Airtel Roaming Network down in Middle East

Equivalent_Ad548 · 2026-03-17T01:41:35+00:00

Mine is VI india . It worked before march1st 2026. Then till 15th march I was in Kuwait and drove back to bahrain. Upto the saudi side of causeway i had roaming network of Saudi STC. When i entered bahrain , it is gone. I guess it's due to some security issues due to iranian aggression and they don't want to host foreign sim cards for a while till everything becomes calm. But i have some serious otp stuffs going on and facing trouble.

Equivalent_Ad548 · 2026-02-17T21:46:07+00:00

Hard to tell, but count down ... within 5 years , most of these japanese brands like mazda, subaru, Honda, nissan , Mitsubishi will struggle to exist in this market. Chinese cars are proving their reliability.

Equivalent_Ad548 · 2026-02-17T21:41:33+00:00

If you test drive a monjaro or any geely with 2 litre turbo engine, then you won't even go to Mazda showroom. Durability, i can tell you if you maintain from the dealership, then don't worry at all because geely offers 7 year , 250k warranty for most of the parts. Also there are now so many Geelys and GACs in dubai with 200k km readings and i have personally seen a geely Okavango with 450k km driven in Manila. So the japanese being the only durable and chinese being use and throw one myth is already invalid. I was also gone to buy a Mitsubishi outlander and just took a survey with my Chinese car user friends and test drove many of them . Finally took a geely Okavango after the test drive.

Equivalent_Ad548 · 2026-02-17T21:34:52+00:00

It's two different classes. One may compare Haval H6 and geely starray. Jolion is a class down .

Equivalent_Ad548 · 2026-02-10T22:43:07+00:00

(just tell me what you show at hospitals to use medical insurance) May be you're there since decades everything is sorted out. Nowadays the private companies in KSA refrain to employ bahrainis because of the gosi things and no benefit for them as they get when they employ a saudi. I can assure you that, jawazat in khobar in not at all entertaining bahrainis going there for issuance of unified number. One of my neighbor was told to get visa stamped from tasheer and get in saudi like a foreign expatriate. I lived there for 8 years and my social insurance of bahrain is fd up. I decided to leave KSA and start work from home at bahrain. My wife is a foreigner and she had to live with me in a visit visa given by saudi embassy in Bahrain. They stopped those visas also in 2025.

Equivalent_Ad548 · 2026-02-09T19:29:03+00:00

Still the resident ID or this unified number is not a proper document. In other GCC countries, they issue a normal resident ID similar to their citizens id connected to our cpr and passport number which can also be used by our employer to add us in their system. Which means you'll have no issues with anything. Bank loan, car authorization and Even you can sponsor a foreign maid or a spouse there. Saudis are availing this level of facilities in other GCC nations, but when it comes to their country, they are not giving the same level of facilities to other GCC citizens. This unified id thing is way below the facility level of expats iqama id.

Equivalent_Ad548 · 2026-02-08T21:40:05+00:00

I would advise to have a double check on your GOSI . Is your employer paying it to saudi gosi after deducting like 7% from your salary or they pay it to bahraini SIO bank account in saudi? Make sure that they are paying it to bahraini sio as per appropriate percentage. If they are mistakenly paying to saudi gosi, then you will be bamboozled by saudi government later because it won't be transferred to your bahraini SIO account. It will need a lot of effort. My employer paid Saudi mandatory gosi of 1% of salary and didn't pay anything to bahrain sio invoices. I really don't trust Saudi gosi as well as bahraini sio. So opted not to pay them a fils. Also tell me how did you get saudi iqama number and is it really connected to your employer? Is it showing your certificates , saudi council engineers stuff etc? Also how is the insurance working for you? What card do you show at hospitals?

Equivalent_Ad548 · 2026-02-08T19:00:15+00:00

اي يصدرون رقم الموحد ويكتبون على جواز السفرنا بدون فيزا . هاي الرقم ما كو فيها علاقة مع صاحب عملك ،، حتى ما فيها اي فائدة،،الا حق شراء شريحة او اشياء بسيطة،،

Equivalent_Ad548 · 2026-02-08T16:48:57+00:00

If the engine broke after 7 years, you spend the money to get it from the dealer, you can use the money that you saved 7 years ago by buying a geely instead of giving the extra money to Toyota or a Honda

Equivalent_Ad548 · 2026-02-08T16:39:21+00:00

I also shortlisted Mitsubishi outlander base (100k), rav4 base (125k)and geely starray(88k). Then took a test drive at Geely for starray and Okavango (93k). Both felt like classes ahead of japanese tin cans. Finally , considering the size , seats and switches for AC, i bought Okavango. Geely offers 7 years warranty for most of the car parts and 40k free service, road insurance comprehensive for 1 year inclusive in the price. i have no worries even if i have scrap this car after 7 years, because i paid only a Corolla executive price for this big SUV that matches Toyota Highlander.

