Several countries in the Middle East, including Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the U.A.E., are leaders in fiber deployment and adoption. The introduction of gigabit packages and the increase in entry-level speeds have significantly boosted their ranking in the Speedtest Global Index® for fixed broadband. This article examines the impact of Wi-Fi standards on fiber performance and discusses ISPs’ initiatives to enhance in-home performance.

Key Takeaways:

  • Median download speeds now exceed 300 Mbps in the UAE, 180 Mbps in Jordan, 130 Mbps in Bahrain, and 120 Mbps in Saudi Arabia. Since 2024, regulatory mandates and commercial upgrades across the Gulf and Jordan have driven a significant surge in fixed-broadband performance: minimum entry-level speeds doubled or tripled in some markets, fiber coverage expanded, and gigabit-plus packages became more common.
  • In-home Wi-Fi remains the key bottleneck to delivering fiber’s high throughputs and enhancing real-world user experience. Most customers still rely on legacy Wi-Fi standards (Wi-Fi-4 and 5), underscoring the necessity for ISPs to accelerate CPE (customer premises equipment) upgrades to Wi-Fi-6/7 to potentially boost the in-home broadband experience many-fold. Speedtest data shows that Wi-Fi 6 can achieve more than 10 times the download speed of Wi-Fi 4.
  • ISPs launched multiple initiatives to encourage customers to upgrade to gigabit packages and improve in-home connectivity. These include bundling advanced CPEs (Wi-Fi 6 and even Wi-Fi 7), mesh Wi-Fi equipment, and deploying fiber-to-the-room (FTTR) to ensure whole-home gigabit coverage. They have also slashed gigabit pricing, making ultra-high-speed broadband more affordable and driving mass adoption. 

Fixed broadband performance in the Gulf region and Jordan has improved since 2024, thanks to a regulatory and commercial push for higher speeds

Operators in Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the U.A.E. offer some of the fastest broadband speeds in the Middle East region. In a previous analysis, we reported on the improvement in download and upload speeds realized by these markets thanks to expanding fiber coverage, an increase in entry-level packages’ speed, and the introduction of multi-gigabit plans (i.e., with headline speed of more than 1 Gbps). Note that we have excluded Kuwait and Oman from the analysis because they have lower levels of fiber penetration than the selected countries.

ISPs in the UAE  increased the minimum broadband package speed from 250 Mbps to 500 Mbps in Q4 2022, which resulted in notable improvements in median download speeds, reaching 317.98 Mbps in Q2 2025. A similar uplift was observed in upload speeds, reaching 147.28 Mbps and converging with Jordan and Qatar. Both ISPs, e& UAE and du, offer packages with up to 5 Gbps and 10 Gbps in select areas.

In April 2023, Bahrain‘s telecoms regulator mandated ISPs to double the speed of entry-level fiber packages while maintaining the same wholesale prices. In March 2025, minimum speeds were further increased from 100 Mbps to 300 Mbps. This impacted the ISPs immediately, with median download speeds jumping from 86.61 Mbps in Q4 2024 to 130.74 Mbps in Q2 2025. Upload speeds nearly tripled from 20.72 Mbps to 58.9 Mbps over the same period, reaching the same level as Saudi Arabia.

Qatar was the first country in the Gulf to offer 10 Gbps consumer broadband packages. Local ISPs raised the minimum speed to 1 Gbps in June 2023 while offering discounts on more expensive fiber packages, making gigabit speeds the norm in the country. These initiatives resulted in a step change in download speeds, more than doubling over two years to Q2 2025. 

Jordan established a fiber wholesale company in 2019 to accelerate network deployment and drive competition. As of June 2025, it covered 1.65 million premises with a network that spans 13,200 km. According to the latest report from the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (TRC), the number of fiber subscriptions increased by 9.5% to 591,284 (out of 821,192 fixed broadband lines) in Q4 2024. As fiber represents nearly 73% of fixed broadband subscriptions, the proportion of customers on a 200+ Mbps plan increased from 42.1% in Q3 2023 to 58.5% between Q4 2023 and Q4 2024. Local ISPs have also been increasing the speed of entry-level plans and offering gigabit packages. For example, Orange Jordan introduced 2 Gbps and 10 Gbps plans in May 2023. The accelerated fiber take-up steadily boosted the median download and upload speeds to 181.59 Mbps and 143.47 Mbps, respectively, in Q2 2025. 

