Airtel 5G Outdoor Router (ODU) Review: Unboxing, Installation, and First Impressions in Kenya

My home office setup requires a fast and reliable 5G internet connection, a necessity I've felt since discontinuing my previous 7Mbps fiber service.

I initially considered several alternatives and ultimately chose the Safaricom 5G router. While its performance remains outstanding, the primary drawback is the price, with the basic package starting at a somewhat expensive KES 2999.

I looked around and stumbled across the Airtel 5G Outdoor router, which, according to many reviews on TikTok, had really good network reception, and so I bought it. I have used it for three days now, and here is my honest review.

Unboxing: What’s in the box

The entire package is contained within a red box. This box holds the following components: the outdoor unit, the indoor router, an Ethernet cable, an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS), and the instruction manuals.

The Booking & Ordering process

For you to get the router, you cannot just walk into a shop and pick one, unlike the portable Airtel 5G router or MIFI. I even tried requesting that I go with it at home since I can do the installation myself, but the guys at Airtel said that their technician has to be involved.

To complete the form, you have two choices: either submit it online on their website or go to an Airtel shop and have a staff member fill it out for you.

On that form, they will ask for your name, phone number, ID number, Building name, flat or House number, region, and street address.

The Verification Call

Two days after I made the application, I received a call from an Airtel technician. I gave him the directions on where I stay, and he arrived really fast.

To determine the optimal location for the outdoor router, he conducted speed tests. After identifying the best placement for the Outdoor Unit, he quickly completed the installation in under an hour. 

The Payment

Once the installation was complete, the final step was payment. A minor issue arose when attempting to pay for the Airtel package, as the payment system only accepts Airtel Money, not M-Pesa. I managed to complete the payment after a few minutes. Essentially, you settle the cost of your chosen package after the installation process is finished.

The Technician Gear

The technician only came with the package and installation equipment; the technician who came to my place didn’t come with a ladder, which is something that you might have to provide.

Drilling and Cabling

The technician came with their own equipment for the installation. They passed the ethernet cable through the window, drilled nails in the wall, and fixed the outdoor unit.

On the cable management, they did a very good job; they will make sure no cable is hanging around.

The final Setup

Following the installation, the technician set up the WI-FI and allowed you to customize the password for both the 4G and 5G networks.

First Speed tests

The speed test results confirmed the value of the package I purchased. I subscribed to the 15Mbps service, and the speeds were consistently excellent, registering right at 15Mbps, or occasionally slightly lower at 13 or 14Mbps, essentially delivering what I paid for.

The WI-FI remained stable for two days. I then moved the outdoor unit (ODU) indoors to test its performance, and it worked surprisingly well. While the ODU experienced occasional signal loss, it would quickly restore itself within a few minutes. Through experimentation with different locations inside the house, I discovered a correlation between height and signal quality: placing the ODU at a higher position allowed it to pick up both 5G and 4G networks effectively. Conversely, a lower placement resulted in a strong 4G signal but a noticeable weakening of the 5G signal.

The latency was a bit high, getting around 58 on the download latency and 210 on the download.

The download speeds do hit the advertised speeds on some occasions, while the upload speeds were around 210, which is pretty high.

Comparing this to the Safaricom 5G router I was using, the latency was way better, and the internet was consistent with no downtimes.

Pros & Cons

Pros

The price is very affordable, for the whole unit you only pay KES 3,000, KES 2,000 is for the 15Mbps package white the KES 1,000 is for the installation.

Cons

If the cables are not managed properly, they can be very messy, and you might trip on them.

Verdict: Who Should Buy This

This ODU is suitable for people who live in thick wall stoned houses where indoor routers fail, or people just outside the main fiber zones.  This Outdoor Unit (ODU) is ideal for:

Users residing in buildings with thick, stone walls, where indoor routers struggle with signal penetration.

Locations just beyond the primary fiber network coverage areas.

However, if you live in a place where Airtel connectivity is poor, the ODU might not be stable.

While the Outdoor Unit is portable, you must first disassemble the technician's installation. I recommend using zip ties to neatly bundle the long Ethernet cable, preventing it from lying on the floor and becoming tangled.

I will do a full review after 30 days and give you the full insights on how the router is.