my E173u1 modem reached 5mbs using orange,but i got capped after downloading alot of stuff..but i didn't minf since i was using the daily unlimited for 1day,39 bob n i downloaded almost 19gb of data b4 wajue..but my modem wont pick airtel,still trying to find a way..safcom expensive for nothing i hope with compe they will reduce the charges

Hapo kwa upload speeds ndio kuna maneno, Tethering haiwesmek.



4-Plus-1 quad core

I think you got it wrong the upload speed is the connection to the isp but for tethering you will tether at 10Mbps+ speeds depending on the quality of the wifi connection

post your unlock request here

http://www.facebook.com/groups/unlockmodems/

DONOT PAY ANYTHING

Start by putting in a sim card that does not belong to the network that the modem is locked in.

Once you do this, it will ask for for the unlock code - the code to unlock the modem.

Get the modem's IMEI, which should be written on the modem.

visit the site below, and enter the IMEI, and the site will give you the unlock code.

http://a-zgsm.com/huawei.php

Have you unlocked it??..unlock then create orange profile
Profile Name: Orange
APN bew.orange.co.ke
Access Number :*99#
leave the rest to default(Blank)

I doubt if that link provided by @D32 will work for this particular modem. I still maintain that the E173 is yet to fall against the conventional unlocking channels. How I wish to be proven wrong!

Apparently, the unlimited data user's in safaricom are "abusing", the network, that the unlimited data deal is unprofitable, that there needs to be either throttling or termination, that 1% is using up 70% of the network resources.

https://twitter.com/#!/bobcollymore/status/190399262775971841 Am back in the office & looking at issue of data speeds. We're seeing serious abuse of unlimited data by small number of users

https://twitter.com/#!/bobcollymore/status/190399689974218752 this is making unlimited in current form unprofitable. We need to decide between throttling or ending unlimited altogether.

https://twitter.com/#!/bobcollymore/status/190426085526212608 It's worse than that. < 1% of users using > 70% of resource. Hence the need for a Fair Usage Policy....

I think that they have already implemented the throttling. Currently experiencing +- 128 kbps or +-16 KB/s on the unlimited, but when I switch to a different data plan, I get over 200 KB/s on the E160, a 3.5 Mbps modem, and the location is not in the data belt.

One would reason that if an "Unlimited" deal is sold for X price with X bandwidth, then the service provider will also need to already have the capacity to deliver the service prior to announcing the deal, the service being, the "Unlimited" experience. Now, when the user's purchase and and go thought the "Unlimited" experience, it becomes network abuse.

Since it has been throttled backwards, this simply means that safaricom did not have the capacity needed to meet the needs of the "Unlimited" 512 Kbps service that was being sold.

If you don't mind spending on unlocking the modem check these link..Prices for unlocking the E173..7 Euros.
http://www.dc-unlocker.com/buy/user_prices

dnt be fooled folks . unlocked modems willNOT work on orange network . trust me i have tried . they are checking the imei numbers and thats way there's nothing you can do !