In Saudi Arabia, stc was the first to increase the minimum download speed from 100 Mbps to 300 Mbps in the summer of 2022, followed by Mobily, which doubled the speed of its entry-level package and introduced a 1 Gbps broadband plan during Q2 2023, and Zain and Salam which offer a range of home packages from 100 Mbps to 1Gbps. The median download speed surpassed 120 Mbps for the first time in Q4 2024, reaching 124.89 Mbps by Q2 2025. Upload speeds saw a more modest improvement, rising to 56.96 Mbps during this period. Speedtest Intelligence’s Enrichment API allows us to track the adoption and performance of individual fixed broadband technologies and assess their impact on the Saudi market. For example, the fiber share of stc Speedtest samples represented 74.5% of Speedtest samples in Q2 2025.

Fixed Network Performance Evolution, Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the U.A.E.
Source: Speedtest Intelligence | Q2 2023 – Q2 2025
Fixed Network Performance Evolution, Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the U.A.E.

Growing adoption of new CPEs is helping to improve speed, but persistent usage of legacy Wi-Fi continues to be a limitation for some users

The increase in fiber adoption contributes to raising overall fixed broadband performance across download and upload speed metrics and creates a path for ISPs to upsell to packages with better features. However, the indoor Wi-Fi network can be a bottleneck to translating improvements in access speeds to better end-user experiences, especially in larger properties.

To illustrate this, we looked at the difference in performance between fiber Speedtest samples (by selecting low-latency samples only) that connect via an Ethernet cable compared to Wi-Fi. Results show that, in general, users who connect online through cable to the ONT (optical network terminal) or router could experience a 2x to 3x uplift in download speed and a 1.6x to 2.1x increase in upload speed compared to those who connect via Wi-Fi. The gains are bigger in countries with the highest download and upload speeds. Ethernet download speeds reached 790.0 Mbps, 653.6 Mbps, and 489.1 Mbps in the U.A.E., Qatar, and Jordan, respectively, in Q2 2025. Similarly, upload speeds are more than twice as high with Ethernet as with Wi-Fi, reaching 348.6 Mbps in Q2 2025.

Fiber Network Performance, by Access Technology, Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the U.A.E.
Source: Speedtest Intelligence | Q2 2025
Fiber Network Performance, by Access Technology, Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the U.A.E.

The charts above show that most users who connect their devices through Wi-Fi are not able to take advantage of fiber speed due to aging equipment. To bridge this gap, most ISPs in these countries now offer CPEs that support at least the Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) standard, which enables faster maximum data rates (up to 9.6 Gbps) and lower latency than the earlier Wi-Fi 4 and 5 generations. Its newer iteration, Wi-Fi 7, can combine 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz spectrum bands and support wider channels for better throughput and less interference. 

Legacy standards (Wi-Fi 4 and Wi-Fi 5) are prevalent despite their progressive replacement with newer standards. In H1 2025, more than 75% of test samples were using Wi-Fi 4 or Wi-Fi 5 connected to the fixed CPE, down from 75.6% in H2 2023. The share of Wi-Fi 4/5 samples varies by country, with the highest incidence in Jordan (89%) and the lowest in Qatar (60.7%).  

While the sample percentage for Wi-Fi 5 (around half of the samples) did not change materially between H2 2023 and H1 2025, the share of Wi-Fi 6 (including Wi-Fi 6E) increased from 18.6% to 24.2% during that period, reflecting the increased availability of newer CPEs and consumers’ adoption. Qatar has the highest penetration of Wi-Fi 6 samples at 39.05%, followed by the U.A.E. with 34.5%.

