patrick30

Anonymous Netgate

Firstly, I would like to use a quote from todays news from the Middle Eastern news paper GULFNEWS which refers to the explosion of online users in the Middle East

Dubai: Internet users in the Middle East increased by 479.3 per cent over the past six years, and, by the end of 2006 there were 19 million internet users representing 1.8 per cent of the one billion users worldwide, according to a report titled Internet World Statistics.

The Middle East ranked sixth among countries of the world that use internet technology, said the report by the World Development Forum.
Khalid Eid, managing director of the World Development Forum, said the Arab region still lags behind in the digital race. Landlines, cellphones and the internet subscribers rate 10, 24 and eight per cent respectively.
You can find the full link for this article at http://www.gulfnews.com/business/Internet/10153321.html

Some might be asking why or what relevance this has to the subject topic above, well I wanted to use this example to introduce a cool new website that i have just found called www.thenetgate.org.
When i first arrived here in the Middle East i got stung big time with my phone bills because VOIP is blocked here in the UAE, before you ask?

Well after much research i have managed to locate this site and its saving me a fortune if you are new here in the Middle East its well worth a look at.
I dont know how long it will be around for but check it out all the same, because i know some people on here were after a solution to censorship online?

The software is a VPN software that enables viewers to have full access to the internet with out any censorship in the Middle East and provides total Anonymous surfing when on line. One of the cool features with it is it allows you to change your IP address to between any country in the world and tells you how to do this in some smart videos and its really easy to set up!

By the way you may think that i am working for this company, but i am not i have just had huge phone bills when i first arrived from our great service provider!!!

PSCheck it out and please get back to me if you have any problems give me a shout!

Cham128

that's the only part of that article i still can't understand.... as far as i'm aware the middle east still isn't a country....

I'll let a few friends know about though... however aren't VPN tunnels illegal out there? there's a few sites like this that etisalat has blocked access to as soon as a lot of people start using them

Inselaffen

probably not a wise idea to post such a thing on an open forum!

patrick30

To my understanding VPNs are an encrypted tunnel that allows data traffic to travel through and not be detected by your ISP, like the traffic used for Skype and other VOIP services. ISP will only block a service if there is constant traffic through the tunnel because even though they can’t see what the traffic is they presume that it is VOIP traffic in which case they try and block this tunnel.
Maybe some of internet savvy people on here can explain further about these tunnels?

The key to www.thenetgate.org is you can switch it on and off when ever you want and also change you IP address so no one can trace your location which is kind of cool really.

I don’t think that its illegal to use software like this because i have never seen anything officially that states it.

The question comes down to money and savings if you can save 90 percent off your phone bill every month people are going to try and find ways to keep that in there own pocket???? Does anyone on this board have any views on this subject I would really like to hear them?

PS I am not trying to sell this website, I just think that we should all stick together and help each other the best we can, because been Anonymous online is the way forward!!

Inselaffen

they are illegal! as mentioned I dont think the website owners will appreciate you posting about VPN's in this open forum! I am sure that the powers that be monitor the content of sites such as this!

patrick30

Take a chill pill!

Were does it say that its illegal can you show me?

Secondly there are many references from other posts in this forum about VPNs.

I thought that we as members are here to help fellow members who are facing hardship due to the ever rising costs of live in the Middle east?????

Inselaffen

you are using a VPN to access sites that have been decleared illegal here by the authorities! It is illegal
Just try to use some common sense! We are all here to help each other just do it discretely! offer to send the details to those interested rather than blasting it all over the site! There might be lots of mentions of VPN's but you dont see people posting links to VPN sites. have some consideration for the people who run this site otherwise we will all have to use a VPN to access BE because it will have been banned!!

Eeyore

Legally speaking, one doesn't automatically follow the other, and I've never seen anything anywhere to suggest that VPNs are illegal in the UAE - many businesses here use them.

And of course, the sites that are supposedly illegal are only inaccessible if you're unlucky enough to have to use Etisalat. Consistent much?

Robbies

Du was not available in my area. I had to go with Etisalat. However they even had problems connecting Etisalat so I am still sans internet at home...

blokeindubai

You shouldn't post it here as it will be banned by the authorities once they get wind of it. I've been using these sorts of site to get around the proxy for several years but every 3-6 months it's discovered and blocked too...

lionheart

You can be sure that one of our BE members is actually a government employee looking for insider knowledge...the same thing happens on the Dubai tourism board, the name of which escapes me. Some guy comes up with the official government line whenever a contentious point gets raised about visas and the like.

Eeyore

VPNs are a completely different thing to those proxy websites. With a VPN, you have to download and run a special piece of software on your computer in order to create the encrypted link.

Cham128

so is it a lottery as to whether you have to use Du or Etisalat? or is it a known thing in certain area's Du is available?

all i want is access to my flickr account... is that asking too much?

Eeyore

Du internet service is currently only available in Emaar and (possibly) Dubai Properties developments - so the Springs, Meadows, Greens, the Burj Dubai area, some towers in the Marina and probably JBR too. If you live in these areas, Du is the *only* broadband internet you can have.

Everywhere else, you're stuck with Etisalat, although some people are "lucky" enough to have the choice of getting their internet from Etisalat or E-vision cable (although with E-vision you're still stuck with the Etisalat proxy and crappy speeds).

shakh your bootie

eh? flickr works fine here in abu dhabi???