How to Get a UAE IP Address From Abroad

At first, you might wonder why anyone would want an IP address located inside the United Arab Emirates (UAE)?

Freedom House gave the UAE a 2020 Internet Freedom Score of 29 out of 100 (not free), 40 points lower than 2018, so the country isn’t exactly a bastion of online freedom.

However, there are many online resources that are based inside the UAE that aren’t normally accessible from other countries. These include financial services, streaming services and more.

However, if your connected device had a local IP address from inside the UAE, you could access those geo-blocked services.

A Virtual Private Network (VPN) can temporarily assign a new IP address to your device, making the rest of the internet believe you’re back home in the UAE so you can access local networks with ease. (But not Back in the USSR, which is a totally different thing.)

Not all VPNs will work in the UAE and some are not fast at all. Selecting the right VPN provider for your online activities is most important.

Before we discuss why you can’t access some UAE content from other countries, why they put up blockades, and how a VPN gets around those blockades, let’s take a quick look at the other ways a VPN both enhances your online privacy and protects your internet activities.

First off, a VPN encases your internet access in a tunnel of advanced encryption, hiding your online travels from prying eyes. Good for when you are using public internet hotspots so no one has access to your online activities.

This allows you to travel the internet unobserved and unmolested. Interested third parties, such as your Internet Service Provider (ISP) or the government, will be prevented from monitoring you as you travel the web.

That same encrypted protection also enhances your online activities. Since encryption prevents your ISP from monitoring your online activities, it won’t be able to throttle or block your internet connection simply because you choose to share files via P2P or because you’re viewing movies on a service they don’t approve of.

Why Do Some Online Services Based in the UAE Ban International Viewers?

While you may be a subscriber in good standing with your favorite online streaming or gaming service in the UAE, or you may have been a long-time client of a UAE financial institution, there’s a very good chance that you won’t be able to access any of these sites and services when you’re outside of the UAE.

While this is frustrating, I assure you that these sites and services do not block access from outside the UAE simply to be a pain in your tuchus. There are actually reasonable security and legal reasons behind such virtual roadblocks.

Streaming video services sign contracts with content providers – such as movie and television studios – that limit availability of the content to a specific country.

This forces streaming providers to block any attempts to view the content that comes from outside of the contracted area. Online gaming services sign similar agreements with game publishers.

On the financial services side of things, banks and investment firms (ideally) have a “security first” attitude when it comes to online access of their services (and your money and investments). Therefore, they block login attempts from outside their home countries to prevent the theft of your financial information and hard-earned dirhams.

How Geo-Restriction Blockades Work

Whenever your internet-capable device connects to the internet, it’s assigned an IP address.

The IP address identifies your device on the internet. It allows other devices to know which device has made an information request and where the reply should be sent to. (Much like your home’s postal address identifies your house.)

That same IP address can be used to identify the geographical location of a device, which allows streaming services, financial institutions, and other online services and sites to identify where you and your device are located, and to decide if you should have access to the content you’re attempting to access.

How Can I Get an IP Address Inside of the UAE?

If you’re a UAE native who is traveling or living abroad, you’ll find that there’s only one reliable method of accessing UAE-based sites and services. A VPN will “spoof” your device’s IP address, disguising your true location and making it appear that you and your device are physically inside UAE borders.

A VPN “spoofs” your device’s IP address by routing your internet access through a VPN server located in another country. (In this case, that country is the United Arab Emirates.) This assigns a UAE local IP address to your device, making it appear as if you and your device are inside the UAE.

Obtaining a UAE IP address acts as a golden ticket of sorts, opening your device to a world of pure imagination, which is made up of the sites and services that are restricted to UAE borders.

Which VPN Should I Use to Obtain an IP Address Inside The UAE?

A few years or so ago, you would have likely been successful in using any VPN to access online content that’s restricted to a particular country or region.

Unfortunately, that is no longer true. Content providers and online services and sites soon caught onto the VPN trick and became adept at detecting and blocking VPN connections.

When a streaming service, financial service or other type of supplier of geo-controlled content detects an IP address belonging to a VPN server, and which is attempting to access their content, they block that IP address from ever accessing it again. Say goodbye to your favorite shows and games, as well as access to your financial accounts.

When a VPN has one of its IP addresses blocked, it’s up to the provider to set up new VPN servers, with a new range of IP addresses. This will restore access to the formerly-blocked content – at least until the content provider blocks the new addresses, and the whole game of back-and-forth begins anew.

This means that a VPN provider has to be willing and able to stay in the game, restoring access when needed.

Luckily, there are providers that are willing to hang in there and keep access open to geo-blocked content. One of those providers, and the best for UAE access, is NordVPN.

NordVPN

NordVPN offers extremely reliable access to blocked content around the globe, the United Arab Emirates included.

The provider has thousands of servers located around the globe, providing well-protected and fast internet connections. The provider’s excellent app support and 24/7 customer service always keep you connected.

Read the full NordVPN review here.

1. Connection Speed

When you’re considering a VPN provider, one of the top considerations to keep in mind is their connection speeds. A fast connection will enhance any online activity.

NordVPN scores high marks in the connection speed category, with download speeds that can easily handle any of your favorite online activities. It doesn’t matter if you enjoy gaming, streaming, torrenting or any other online activity, NordVPN’s fast connections make everything run smoothly.

2. Multi-Platform Support

It seems as if every device you use these days is connected to the internet. This makes multi-platform app support from a VPN provider more important than ever.

NordVPN provides native app support for all the major operating systems, including Windows, macOS, Android, Amazon Fire, iOS, Android TV and Linux device platforms. Browser extensions for the Chrome and Firefox platforms are also available. The provider is also compatible with a large number of routers.

Up to 6 devices can connect simultaneously using the same set of login credentials.

3. Customer Support

While I’ve used NordVPN quite a few times over the years, and it has proven to be one of the more reliable VPNs I’ve ever used, there will likely come a day when you have a question, even if it’s just a billing question. When that happens, you’ll be glad to find that this provider has you covered.

The provider’s around-the-clock customer support includes 24/7 live chat, email support and a searchable support library.

4. Global Server Coverage

While we’ve been focusing on accessing content that is reserved to the country of the United Arab Emirates, it should be noted that a VPN’s global server network will also provide access to geo-restricted content around the rest of the globe.

NordVPN has the globe covered thanks to its 5,500+ servers operating servers spread out among 59 countries around the world.

5. Pricing

NordVPN is actually an extremely reasonably priced provider, offering its premium service at an astonishingly low price. Budget-minded users will definitely appreciate how they can get such a high-quality service at such a low price.

There is no risk in subscribing to NordVPN thanks to its 30-day money-back guarantee.

Visit the NordVPN website.

UAE IP Address Q&A