Any users located in Dubai?

Hi all,

I potentially have the opportunity to change jobs and relocate to Dubai sometime this year possibly for the next five or so years.

I am looking into details as much as possible, tax free obviously sounds good - along with the general life opportunites that will be available to myself and my family. But I need to understand what I am likely to lose, especially in terms of Internet access which we will increasingly reliy on.

Are there any users of this board that are based in Dubai, that can detail the restrictions on the web and related technologies?

What I am really interested in is:

• What are the average speeds of broadband and related costs?
• How widespred are web site restrictions? - What types of sites are blocked
• I understand Skype and other similar VOIP is blocked, but there are work arounds - proxy switching etc... Has anybody tried this? How relaibale are these fixes?
• Are there any problems using Xbox Live or the PS3 Internet service, both including video and audio communications? - If VOIP is a pain is this a viable solution to communications? Setting my and her parents up with a PS3 or Xbox360 for video and audio comms seems a solution escpecially so they can see my daughter grow.
• Are there any problems accessing Newsgroups, torrents etc...?

Theres proboably another 100 or so questions I should be asking but these are the ones on the top of my head.

Cheers,
Mark

 

isnt there a luxuary hotel in dubai that supposedly has the fastest civilian internet connection in the world?

 

I think that would be the Burj Al-Arab... supposedly the most opulent hotel in the world (they even gave themselves 7 stars).

Relocating to Dubai, I envy you (though I might go crazy after a few months)

 

Most people I have talked to have made a similar statement! - Although living with my misses im crazy already :lol:

Luckily they are a global company and it will be my choice where I work, so if things arnt right for me or the family we can relocate quite easily, although at this stage I can't see many negatives to Dubai.

 

I used to live in Abu Dhabi, if that's of any help =)

There's only one internet service provider, Etisalat, and they have filters for many things, mostly political and porn, but also some harmless sites.

when i lived there, XBOX live wasnt around, and neither was the PS3, but I assume that they should be fine.

 

Thanks for the info, reading all about Etisalat now and the Dubai Internet City - hmmmmm possibilities!!!

What were your impressions of the Emirates?, is it somewhere you would concider living in the future? and if so would it be alone or with family?

Any tips or info you have will be appriciated, need to make a rather quick decision, and so far it all looks to good to be true!

EDIT: 349AED - £47.5 a month for a 2MB Broadband line - damn!

 

I used to live there in 2002-2004. Things have changed since then.

most of The locals are very self-centered and arrogant, so keep clear from them.

The police always sides with the locals etc.

Depending on your passport, u get better or worse treatment. Since u have a UK one, u should be fine though. American passports are very highly regarded too.

Living there has become expensive, and crime has rised somewhat since i was there. Also, Dubai is much more "busy" and "dirty" than Abu dhabi, so go to A.D instead if u can.


Working contracts there are easily terminated and its hard to be compensated. Their legal system is messy and very flexible to their own benefit. Things are unstable if u re there for a job usually, because they ike milking foreigners before throwing em out.

That said, if u can find jobs quickly one after the other, u should be ok.

 

Thanks again Barc0de, very useful info, im looking into Aby dhabi and Al ayn as places to live, i'll have the option of going into the "office" in Duabi a couple of days a week and working remotly at other times so its a possibility. Although the lack of a decent transport system may hinder this. At least initally I see us all being based in Dubai.

The living costs do seem to be the big negatives so far, accomodation will be subsadised by my employer but everything else is starting to stack up. The tax free savings are starting to be eaten away :-(

Hopefully contract terminations won't be something I need to be wary of, they need me much more than I need them :thumbsup: but very interesting to note, also as i will be employed by an American company things may be different. Something to look into!

It will be the first time I have lived abroad for longer than a few months so if I go through with it, it will be a huge change!

 

Sounds like a great place!!!

 

Yeah, "what a great place" meaning you can´t do shit. Without you are fucked. I wouldn´t work or live in a regime/dictatorship/etc., not even if I got 1 billion English Pound Sterling for it. Dubai, is maybe not as insane as Singapore, but it is close at many points. And well, I could easily name other countries where they have the same rules , but I am not going to. So no, I wouldn´t work a place like that. But anyway it is just my honest opinion.

