Job Discussion Forums

[GabeKessel]

Hi all,

When you come to the Kingdom, and do not yet have an Internet connection, and are on the move asin you do not yet know where you will be assigned, you can get a prepaid connecton through a portable modem ( a dongly) that looks like a small cellphone which you can plug into your USB port and surf the web everywhere you go. The modems kind of act like dial-up devices only that it is a cellphone dial up. Both Al Jawal, and Mobily, two cellphone companies in the Kingdom, offer this service.

I would like to share my experience with these two companies. Both are OK, but there are pros and cons to each one.

Al Mobily. If you still do not have an Iqama, you can go and get prepaid
service from your main Mobily office with your passport. The modem will cost you some SR 950, a SIM card- some SR 100 and and ,then, you can prepay for unlimited one month service- SR 350. Then, you are given a the modem which you plug it into a port on your lap top. It downloads an interface program which will allow you to connect and surf. You top up your Sim card by taking it out of the modem and insterting it into a cellphone and taking it to a store that has top up cards or a mobily loading machine - a little device that looks like a large calculator. You put your phone on it, the clerk dials the company, and it reloads your card. Then, you reinsert the card into the modem. Many cellphone shops now have this machine. If not available, just buy several top up cards, and load your card that way.

They also have 'limited'- by the Giga usage, no sure how much it is- I think something like SR100 or so per Giga and it is enough for some people.

The service does not always work and the interface sometimes says- "SIM card invalid" or "connection failed". In such cases, right click your desktop and choose "refresh". That should so the trick. Sometimes, removing the program completely, and then reloading it will also help.

Al Mobily is good if you are in big cities, but I have noticed that it does not work well when outside of them. At least, in some parts of the Kingdom it does not. I was assigned to Jubail after Riyadh, and it no longer worked as fast- it would take it 3-10 minutes to load just one page. Also, it started acting up when I tried to use it in a car on the way to Jubail from Riyadh.

Another thing is the download speed. If you want to download anything, the speed is from 3 kbps to some 20. Sometimes it gets up to 100 kbs or more but quickly goes down. I would say the average is some 15 kbps.

When I moved to Jubail, I simply gave up on AL Mobily and was told that Al Jawal now offered a better connection in this part of the country, By then I had already had an Iqama- it seems that it is not easy to get prepaid service without it. I went to my local Al Jawal office-and in Jubail, you need to go to the Fanateer office and get a similar "dongly" from them.

It is also recommended that you get a SIM card outside in a shop ( SR 100) - a blank one with no owners's name in it -and then, when you go to Al Jawal, ask them to register it in your name and make it 3G. It is apparently easier than buying a SIM card from them.

The dongly is also SR 950, but the unlimited is SR 450 a month, and the speed is again something like 15 kbps on the average. The interface is identical to Al Mobily's, but of a different color.If you still have Al Mobily's interface on your computer, remove it and restart before you load the Al Jawal one.

Caveat: do not start surfing the Al Jawal prepaid service until you have activated your account. In case of unlimited usage, put your card into your phone, top it up so that it has SR 450 in it, then , while it is still in your phone, call 902 and follow the prompts. To make it faster, after you hear the recording dial 2-pause-1-pause-2-pause-1 pause and, then, choose which connection you want. For ,unlimited', press "7". Then, remove the card and put it in the dongly. The company will verify that you have enough money and will activate it, usually, within one hour. You can connect the interface until it actually says "connected", but do activate the browser and not start surfing until you get a message in Arabic on your interace that you can use it.

You will get several messages, and they will all be in Arabic- some will say that "your request has been received", some will send you information on different services. Please ask an Arab colleague to confirm that the "service is activated" message has been received.

If you start surfing and your account is not yet activated, the dongly will simply start charging you mobile phone rates for the Internte access which is, on the average , some SR 40-50 an hour. You will go through the SR450 load in a few days, and then you will not be able to surf. I lost a lot of money that way without knowing what went on.

Al Mobily, on the other hand, seems to activate your account at the time of purchase, so there is less hassle.

In conclusion, Al Mobily is good for big cities and for those who do not yet have an Iqama. It is cheaper and less complicated to operate. But it does not seem to work well in small towns.

The Al Jawal prepaid service is more expensive and is more complicated to obtain, as well as you apparently may need the Iqama to be able to use it. If you do not have one, you may ask if someone with the Iqama can put you on their account.

It also seems that the donglies from there two companies are not interchangeable, and one cannot just pop the SIM of one into the modem of the other. There is a dongly for sale at the Al Jareer Bookstore that is apparently universal and can be used with both companies. It is of the same price - SR 900+. Not sure of one can use it outside of Saudi, though.

Before leaving the KSA, one can probably sell the donglies to a cellphone shop for some SR 400-500.

This concludes my down-and-dirty on prepaid portable Internet in the KSA.

[trapezius]

Thank you for your very detailed accounts.

[Middle East Beast]

I also want to thank you for taking the time to share these details with us.

I, too, and very disappointed in the ludicrous download speed. I don't even want to ask about upload speed.

Is it possible to use a webcam with either of these services? And what about audio (e.g. Internet phone service)? It seems that the data transfer rate would preclude it.

[trapezius]

[scot47]

A colleague in Eastern Province uses Mobily Connect and is pleased with the service

Unlimited is SR4200 a year (payable monthly if you wish)
5GB is SR 3000 a year
1GB is SR 1900 a year

After the initial charge.

[Stephen Jones]

[bhojani112]

The mobily sim can work on other USB Modems or it will only run in the USB Modem given by mobily...

also the vice versa case that others sims can connect on mobly modem ???

I mean to say .. If i travel outside KSA ... others will work or not ?