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Where to buy a local SIM card in Egypt and how is mobile coverage at hotels?

From messages by 2 participants in 2 sources · Last activity: 7 days ago

TL;DR

You can buy a local SIM card at a phone shop across from the hotel. Hotel Wi-Fi generally works on-site, but mobile coverage can drop outside the hotel grounds.

What the community said

If you did not buy one at the airport, a local SIM card is available from the electronics shop inside the hotel. One report says it provided excellent internet, including outside the hotel grounds.

44 days ago Hotel electronics shop

Coverage may vary: another report says Wi‑Fi was limited to the lobby, while a purchased SIM worked on the hotel grounds but had no signal in the room.

54 days ago Lobby-only Wi‑Fi; SIM with no room signal

Hotel Wi-Fi is weak and only works at reception. Better to buy a local SIM card right away — about 1000 steps from the hotel there are three official mobile phone shops.

3 mobile shops within 1000 steps of hotel

Wi-Fi works at reception and at the nearby café La Terrasse. It also reached a room close to reception, but the speed was very slow — calls were impossible, so it had to be turned off in favor of another connection method.

La Terrasse café

The hotel offers a small portable router for rent, but it costs from $60 and must be pre-ordered. An alternative is to buy a router in town, insert an Egyptian SIM card into it, and share the internet to a phone or laptop.

Portable router from $60 (hotel) / router + local SIM in town

Hotel Wi-Fi works well on the property, with only occasional brief dropouts that are fixed by reconnecting. Outside the hotel grounds and at neighboring hotels, the signal disappears entirely.

Hotel Wi-Fi is only available at the reception desk, so coverage is very limited. For reliable connectivity, it's better to buy a local SIM card at the phone shop just across the road from the hotel.

Phone shop across from the hotel

If the hotel Wi-Fi goes down and you don't have a local SIM, you'll be left without any connection. It's advisable to pick up an Egyptian SIM card in advance at the nearby phone shop across the street.

Local Egyptian SIM card

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