Wi-Fi 7 remains nascent in the Middle East, representing 0.19% of Speedtest samples in H1 2025. The U.A.E. and Qatar lead the region with penetration rates at 0.41% and 0.25%, respectively, while Jordan has the lowest share of Wi-Fi 7 samples at 0.04%.

Fiber Speedtest Samples by Wi-Fi Generation, Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the U.A.E.
Source: Speedtest Intelligence | Q1-Q2 2025
Fiber Speedtest Samples by Wi-Fi Generation, Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the U.A.E.

The choice of Wi-Fi standard and spectrum bands has a direct impact on the indoor experience of fiber services

Consumer-initiated speed tests confirm that users’ experience of network speed is significantly affected by how their devices connect to the Wi-Fi access point. The charts below show the median download speed distribution by Wi-Fi standard used. 

The median download speed for samples that use Wi-Fi 4 topped at 45.65 Mbps in Bahrain, and dropped as low as 35.96 Mbps in Jordan. Wi-Fi 5 samples achieved a 5.0x to 5.8x increase in speed compared to Wi-Fi 4, with Jordan seeing the largest gain at 209.22 Mbps, while Bahrain had the most modest gain at 226.63 Mbps in Q2 2025. With Wi-Fi 6, the speed increased more than 10 times in Jordan, Qatar, and the U.A.E. compared to Wi-Fi 4, with Qatar seeing a 12x gain at 448.23 Mbps. 

Users in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia would have experienced less significant gains at 4.6x and 6.3x, respectively. These two countries have the lowest reported median download speeds, so many users upgrading from Wi-Fi 5 to Wi-Fi 6 are less likely to perceive a difference in their home network performance.

Gains when upgrading to newer Wi-Fi standards are also observed for upload speeds, but are less pronounced than with download speeds. Wi-Fi 6 samples deliver an upload speed 7 times faster than Wi-Fi 4.

Fiber Network Performance, by Wi-Fi Generation, Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the U.A.E.
Source: Speedtest Intelligence | Q2 2025
Fiber Network Performance, by Wi-Fi Generation, Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the U.A.E.

Analyzing the fastest 10% samples in Q2 2025 can reveal more clearly the potential speed uplift for demanding customers when using modern Wi-Fi standards. Top-tier Wi-Fi 6 samples from Qatar and the U.A.E. had a 90th percentile download speed that exceeded 800 Mbps, more than nine times the performance of the best 10% Wi-Fi 4 samples.

Fixed Network Performance of Top 10% of Speedtest Samples, by Wi-Fi Generation, Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the U.A.E.
Source: Speedtest Intelligence | Q2 2025
Fixed Network Performance of Top 10% of Speedtest Samples, by Wi-Fi Generation, Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the U.A.E.

Looking at the distribution of Wi-Fi 4 Speedtest samples by CPE manufacturer, we find that Huawei and TP-Link are the top router brands across the reviewed countries. However, their popularity varies vastly by market, depending on the equipment bundled by ISPs with their broadband offerings and consumers’ ability to use third-party routers (some ISPs allow only their own fiber routers).

Our data shows that Bahrain had the highest proportion of samples connected to a Huawei CPE in Q2 2025, at 58.50%. Around a third of the Jordan and Saudi Arabia samples are also from this brand. TP-Link routers are most common in Qatar (39.28%), the U.A.E. (33.23%), and Saudi Arabia (33.22%). We have identified 66 other router/mesh brands that used Wi-Fi 4 in these markets, with Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E. being the most fragmented markets. The high diversity of the networking equipment gives less room for the ISPs to address any performance issues related to routers, or to convince their customers to upgrade to new models. ISPs should therefore direct their efforts to upgrading Huawei and TP-Link routers, upgrading their firmware, or adjusting their configurations to increase the likelihood of using Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 6 standards.

Distribution of Wi-Fi 4 Speedtest Samples by Manufacturer, Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the U.A.E.
Source: Speedtest Intelligence | Q1-Q2 2025
Distribution of Wi-Fi 4 Speedtest Samples by Manufacturer, Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the U.A.E.

