Beirut - Post Report Question and Answers
Is high-speed home Internet access available? How long does it typically take to install it after arrival?
It is not good, the speeds aren't close to what they are back home. You may get different speeds depending on where you live. It is metered, so you will have to watch your consumption, because you will be charged for going over the amount. It can be expensive, as of December 2023 it is $65 for 200gb, and that may go up. Be prepared for your speeds to be slow when it rains, or high traffic time i.e. around 5-6 p.m. It is manageable though, download games, movies etc, and you should be fine. The good news is, home internet has just been deployed, the speeds aren't blazing, but it is fast enough to stream, and the connection should be reliable. The project is in its infancy, so it's hard to say if it will be a major improvement, but we are hoping for the best! - Aug 2024
The internet situation was abysmal when I showed up but the employee association switched to a new plan a few months ago. Everything is done on hotspot style routers, which makes for high data costs but aside from short periods it has been usable. - Oct 2020
Internet is very low quality and expensive. A 100 GB plan with spotty service, capped at a max DL speed of 5 mbps is US$70/month. Those who need higher speed or more reliable connections can get a LTE hotspot that costs US$110/month for 60 GB of data. - May 2019
Do some Google searching to find out how terrible the internet speed is. Different suburbs are better/worse than others. Internet in Lebanon is very expensive for poor quality. - Jul 2016
Yes. Speeds is not as fast as in North American or Western Europe, and the cost is about US$50/month. - Feb 2015
BRASS offers two home WiMax Internet plans: a 1Mbs connection with 7 GB of date for ~US$40 or a 2 Mbs connection with 12 GB of data for ~US$60. In practice, you will never realize those speeds and your ability to stream video, Skype, and download movies will be fraught with frustration and despair. A number of people have sought alternative solutions on the local economy, which utilize the 4g cell phone network and have proven to be faster, more reliable though more expensive. In any case, the Internet in Lebanon is well below the U.S. standard so keep your expectations low and you may be pleasantly surprised. - Nov 2014
On compound, the Internet service is a constant thorn if you get the regular Internet service at about US$40/month. The only way to get dependable service is to upgrade to the 3G or 4G service and pay US$150 or more per month. - Apr 2014
Yes, but it's fairly expensive and not that reliable. - Apr 2012
Available but expensive and slow. - Sep 2010
Internet is slow and very expensive in Lebanon due to state control of the primary provider and poor infrastructure. We pay $75 for a slow connection that is heavily subsidized by the embassy employee association. I just tested the connection, and it was .47 mps download and .12 mps upload. We normally download iTunes programs overnight, if that gives you any idea. - Jul 2010
Yes. $125 per month. - Jun 2009
They say it is high speed, but it's not. About US$50/month. - Mar 2008
