Three most affordable wireless modems in Kenya

Since I have lots of internet needs in my house, I have been shopping for a wireless modem for a while now. Over the weekend, I decided to hit the shops and see what was available.

Being a typical Kenyan and suffering from the mid-month economic crisis, characterized by long dry spell of low income, I was looking for something affordable, that could sustain a couple of users and actually works as advertised.

Below is a review the 3 most affordable wireless modems that captured my attention.

E5377s-32 LTE wireless modem

This is a 3G/4G enabled wireless modem manufactured by Hauwei and available in Safaricom stores. With a downlink speeds of 150 Mbps that can support up to 10 devices, this device can prove pretty useful for people who want stable internet connection at home.

Just like other wireless modems, the portable device comes with a rechargeable battery and is compatible with all Windows and Mac OS.

On the negative side, with a price tag of approx. 10,800, the device costs too much for an ordinary Kenyan who just needs to connect to a wireless hotspot at home. In addition to that, it is also locked to Safaricom line.
Huawei B68L Orange Flybox

With a data transfer speed of 7.2Mbit/s (HSDPA) and 5.76Mbit/(HUSPA), Huawei B68L Orange Flybox is a broadband router that allows users to surf at incredible speeds as well as make voice calls (Using a standard home phone that it comes with).

This device supports 3G and EDGE networks and provides connection to up to 10 people via WiFi or Cable (Ethernet Ports).
The fact that it has two antennas (internal 3G antenna and external antenna ), makes this device achieve full LTE data transfer speeds.

That coupled with its full Router capabilities (Support of NAT, built in DHCP server,DNS Relay, SMS, Firewall) makes this particular device very handy for tech-savvy Kenyans who are power users of internet.

ZTE MF65M

A 3G Mobile Wi-Fi hotspot with a download speed of up to 21Mbps and can support up to 10 devices. The device which costs Ksh 5,500 is available at Orange stores and comes with a free one month unlimited data (valued at Ksh 3,000).
Apart from its portable wireless capabilities, this rechargeable device can also act as a storage device and can support expandable memory of up to 32 GB.

Based on its low price and simple-to-use admin interface, this device is most suitable for less tech-savvy Kenyans who are not power internet users and would just want a simple wireless device to access the internet.

Using this device, users can easily set up a Wi-Fi hotspot and connect via their mobile devices, laptops, desktops or internet enabled TVs. On the negative side, the device only supports Orange Telkom SIM cards.

It it important to note that all the three devices only support their carriers SIM cards.