I have been a reader at wazua, this is my first post.

I am currently using a Huawei E160, it's top speed is 3.6mbps. During off-peak hours, I can experience close to it's full speed, when not using an unlimited data bundle.

This is not new, but last year, safaricom upgraded some of their base stations to support speeds of up to 21mbps, hence the 21mbps modem: Huawei E1820.

I am considering an upgrade. I would like to find out if the speeds are true.

Apparently, the upgrade was done on areas that have high data usage.

Here is the link to the full article:

http://bit.ly/xGqTOy

Below are some quotes from the article.

"Subscribers on Safaricom’s Data Belt, an area served by 80 3G base stations covering Langata, Lavington, Westlands, Upperhill, South C, South B and parts of Industrial Area, which traditionally show high internet usage, will now have faster speeds that can potentially go up to 21Mbps."

"Before the upgrade, the maximum speeds for a subscriber was at 7.2 Mbps while the maximum capability of a 3G base station was 14 Mbps. Following the latest upgrade, which cost about $ 10,753 per site, the user experience in terms of internet speeds is expected to at least double."

"Average user internet speed is currently between 700 Kbps to 1.5 Mbps during busy hours."

"With the upgrade and using a high speed modem, which are now available at Safaricom Shops, the user will now enjoy average speeds of between 2.5 and 3 Mbps during peak hours and maximum speeds in excess of 17 Mbps off-peak."

Would users with the E1820 modem, who are located in the upgraded areas kindly do a speed test for peak and off-peak hours WITHOUT using the unlimited data bundle for the community?

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Expecting speed test posts only, unless there is something on the subject that needs to be mentioned.
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With respect, what value does that add to your post?

Appreciate it.

No much.

It has to do more with familiarizing the community with the source of the post, than it has to do with the contents of the post.

I've always been on the 4GB bundle @ 2499 and am a happy safcom customer and shareholder. It normally lasts me for a month with speeds of 2mbps plus. When I want to stream 24/7 radio stations from Europe and North America, I normally switch to the unlimited 3k a month package.

orange steals data. Tried them, and left a disgruntled customer. Once the data expires, inapotelea. It is not returned upon reloading... And the customer care lady unapologetically informed me that i should only buy data that am certain will finish. Wtf???? Was out of coverage during at the time.

Expensive is relative with what you do with it. I may invest 1k for 1500mb and milk 40k or more from it...with less downtimes. Of late, there is crappy service at times though, bt not moving yet, unless zain brings 3g

but am enjoying airtel 3G

Just found out that Safaricom to launch 42 Mbps mobile Internet in Nairobi next week..

Link

Turns out that orange also announced a 42 Mbps service, about four hours after safcom's announcement.

Link