Cairo - Post Report Question and Answers
Is high-speed home Internet access available? How long does it typically take to install it after arrival?
Yes, our social sponsors set it up before we arrived at post. It's fairly cheap ~$60 for three months. I have had some issues with wifi, especially with power outages in the summer. But I work remotely and haven't had any major issues. - Mar 2023
Yes, quick to install. Goes down frequently, though. I have 2 internet packages from entirely different companies so there's a back-up when one goes down. - Aug 2022
High-speed internet is available. Some people use a service and can have it installed before arrival. Others can get it installed a day or two after arrival. The main problem is that if you use Orange, for example, they don't take foreign credit cards so you have to go to the store to pay every month. And sometimes if the internet goes out you have to go deal with the people at the store who may not speak English or who are confused by diplomatic IDs. Internet, when it's on, is great and good enough for streaming shows. But when it goes off it's a big hassle and headache, but manageable. (This why there is hardship pay!) - Aug 2022
Yes. Your sponsor can get TE Data set up ahead of time and you can purchase a package according to your family's needs (we pay about $40/mo.). There are other options through Orange and Vodafone that people are mostly happy with. - Mar 2022
Internet is easy to set up and can even be done before you arrive if you arrange things with your sponsor. High speed isn't really too fast, but it was enough for working from home most of the time and the family to use devices. There were some times when it would slow down and we would call the local guy to complain and then things would speed back up. - Dec 2021
HA HA HA HA HA!!! Yes, technically, but it depends. On where you live, who installs it, which way the stars are aligned and how much you need it at the time. If you have a large family that streams a lot on multiple devices, or likes to play multi-player games, it will be hit and miss. We've had problems and called "Internet Mike" (embassy will warn you to stay away from him) and he said, "The whole world is having problems with internet right now, give it some time." Okay. When it works, it works. We can't run our VPN and stream movies at the same time. But a friend who lives across the street can. Good luck. - Feb 2021
"High-speed" internet is available, but limited to 12-14mbps - families will struggle with this bandwidth when streaming or downloading. - Nov 2020
"High-speed" internet access will cap out at around 15mbps, so enough for one good stream in a household. Do not expect a family to be able to have a plethora of internet activities occurring simultaneously here. Singles or couples should be ok, but it's still spotty. VPNs seem to be frequently blocked. Installation and setup is fairly painless, if not somewhat fishy. You will hear the name "internet Mike" thrown around a lot. - Jan 2020
hahahaha no. Internet here is hilariously bed. It's like a dinosaur stuck in molasses in slow motion. Ours was installed the week we arrived in our permanent apartment but it's laughably slow. It works, don't get me wrong, but we often have to turn off wifi on our phones/laptops to be able to stream on the AppleTV. Whatsapp/Facetime/Skype video calls are terrible quality and inconsistently cut off. - Jun 2018
Wifi is over phone lines. It is not super fast, but good enough for streaming videos like Netflix, FaceTiming, Skype, etc. There are routinely internet slow periods. Companies will promise fast speeds, but the phone lines are not high enough quality to handle those speeds. You do not have a choice of providers, it is whatever company your phone line is connected to already. Changing companies is a huge process. It took about 2 weeks for it to be installed and we had to hire a "fixer" to get the process rolling. Data on phones is cheap though, so we had internet on our phones sooner. - Jan 2018
Most people go through an internet fixer to get the internet set up. I worked with the fixer and it was very easy, though I did pay a bit more for the convenience. I paid for the unlimited internet package, which was 2,110 Egyptian pounds every three months. The fixer would send a person to our building to collect the payments in cash, receipts were provided. I never had any issues and I thought it was a good system. However, some others did not have such a great experience.
