Airtel 5G Outdoor Unit vs. Safaricom 5G Router: Why I Switched

For the longest time, I have been using the Huawei 5G CPE router from Safaricom, and oh boy, let me tell you, did I have a very good experience using that router, plus the internet from Safaricom was super stable, it retained the 15Mbps speeds that I paid for throughout the 30 days, however I recently moved to the Airtel Out Door Unit and I will not be switching back to Safaricom anytime soon.

The Safaricom 5G router was so stable, but I had to switch due to one reason: the subscription price! Yeah, you read that right, and comparing it to the Airtel 5G Outdoor router, it is way cheaper to buy the ODU plus the Subscription than the Safaricom 5G router.

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The "Why"

My previous set-up, the Safaricom 5G router, is very simple, just plug and play, as you can see from the image below, no cables running through the house, and it is very portable.

The router was inside my room, and it didn’t struggle to get a connection. It remained connected at 5G throughout, which shows you how well Safaricom has invested in its network.

Now, the main reason why I chose the Airtel ODU was mainly due to price. Safaricom has slightly higher prices starting at KES 2,999 for 15 Mbps, which I felt was a little bit too expensive, and comparing it to the Airtel ODU, you get 15Mbps for just KES 1,999.

Hardware Comparison: Rugged vs. Sleek

The Huawei H155-383 is a compact white cylinder which looks really good next to a tv or your office setup. It has internal antennas which peak signal really well, Safaricom offers other routers such as Baicellls but I specifically went for the Huawei one because of the brand and reputation.

The downside to the Airtel ZLT W15 4R Plus is the cable management; it’s a bit of a mess. I currently have an Ethernet cable trailing through my office because I moved the ODU inside. Honestly, there was no point keeping it outdoors when the performance stayed the same after bringing it in

The Airtel kit comes with a power bank that can last for 6-8 hours, which is one thing I really like, given how often electricity disappears in my area without notice. The funny thing is that the Airtel power bank can charge the Safaricom Huawei 5G router, which is even cooler, because for anyone who travels a lot, the combo of the power bank and the Safaricom router can really come in handy due to the compactness of the router. 

The downside is that the Huawei H155-383 doesn’t come with an external power bank or an inbuilt one. If you buy the one from Baicells, you get an in-built power bank that only lasts for about 3 hours.

The Installation Experience

The installation on the Safaricom router is straightforward. You walk into any Safaricom shop, Quickmart, or Naivas outlet, buy it, plug it in.

For the Airtel ODU, you have to book on their website or visit any of their stores so that a technician can come to your place and do the installation for you. This is a hassle setup, but once it is done, it’s set and forget.

Performance Showdown

Safaricom often wins at peak burst speeds, hitting a stable 15Mbps with very low latency in good zones, no issue there. 

On the other hand, Airtel ODU isn’t the best, but it’s not bad at the same time. In my case, I averaged 13-15Mbps on both the 5G and 4G networks. If you live in a place where the Airtel signal is poor, I recommend you switch to the 4G network.

The only issue I have had with the Airtel internet is the latency. My oh my, is the latency bad on the Airtel WI-FI on the 5G network, especially on the upload speeds hitting 800+, which is really high.

Our speed test results on the Airtel 5G network in Nairobi.

On the 4G network, the latency is way better, averaging 42ms on the download and 59ms on the upload.

Baseline Performance: Our speed test results on the Airtel 4G LTE network in Nairobi.

I tried playing Call of Duty on the 5G network with that ping, and guess what? I was the easy target; the game was laggy I was being “killed” even before I knew it.

The Huawei version has decent WI-FI coverage, but does the Airtel compare? Well…I have to say they are almost the same non is better than the other, as long as the network coverage in your area is really good.

Cost & Value

Airtel offers more value for your money than Safaricom, for example, the 30Mbps on Airtel for KES2,999, whereas for the same amount of money, you get only 15Mbps on Safaricom, making it make sense!

The FUP on Airtel is 1Tb on both the 15Mbps and 30 Mbps plans, whereas on Safaricom, the base plan, which is 15 Mbps, starts with a FUP of 450GB, 1.5TB for the 50Mbps plan, 2TB for the 100 Mbps, and 4TB for the 250Mbps.

Provider	Plan Speed	FUP Limit
Airtel	15 Mbps	1 TB (1,000 GB)
Airtel	30 Mbps	1 TB (1,000 GB)
Safaricom	15 Mbps	450 GB
Safaricom	50 Mbps	1.5 TB
Safaricom	100 Mbps	2 TB
Safaricom	250 Mbps	4 TB

One thing to note is that Airtel only has two plans, the 15 Mbps plan and the 30 Mbps plan

One thing I noticed with the AIrtel WI-FI is that you can actually increase the FUP, for example, mine is set to 200TB, pretty impressive, right?

Read Also: Safaricom Increases Home Fiber FUP Limit to 15TB — Post-FUP Speeds Now Up to 100Mbps

Bypassing the router's internal restrictions: Here is how we manually set the Data Limit to 200TB+ in the Network settings to prevent early disconnects.

In general, Airtel offers better value for heavy users. I recommend going with Safaricom 5G since you are getting more subscription options.

User Experience & App Management

For the User interface, you can use the IP address to access the router login IP. 

However, if you have the Huawei CPE router, you can download an app called AI Life. This app is not available on the Play Store; it can only be downloaded as an APK app. IP address for Safaricom is 192.168.8.1

Airtel uses a basic IP address, which is 192.168.1.1. With these methods, you can check how much data you have used, and you can configure a few things if you know what you are doing.

Verdict: Who Should Buy What?

Get the Safaricom router if you want portability, a stable connection, and easy plug-and-play internet with app-based management, all at an affordable alternative to fibre.

Get the Airtel outdoor unit if you want a cheaper alternative for the same speeds, a power backup, superior signal reception, and if you want to set it and forget it.

FAQ Section

Does the Airtel ODU work during blackouts? Yes, with the provided power bank.

Can I install the Airtel Outdoor Unit myself? No, an Airtel technician will do the installation.

Which is cheaper: Airtel 5G or Safaricom 5G? Airtel 5G is cheaper than Safaricom 5G