Hi Folks,
I'm going to be coming out to Dubai in May for a couple of years to establish the initial middle-east/southwest asia presence for my company and i'm going to be working initially from home in an as-yet unknown location. As work is paying and i'm in a tech profession which will see me hosting a few servers from a home office, i'll want a 2MB internet connection - which doesn't seem to be an issue. However i'm concerned that the internet proxies and various nefarious practices of Etisalat in the UAE that i've read about (albeit on web postings that often date back a year or so) may cause connectivity issues that will get in the way of my normal modes/methods of work.
Can anyone comment on the viability of bypassing proxies using VPN or SSH tunnels to locations in the UK, Germany or USA. I have access to IT services in those locations which can rig/frig whatever I need running on whatever ports I fancy to support my activities. My primary requirement is access to the company VPN network, having easy unrestricted browsing (some of the security/encryption stuff I work with has been blocked around the region when i've visited in the past) and VOIP services to the UK, USA and India to keep office costs down (mainly skype but also a remote Avaya softphone to a corporate office).
Finally, what kind of hardware is needed for ADSL connections?. I've a good assortment from UK life that varies from alcatel frogs to average Netgear boxes and decent Cisco kit. What's the connection standard in the UAE and will it work with router hardware that I bring over with me?
All and any info appreciated!
Christian