You can also go directly to the internet company and initiate/terminate service but it will be significantly more involved and take longer. Using the fixer, I made a phone call requesting installation/connection and it was installed within 2 days. I bought a router from the fixer but that was not required. Also, Egypt recently passed a law limiting internet usage for high-use connections. A couple of people in our building who stream a lot of music or movies had their internet cut off toward the end of the month due to high usage and had to wait for the new month to begin before service was restored. They reached out to the company about this because they had the unlimited internet package and they were basically told nothing could be done. - Sep 2017
Internet service is available, but it is DSL over copper phone lines. It's sufficient for streaming, but service can be spotty at times. It's also expensive for the quality of service you get. Configuring the service is a major pain, but if all of the infrastructure is in place - likely if an expat lived in your unit before you - it is actually quick to turn on after the paperwork is done. Many people use "fixers" to be go-betweens with the ISP, but it was fairly easy (but tedious) to navigate the process on my own. - May 2017
No. The Internet is known for being really awful in Egypt, although it's improving slowly. Ideally get an apartment with internet already installed. - May 2017
Yes, excellent quality and very reliable, reasonable price. - Jan 2016
It is a available in some areas, but some areas/apartments do not have the infrastructure to support it. - Jan 2016
Can't recall who we used but do recall it was medium speed. - Jan 2016
Yes. Pretty comparable to the U.S. - Oct 2014
Yes, but it is not always as fast as you are paying for it to be. We can usually watch Netflix or stream a movie. US$168 for 3 months service. They come to your door to collect the money and will make service calls if needed. Probably the most you'll get for speed is 4MB, but we typically run anywhere from 500Kbps to only 2Mbps. Forget about streaming HiDef! - Aug 2014
Good connectivity relative to other posts, cost is reasonable, about US$100/ month. - Aug 2014
Yes, cheap: US$30/mo - May 2014
Yes, about US$32/month for slow ADSL. You could pay more but I don't know if the service would actually be faster. - Apr 2014
Yes, about US$50+/month. - Mar 2014
Yes. It was around $300 for six months. Speed was variable and sometimes non existent. Don't expect American standard Internet, but at least you can get something. - Jul 2013
Yes, cheap. - Jul 2013
It's not really high speed, but it works most of the time. - Jun 2013
Yes and it is inexpensive. It ranges from 2M (about $35/month) to 4M (about $60/month). - Jun 2013
"High speed" is a relative term. It is okay service at about 30 USD a month. - May 2013
When you buy internet service, the company pumps it into your building, and you share the bandwidth with everyone in your building. - May 2013
Yes, from $30 a month and up depending on speed. - May 2013
High-speed internet is available through a variety of companies and generally works without too many hitches, though it is never as fast as it claims to be. Also, Egypt has a fair-use law, so you can experience a massive slow-down if you hit the limit (so far, we have not had a problem with this). - Feb 2013
Well, technically yes. I have ADSL and paid for 4MB, the fastest offered by TEdata. But in reality, the speed is never anywhere close to that. The service does go down more often than I would like, and the speed frequently slows to the point where streaming is a headache. - Feb 2013
Sort of. It is not high-speed, but it gets the job done when there are not the 1-2 hour daily power outages. Cost range is about $50.00 a month. - Mar 2013
2MB for $40 per month (approx.). actual speed closer to 0.8MB. - Mar 2013
It is not really high speed, but the cost is reasonable. - Feb 2013
Yes -- I pay about $80 US per month and it's good. - Jan 2013
Well...it is. Our internet speed varies GREATLY and I wouldn't think you could stream from it... It is about $30 (US) per month. - Nov 2012
about $35 a month for medium-speed DSL.Able to do Skype chats, but not smoothly. - Sep 2011
Yes, with good quality. Cheap and slow (512kb) is $20/mo, with ADSL2+ at 4mbps going for around $80/mo - Aug 2011
Yes and comparable to US prices.$40 per month is average for good DSL. - Aug 2011
It is available, but ask for the speed that is one level above what you think you need, because it will always work at the minimum of whatever range they are selling. We spend about $40/month, but you could get cheaper/slower service if you want. - Jul 2011
Yes. Through most cellphone providers. It's pretty fast and reliable. - Jun 2011
DSL up to 4 MB costs about $40 per month. Note that although Voice over IP applications, like Vonage and Skype, are technically illegal, the restriction is not enforced, and ISPs do not block the use of these applications, so I could talk very clearly over the internet. - Sep 2010
Internet is ok at best. But it is not that expensive. I pay a year at a time, and it's about 300 dollars. - Jun 2010
Internet is available, though it's not necessarily high-speed. TE Data, Soficom and Link.net are the main providers, and cost is about $18 per month. - Dec 2009
