Job Discussion Forums

[usool]

Hi

Has anybody here tried Nawras wireless broadband in Oman? What's the download speed like and does it D/C a lot?

Thanks

[Johnz]

It works fine... current download is 115.2kbps.... slow when compared to high speed connections overseas.... I have no significant problems with disconnections.... if any occur it is more likely due to my rather aged laptop. My main advice is to check the competition.... Omantel might be cheaper/quicker download speed, but only with a domestic phone a/c and not offering a wireless connection....

[omanized]

I thought that Nawras was THE competition - when I first saw this thread I was elated that there might be options for home internet hook up ! Omantel is over boked and under equipped - it seems that anywhere you might want to move and install adsl, there just aren't any lines available.

Does anyone know if I am mistaken in my pessimism? I am moving to Azaiba soon and have heard that getting anything more than a slow dial-up will be next to impossible.....

omanized

[carnac]

When I first switched from my painfully slow Omantel regular dialup to the Nawras unit, I was very happy at the increase in download speed, although in no way can it be called "broadband". Some problems: initial installation is not simple, especially trying to follow their misleading Chinglish instructions which bear little relation to reality. Had to get a friend who is a professional programmer (consultant for IBM whose expertise certainly far exceeds my own) on the phone with Nawras to set me up, and even he had no easy time. It is nice to have the portability of the T-modem unit, and not be tied to a fixed line. However, their advertised pricing structure is, in my view, deceptive. I have never paid less than RO32 per month, which ain't cheap.And god forbid you are late paying: they chop you off mercilessly.
At the end of my next payment period, I will be going back to Omantel for an ADSL connection, as several friends have already done. We all tried Nawras and are all dropping. So I will lose portability: for the difference in cost and increase in download speeds, I can sit at my desk quite happily. The problem with Omantel ADSL is they make you get a line which is really two lines: the regular dialup connection, then an additional ADSL tunnel-line on top. (not certain of technical term for this). You tell them you don't want a phone line; you just want the ADSL connection: nope. Have to get both.
Why this should all be so user-unfriendly and expensive is beyong my comprehension. In other countries you can get unlimited time and downloads for maybe RO4 per month, as well as decent customer support. Some enterprising company could come into Oman and blow Nawras and Omantel out of the water. Wish someone would: their arrogance and service levels are abysmal.
Other than that, I'm just so happy with it all.

[veiledsentiments]

Just out of curiosity carnac, what does it cost a month?

It sounds like the same situation that I have here in the US. I am required to have a land line (phone) in order to get the DSL, and the cost is US$37 per month plus about $19 for the phone. I have only one other option and that is with the cable company which requires you to use their TV system plus their broadband... and it is about $44 per month plus another $44 for the basic TV.

We keep hearing rumors of the major phone companies (Qwest/Verizon) offering their services that one can travel about the country with, but the ones that I have looked at are running $60 per month at this point!! (plus the cost of your cell phone)

Even when I lived in an urban area with more options, there was never high speed for anywhere near 4 OR... The only option costing that in the US is reaaallllyyy slllloooowww dial-up...

Customer support is a total crapshoot... and one can often not understand their English.

VS

[carnac]

Hi Vs. Currency convert monthly Nawras RO32= USD 82. 1237. Mega ripoff.
(good currency converter is http://www.xe.com/ucc/ . )With zero service and support. I use the internet for my regular job plus research,publications in linguistics, peer reviews, just keeping up with the world (as you know, no good research facilities in Oman) which means I must max out my usage every month. Yes, my choice, I know. What do I do, die a slow, lonely academic death in the boondocks with no support or facilities? Anyway, going back to Omantel for ADSL. As to previous notes for time needed to establish Omantel connections, this is why God invented wasta. End of this month, I will drop Nawras and have Omantel ADSL next day, betcha. Inshallah. Can't play the game if you don't know the rules.

[Stephen Jones]

DSL uses the phone line; that is why you need the phone connection. Because it tunnels through the phone line you can use the phone at the same time which is an added bonus.

[carnac]

Hi, Stephen. Understand that. Just would prefer wireless and cheap. How quirky of me. Plus Omantel not highest standards reliability, but what the hell, a "developing nation".
My IBM friend got a connection without the phone capability after arguing for half an hour with Omantel. It can be done, and saves money. Dunno how, but he will be my advocate in the Superior Court of Omantel.
Sorry I am so duh about technicalities. Just want to use the machine the best I can. If I get any more info on this as the processs happens, I will pass it along.

[veiledsentiments]

Good Luck Carnac... gather up all the wasta you can find!!

I would be the same as you... get the best whatever the cost... at least now that I have been spoiled by having high speed. When I was last there, I just had dial-up at home since I could use the high speed at work... and taught two evenings a week, so that was very helpful.

VS
(who needs a currency converter... OR is one that I can do in my head and get close enough!! same with the Dh and the KD...)

[SandyMan]

Hello Johnz,

Download speeds at 115.2kbps for Nawras broadband sounds surprisingly fast to me. When I went down to the Nawras showroom here in Nizwa to try it out, it took ages just to load up a simple web page and when I opened http://www.numion.com/ to measure the speed, the download speed was so low, it couldn't even be measured. So I just concluded that Nawras broadband was a (very expensive) joke.

Anway, after what you're saying, I might pop down to the Nawras office to have a second look. Omantel in Nizwa has been running on maximum capacity for quite a few months, so no new broadband subscribers have been able to sign up since September (at least).

The "broadband" at the college here is maybe 40 kbps on a very good day (normally a fraction of that if all the students are online) so I feel stuck. I've been using dial-up (at around 40 kbps) and I thought that was the fastest thing available here in Nizwa.

SandyMan

[SandyMan]

I've been on Nawras wireless ADSL for 10 days now. The speed has never been above 40 kbps, and most of the time it's half that. So, so far, Nawras wireless has proved much slower than dial-up on my laptop. I don't know it it has anything to do with the signal strength here i Nizwa. I'm going to Muscat for the weekend and I'm taking my laptop with me to see if Nawras wireless broadband is faster over there.

I spoke to a guy at Nawras recently and he told me they are planning on upgrading to the "next generation" of wireless ADSL, beginning this April. He claimed that with the new system, the speed should be 266 kbps. Well, we'll see if that happens.

Right now, there is no way of getting broadband in Nizwa if you're not already a subscriber. A guy at the Omantel office just told me that there are 50 people on the waiting list and his guess was that they might start expanding the capacity for broadband here in Nizwa in about five months' time. Just in time for the summer break.