 6 years but recently I’ve been having a lot of issues and barely getting 10Mbps. It’s not B Wireless’s fault, it’s just there is now a new building blocking the line of sight needed between my building and the B Wirless tower, so my connection is no longer stable.

I’ve considered getting an LTE connection from one of the telecoms but with the testing I’ve done, the speed can vary from as low as 2Mbps up to around 12Mbps. My only other alternative is Beam, but I haven’t heard of anyone using it. So if you have Beam installed, let us know what you think of it.

Kuwait is on its way to become “a country with the strongest and fastest Internet in the Arab world” through the use of optic fiber cables, reports Al-Qabas daily quoting a source close to the Sate Ministry for Services. The source pointed out that majority of the advanced countries provide Internet with a speed of 50 gigabytes, whereas the ministry will provide 100 gigabytes starting from August. [Source]

And somehow I’m still stuck barely getting 10Mbps because I live in Salmiya.

Want to be an instagram influencer? Nowadays buying fake followers, likes and even comments takes only a few clicks of a button. So when I read an article on fake influencers on mediakix last week, I thought it would be worth sharing since instagram influencers are a pretty big thing in Kuwait. The ability to buy followers and engagement so easily now is making it harder for brands to find authentic influencers to deal with which in return is effecting legit influencers as well.

To make things even more complicated, there are support groups of a sort that make it even harder for brands to figure out if the engagement is real or not. Say you want to be a travel blogger, you could join one of these “support groups” which include other travel bloggers and then whenever you post a picture the other travel bloggers will leave comments on your photos and you would do the same back whenever they post a picture.

What I found interesting about this specific article is how they used around $300 to create and build a fake instagram account, and then got brand sponsorship deals. So if the whole influencer situation facinates you, check out the article [Here]

The popular internet speed testing website Speedtest.net has a global index that is updated on a monthly basis ranking mobile and fixed broadband connections around the world. So how is Kuwait currently doing compared to the rest of the world?

Mobile Internet
Rank: 56th
Average Speed: 19.59 Mbps

Fixed Broadband
Rank: 83rd
Average Speed: 14.73 Mbps

I’m actually pretty surprised with the fixed broadband speed since I would have expected it to be a lot lower due to the fact that fiber isn’t widespread yet. Actually I’m also pretty surprised with our mobile internet speeds since I rarely get over 4 Mbps unless I’m in Kuwait City and even then it’s usually around 15-17 Mbps.

Regionally UAE ranked the highest for Mobile Internet coming in 7th with an average speed of 43.98 Mbps while Qatar ranked the highest in Fixed Broadband coming in 49th with an average speed of 27.78 Mbps.

For more information and the full rankings click [Here]

A couple of weeks ago FASTtelco launched their new logo and it now matches the Ooredoo logo. Last year Ooredoo purchased FASTtelco and I was expecting them to kill off the FT brand completely, but I guess they decided to keep it as a stand alone brand and instead have it connect back to Ooredoo with the red circles. It works.

I was also checking their website (which is pretty nicely done) and I noticed how much DSL prices have gone down in the past few years. I’ve been pretty much paying the same thing for my WiMD connection the past few years which is KD385 for 10Mbps. But if I could get DSL where I live, for nearly the same price I could have 50Mbps for KD417 or the same 10Mbps connection I have but for just KD132. Such a big difference…

Over the past couple of months I’ve been getting emails and tweets from readers asking me if the internet provider WiMD shutdown. None of their social media accounts work anymore so people are assuming they must have closed down. Well the answer is no, they haven’t closed down. Instead, WiMD have just done a pretty terrible job at letting people know that they’ve renamed and rebranded to B.Wireless.

Last year WiMD purchased the internet provider GulfNet and a couple of months ago WiMD rebranded GulfNet to B.Online, then rebranded WiMD to B.Wireless and then created a mother company called B.Global which both now fall under. It’s kinda B.Confusing just because of the fact the names are so generic and they renamed their social media accounts but didn’t really tell anyone. I’m a WiMD customer and I didn’t even get an email letting me know about the rebranding or renaming. The only reason I found out is because their marketing manager had told me they were going to rebrand and then sent me the presentation to check out. Not even the WiMD website mentions the renaming.

So if you want WiMD, their new social media accounts are:
Instagram: @bwirelesskw
Twitter: @bwirelesskw

Their website is still wimd.com.kw