 

Just to put dampner on things, I don`t envy you at all

I used to go to Dubai virtually every week for about 2 years, quite some time years ago and then it was great.

Now it is just an ever expanding sprawl, with so many companies,buildings, traffic.

I have freinds that live very close to the World Trade Centre and is probably about 6-7 miles as the crow flies to the airport

Because of all the traffic it is sometimes quicker for them to drive 50 odd miles to Abu Dhabi

6 lane highways piling through miles of skyscrapers.......makes it loose it appeal to my anyway

All IMHO

 

Hmmm can you elaborate? what exaclty wouldnt you be able to do that would cause you to miss out on a billion pounds (even if only in jeest)

Missing out on a porn and political sites, in my mind is not a neccessety - I mean how many episodes of busty anal wenches do I need to have?!? :lol:

Offline obviously there are more restrictions, but to be honest living somewhere banning the sale of alcahol to only International residents doesnt cause me a problem, and the benefits of walking out of my house and not seeing a group of 13 year olds sharing a bottle of diamond white and listening to their stupid MP3 phones sounds like heaven! I have a wife so the issues of not being able to have a relationship with out being married is not a problem.

Work contracts is obviously a concern, but there is always a flight home.

Self centred and arrogant locals, hmmmm just seems like a normal day in the office. Not a problem, just make friends with people who are not like that - easy!

So far pros:

Great weather,
Fantastic beaches,
Beautiful modern property with fantastic views
Tax free incentives,
Lack of crime (compared to London),
Great healthcare and education possibilities,
Golf days, :thumbsup:
Cheap shopping,

Easily outweigh the cons supplied so far

 

yea the travel problems to seem to be bigger than I imagined, I guess they built the hotels and apartments and the road came as a bit of an after thought!

Although after nearly 5 years of Train - DLR (monorail type train) & tube each day im ready for a new challenge lol

 

LuckyToke: I won´t accept a country, that violates the human rights on regular basis, where I can´t do anything about it. And I know, the human rights are being violated around where I live. But here I can do just a little about it. But in Dubai I couldn´t. About 13 year olds drinking alcohol and listening to their silly MP3 phones is not really a problem here, well maybe the sucky shite music they play from their phones is a problem, but not the drinking part. Here there are more illegal things going on, than teens bingedrinking. And the police won´t do squat about it. So again, maybe it is because I can´t accept human rights being violated. And alot of other stuff. But again, as I said, it is just my honest opinion.

To me Dubai, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore(just to name a few) are places where I would never ever set my foot on, without I was forced to do it.

And well, I won´t accept USAs human rights violations either. But at least USA is a democracy in some way.

 

OK, I now understand your views of Dubai a little clearer, sadly as you say there are not many countries that human rights are not violated on a daily basis incl England, and I have no real interest in trying to combat it. So this argument cant really be used to help make up my decision.

Thanks anyway!

 

I know, but as I said. It is my morale standards, that are clear on that subject. So as I said, it was just my opinion about it.

 

I visited Dubai 2 years ago. It was just for holiday. If you are interested in games, you should visit geekay games:

http://www.geekaygames.com/locations.htm

I was in the small shop in Dubai for about an hour. So many still sealed old stuff - I saw Virtual Boy, Sega Saturn, Neo Geo games and much more.

 

Hey thanks mdmx - Never thought of asking about gaming shops, thought id be limited to supermarkets and the like! - What were the prices like? at a guess over the odds?!?

Hope the stores are a little more upto date with current gen than the website tho! :lol:

 

geekay is ok, but they re VERY expensive. i used to shop there all the time.

there's a small shopping center in abu dhabi, very small, that's full of game-shops.not many people know about it. they also carry lots of bootleg and pirates!

 

After saving lots of money on taxes and health insurance (free in dubay if I remember correctly) I wouldn't mind paying that for my internet connection!! :nod: