How to Get a Qatari IP Address in 2020: Delving to Doha

If you’re a Qatari resident and want to access Al Jazeera, BeIN Sports or other services while traveling abroad, you could get an error message. The only way to bypass those geoblocks is by changing your IP address to the given country. We’re going to show you how to get an IP address in Qatar.

For example, Netflix scans your IP address and determines the kind of content it’ll show. As much as an IP address may look like a random set of numbers, it’s basically your location ID, and it tells websites and online services that you visit where you are.

This guide will show you how to get a Qatari IP address so you can access your favorite Qatari TV shows and Netflix, as well as use online banking and other services.

How to Get a Qatari IP Address

The easiest way to get a Qatari IP address is to use a proxy — see our best free proxy guide for suggestions — but we don’t recommend doing so. They’re easy to detect and block, as shown in our guide to the Netflix proxy error, they have slow speeds and they aren’t secure or reliable. 

That means your true IP address is unprotected, leaving you vulnerable to cyberattacks, and your online activity can be traced back to you. Read our VPN vs. proxy vs. Tor for more on that.

We recommend using a virtual private network to change your IP address instead. Unlike proxies, VPNs encrypt your initial connection with a VPN protocol, to protect your real IP address and make route tracing impossible and they don’t keep logs of your online activity. Our best VPN picks can do the job, but you need one with servers in Qatar or you’ll be stuck.

We’re going to give two recommendations that have servers in Qatar and provide good VPN security and speed.

VyprVPN

VyprVPN is a good service with great security, including its Chameleon protocol, a kill switch and a no-logs policy to protect your privacy. It also has a large server network in more than 60 countries, including Qatar, which earned it a spot in our best VPN for travelers guide. Though VyprVPN is slower than some of its rivals, its speeds aren’t bad and it has no bandwidth caps.

It performs well when streaming, but its subpar speeds kept it from being one of our best VPN for streaming picks. It can access Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Hulu and Amazon Prime Video on multiple servers without having to reconnect. If Al Jazeera is what you want, VyprVPN is a good choice, but its speeds also kept it from making our top five best VPN for Al Jazeera picks.

You can use VyprVPN on Windows, macOS, Android and iOS, but it has a dated interface that could be improved. That said, it’s easy to set up and you can get connected fast. Support is available via different methods, including a FAQ section, live chat and email.

VyprVPN offers a reasonable monthly rate and you can get a discount if you opt for a longer plan. There’s no refund policy, but a three-day trial is available, so you can try it to see if you like it. You can get more details on the service in our VyprVPN review.

HideMyAss

Our second choice is HideMyAss. It offers adequate speeds, good security with the standard AES 256-bit encryption and a kill switch. A privacy policy is in place, but it’s troubling because it says it keeps connection and disconnection logs for up to 30 days. Still, it has a massive server network compared to any other provider, covering 190 countries, including Qatar.

HideMyAss supports Windows, macOS, Android and iOS and has easy-to-use clients. A knowledgebase is available if you want to try to fix the problem yourself before contacting customer support for more technical issues. Email support is slower than live chat.

As you can read in our HideMyAss review, its monthly price is quite expensive, but you can use the seven-day trial to test drive the service. Just make sure you cancel before the end of the trial. If you do, you’ll still be able to use the full seven days. In case you forget to cancel, a 30-day money-back guarantee is on offer.

Dangers of Using a Qatari IP Address

It’s okay to use a Qatari IP address, but there are some things you need to be aware of. Like many countries with censorship issues, China being a fine example, Qatar filters and blocks certain content on the internet to align it with its political and religious views.

Anything related to dating, pornography, LGBT issues or sexual health issues is blocked, as is content deemed critical of the government or hateful to Islam. Sometimes, inoffensive websites get blocked, too, because of the strict parameters. As a result, journalists running news websites self-censor on topics concerning government policies, Islam and the ruling family.

Strangely, though, Qatar subsidizes Al Jazeera, which doesn’t shy away from criticizing regional governments because it focuses less on local news and more on regional and international news.

VoIP services, such as FaceTime, Skype, Viber and Duo, are also blocked because the Qatari government says they don’t have licenses to operate in the country. WhatsApp calls were blocked, as well, but there have been reports that the ban on it was lifted. 

That said, you can get in trouble for making statements that could injure someone’s reputation because of Qatar’s cybercrime law and penal code. That includes comments made on social media, via email or WhatsApp, with possible punishment of up to one year in prison or a fine of up to 100,000 riyals ($27,000).

There are no specific reports of surveillance in Qatar, but evidence suggests the government can spy on its citizens. A U.S. Department of State report revealed Qatar uses a proxy server to censor the internet and requires internet service providers to keep user logs for one year, as well as other records if asked.

Those and other online threats, such as malware and viruses, and the dangers that come with free WiFi hotspots can expose you to cyberattacks because you don’t know how secure the connection is. With a VPN, you can access popular VoIP services, such as Skype (check out our best VPN for Skype suggestions), and stay safe from those risks.

Final Thoughts

We hope you now know how to get a Qatari IP address safely. A VPN will keep you safe online because it hides your IP address so you can browse anonymously and secures your connection. Plus, it unblocks streaming services.

VyprVPN is our top pick. It offers enough security to keep you safe, and it has a server presence in Qatar from which you can change your IP address. If your online activities are sensitive, visit our VPN library for more options.

Do you have experience getting an IP address from Qatar? Tell us about it in the comments section below. Thank you for reading.