Our research showed that most commercial CPEs introduced in the region since 2020 likely support Wi-Fi 5 (if not Wi-Fi 6). Therefore, many users are capable of using Wi-Fi 5 but are still on Wi-Fi 4. Misconfigured routers and the continued use of legacy CPEs and old devices at home could be the primary causes of the prevalence of legacy Wi-Fi 4 Speedtest samples in these countries.

Across all Wi-Fi technologies, the 2.4 GHz spectrum band provides coverage, while the 5 GHz band is only available in Wi-Fi 5 and more recent standards, providing more capacity at the cost of limited reach. When users move around the home or the office, away from the CPE, the connection might shift from 5 GHz to 2.4 GHz because it offers better coverage. However, in some cases, when users get closer to the CPE, they continue to camp on the 2.4 GHz if the router does not have an automatic function to push the users back onto 5 GHz. ISPs could work with device manufacturers to enable this functionality by default through a firmware update.

Wi-Fi 5 and 6 routers operate primarily on the 5 GHz band but include a separate mode to connect to the 2.4 GHz band using the older Wi-Fi 4 standard.  This dual-band (or triple-band in the case of Wi-Fi 6E routers) capability allows for better performance and reduced interference compared to only using a single band. Speedtest data confirms that the 5 GHz band consistently offers higher speeds because it is less congested by using more channels and wider bandwidth per channel, making it a preferred option in most cases. Note that 6 GHz is not included in the charts below due to the low sample size.

Fiber Network Performance of Top 10% of Speedtest Samples, by Frequency Band, Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the U.A.E.
Source: Speedtest Intelligence | Q2 2025
Fiber Network Performance of Top 10% of Speedtest Samples, by Frequency Band, Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the U.A.E.

Operators have launched multiple initiatives to encourage customers to upgrade to packages with gigabit speed and improve indoor connectivity.

Most ISPs have been offering Wi-Fi 6-compatible CPEs for new broadband customers and free upgrades to those extending their contracts—some operators, such as Ooredoo Qatar, even bundle Wi-Fi 7 CPEs with their gigabit broadband packages. Furthermore, some ISPs bundle gigabit packages with mesh Wi-Fi nodes that support Wi-Fi 6 at discounts or no additional cost to improve indoor coverage and speed, or smart home services like security. 

More recently, ISPs have been exploring FTTR technology, which consists of deploying and extending fiber connectivity to each room, usually through transparent cables, to provide ubiquitous gigabit wireless access. Countries spearheading this trend include Jordan (Umniah and Zain), Qatar (Ooredoo), Saudi Arabia (Salam, stc), and the U.A.E. (e& UAE). For example, Ooredoo Qatar includes FTTR for free with its top two packages to connect up to five rooms. Other operators either offer dedicated fiber packages that bundle FTTR (e.g., Umniah, Zain), or charge an extra monthly fee for this feature (e.g., stc, e&).

Another factor that can drive gigabit internet adoption is affordability. For example, a 1 Gbps fiber line in Hong Kong or Singapore could cost as little as $30 per month, and in Jordan it starts at $38 per month. Gulf ISPs have started lowering the prices of gigabit packages to make them more accessible. For example, the U.A.E.’s prices start at $100 per month, a 33% reduction compared to late 2023.  Prices have also been revised down in Saudi Arabia (for example, Mobily offers a 1 Gbps plan for SAR736 ($196)) and in Bahrain (the entry price is down from $345 in late 2023 to $117 now). Such efforts will make gigabit plans more accessible and contribute to boosting the countries’ median download speeds.

Gulf countries and Jordan are leading the Middle East region in fiber network deployment and adoption, and gigabit home broadband services are becoming increasingly common. Access to such speeds increases the importance of an indoor Wi-Fi solution that supports them. To address this bottleneck, ISPs have introduced mesh solutions, upgraded CPEs to support Wi-Fi 6 and 7, and deployed FTTR. Such approaches ensure that ISPs can meet consumers’ expectations throughout their homes and provide a competitive edge to differentiate their gigabit services.

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