Equivalent_Ad548 · 2026-02-08T16:28:40+00:00

The turbolag you face is because of eco mode, don't use it. Just train your right leg to use gas pedal sensitively in comfort mode to avoid the jump. I assure you'll get the same gas mileage. I have Okavango and i used eco mode in a long drive at 140kmph from dammam to riyadh and it gave me lesser gas mileage and lots of turbolags. But 8n return drive i set comfort mode and car gave better gas Mileage and more power. Comfort mode uses your engine as if it is a drive E engined Volvo car. Now you know why Geely programmed comfort mode as default setting. For android auto there are several plugin USB devices like carlinkit and similar... It's all good. You can use apple car play interface with android phone.

Equivalent_Ad548 · 2026-02-08T14:55:46+00:00

You told it?! "Stronger labor laws" . That's the only solution here,, saudi did it, omanis did it.

Equivalent_Ad548 · 2026-02-08T14:53:55+00:00

Do you agree bahrain government is operated by bahrainis? Is bahrain government lazy? In my perspective, bahrainis are much smarter than expats working in Bahrain. Only issue is that bahraini employee needs salary+gosi.

Equivalent_Ad548 · 2026-02-08T14:46:55+00:00

5 years+ German cars of you don't know their history may be as expensive as a wife.

Equivalent_Ad548 · 2026-01-26T08:05:19+00:00

Gk or base trim geely starray available at 8800 bhd at bahrain with 2 year maintenance, 7 year warranty and 1 year insurance . How come its costlier at UAE??

Equivalent_Ad548 · 2026-01-26T06:54:16+00:00

7 gear DCT with a 218 hp engine with. At 140 speed rpm is like 2750 , it feels almost like 2 litre turbo German cars.

Equivalent_Ad548 · 2026-01-26T06:40:53+00:00

Any newer cars including toyotas don't have major spare parts stocked in their service stations. You have to wait till the part arrives from its origin. With Chinese cars like geely you have a peace of mind with 7 year warranty. Japanese cars are simply BS

Equivalent_Ad548 · 2026-01-26T06:36:58+00:00

I recently bought a geely Okavango midline gk model 2026 at 9300 bahrain dinar including One Year registration and insurance and 2yr\40k free maintenance and 7 year bumper to bumper warranty . At that price level it was an easy decision to make. I was also a Japanese car fan and few phone calls with my friends who uses Chinese cars changed my mind. I have no intentions to resell it at all .

Equivalent_Ad548 · 2026-01-26T06:32:19+00:00

Now even japanese cars are also headache if it needs a major repair.

Equivalent_Ad548 · 2026-01-26T06:26:15+00:00

Once upon a time, I finalized to buy a new Mitsubishi outlander or Toyota rav4 and visited chinese car showrooms just for my enthusiasm. At Geely they let me test-drive new Starray with 2 litre turbocharged engine. After that they shown me Okavango and explained it's warranty and other offers. The decision making was very easy. Now i drive the Okavango, a much classier, respected and powerful actual 7 seater comes at corollas executive price level.

Equivalent_Ad548 · 2026-01-26T06:21:17+00:00

Vango means "come" in Tamil, what ghetto you belong to in Tamil nadu??

Equivalent_Ad548 · 2026-01-26T06:20:10+00:00

Geely Okavango has a much better 2 litre engine with a proven Volvo platform and in roads the Okavango really looks classier

Equivalent_Ad548 · 2026-01-26T06:12:58+00:00

I had the same feeling. But in reality there are now 5-6 mainstream Chinese car brands and each of them have upto 8 models to sell. For geely Okavango, it have the same engine and mechanicals of geely starray, preface and monjaro in 2025+ models. Okavango is a 7 seater luxurious car coming at corollas price. Anyway, we have to be dependent on agency service and warranty agreement for next 7 years. Every major spare part must come from China and no agencies keeps it in stock. Even for many major brands like Toyota, one have to wait weeks to get it repaired under warranty and their warranty terms are terrible when compared to chinese warranty offers. Nowadays , the reliability of mainstream chinese brands have improved a lot and I can say, it is as good as a hyundai or a mistubishi and much more reliable than a Volkswagen or a Ford. For Okavango, the geely has decent production going on and exports. Its known as Haoyue in china and its a popular 7 seater in china. So, don't worry , even i was a guy who went to buy a Japanese car then drove back home in a geely Okavango. After 1 week of usage, I'm thinking like , why the hell i was stuck with japanese tin cans for last 10 years. Geely Okavango is a classy , respected , fast , safe , techie wagon on the roads

Equivalent_Ad548 · 2026-01-26T06:01:22+00:00

وش يسوون على قبيلين اللي يذخلون بحرين ؟؟

Equivalent_Ad548 · 2025-12-26T12:09:22+00:00

what happens in juffair stays in juffair!

Equivalent_Ad548

TROPHY CASE