The best ISP in Israel

April 15, 2008 8:01 AM

Off to Israel and don't want to miss my internet fix. Anyone know the best ISP?

The wife and I are heading to Tel Aviv for a year or so. We have friends and relatives out there but none have been able to recommend a good ISP.

This is extra important for me as I need the net for work (web developer), rest (TV and radio) and play (online gaming). I don't mind paying a premium for a pro service. Problem is, I can't find any.

There seems to be only a handful of ISPs, the best on paper appears to be HOT's 10meg line, but I've already had people warning me off them. Anyone know better?

I would happily pay $100 per month for a quick and reliable service. Anyone know of one?

posted by Blip to computers & internet (8 comments total)

Internet Zahav, aka Gold aka Smile - don't ask me why they have so many different names. They're ok. Definitely stay away from the corporations - it's like entering a maze with no way out.
posted by watercarrier at 9:21 AM on April 15, 2008

Bezeq Benleumi (Bezeq International) is what I use and it's pretty good. Not too many problems (probably one over the past year and a bit) and pretty good service. Can get a little confusing because the company that provides the hardware and the company that provides the software are two different daughter companies of the same, er, company (Bezeq vs. Bezeq Int.) Anyways, good reliable service and fast internet....
posted by alona at 10:45 AM on April 15, 2008

(er, you'll want to click on plans for their internet services)
posted by alona at 10:46 AM on April 15, 2008

Thanks alona. Believe it or not I know the guy who designed their parrot logo. He hates it. For this reason alone I am a little scared of them.

If you don't mind me asking, what plan are you on? I have my own modem (2 actually) so would I require any hardware / software?
posted by Blip at 11:27 AM on April 15, 2008

Re: software, as far as I know all the ISPs* here require you to dial-in to connect using some dialer program they provide (usually Windows only). However, you can also set things up to do this automatically through a router. I've heard that some of them claim that isn't possible or won't give you the information you need in order to set it up, so you might want to talk with providers first to make sure they let you do this.

* not the companies that provide the actual physical connection - like alona said, you need to go through two companies to get online.
posted by lullabyofbirdland at 10:52 PM on April 15, 2008

Cheers, I'm a mac user, looks like I'm in for an interesting time...
posted by Blip at 4:35 AM on April 16, 2008

For what it's worth, I had no problems with Barak about dialing through my router and thus avoiding the windows-dialer problem. I use their slowest connection though - no idea how good their high-speed service is.
posted by lullabyofbirdland at 9:50 PM on April 16, 2008

OK, went with Bezeq and eventually it worked very well. We got the 8mb service and initially it slowed down to about 1mb, but after a friendly phone call we are now pushing the absolute limit which is great. Cheers everyone.
posted by Blip at 4:49 AM on May 26, 2008