I Went Back to Safaricom 5G After 10 Months: Is It Still Worth It?

After leaving my Safaricom 5G router powered off in a cabinet for nearly 10 months without an active subscription, a sudden 24-hour promotional offer provided the perfect excuse to plug it back in.

With Safaricom expanding 5G coverage across Kenya, are the hardware and connection quality actually better today than it was early last year?

Package	Speed	Fair Usage	Best For	Price	Validity
5G 15Mbps	Up to 15 Mbps	Up to 450GB	Basic browse, email, social media & 1-device streaming	Ksh 2,999	30 Days
5G 50Mbps	Up to 50 Mbps	Up to 1.5TB	HD streaming on multiple devices & multiplayer gaming	Ksh 4,000	30 Days
5G 100Mbps	Up to 100 Mbps	Up to 2TB	UHD video streaming & multi-player online gaming	Ksh 5,000	30 Days
5G 250Mbps	Up to 250 Mbps	Up to 4TB	Heavy UHD streaming & competitive multiplayer gaming	Ksh 10,000	30 Days

Unboxing After 10 Months: Plug-and-Play or Setup Headaches?

The Safaricom 5G router is usually white in color, so you can imagine how the dust could have accumulated, but the good thing is that I still had the original box that it came with, together with the wrapper. Since I stopped using it, I wrapped it up and retired it inside the box so it had no dust at all.

The 5G router locks into the 5G NR signal, but it switches to the 4G network if the network is not strong enough. I have no problem with this since I don’t have a 5G/WI-FI 6 device, and when it dials back to the 4G network, the speeds are still very stable.

It’s been close to 10 months since I used this router. There were a couple of updates that I had to run on the Huawei app called AI Life, which is used to manage the router, and the other update happened automatically in the background from the admin portal.

Safaricom 5G Router Review: 24-Hour Real-World Performance

The speeds have been very consistent both during the day and at night, averaging around 14Mbps for both the download and the upload. 

The latency is also good, not the best out there, but it is respectable, so if you are into gaming, you should have no issues, but make sure you live in an area where the network is strong for you to get the best speeds and latency.

The 5G router covers most rooms very well, and you can edit your house layout via the dedicated Huawei app called AI Life. The app also lets you optimise your WI-FI, see the number of devices connected, monitor the data usage, change the Wi-Fi password, and many more settings.

Daily Passes vs. Monthly Commitments: Flexibility for Casual Users

Unfortunately, a 24-hour short-term use is just an offer mainly for those who stopped paying for their pack. If you have been paying for your monthly package, then there is a high chance that you might not get this offer to begin with.

The router is also mainly for those who live in areas where there is no fiber connectivity, as it acts as a nice backup internet connection. Also, if you are someone who travels a lot, the router is very portable; however, you have to provide your own power bank with the correct I/O if you have the Huawei 5G E Router.

The Baiecells router comes with an inbuilt battery that can last for about three hours or more, depending on your usage and the number of devices connected. Fortunately for me, I have the Airtel ODU router, which comes with a separate power bank, and that power bank is compatible with the Safaricom 5G router.

The periodic top-ups are useful if, for example, you’re travelling or your main internet connection isn’t working. 

In such situations, having the option to top up and use the router when needed can come in handy. However, as I mentioned earlier, this is a limited offer, and not everyone will receive it.

Safaricom 5G Wireless vs. Home Fibre: Has the Gap Closed?

Since I’ve only had the package active for 24 hours, it’s still too early to draw any long-term conclusions. That said, the speeds have been consistently good so far. 

The weather has also been calm, which could be one of the reasons for the stable performance. For now, it’s performing better than what I usually get from the Airtel ODU.

The Safaricom 5G router is very portable; you can carry it roud around with ease. Even when moving around with it, the network has been strong. I am very impressed with it.

Conclusion & Key Takeaways

Key Takeaways:

- The hardware boots up and authenticates cleanly even after extensive dormancy.

- Promotional 24-hour passes make the router a viable on-demand failover tool for outages.

- 5G network density in Kenya has noticeably improved, reducing ping variance compared to early rollout stages.

If you already own the router, keeping it as an on-demand high-speed backup with short-term packages is practical. The major downside with this Safaricom router is its price, starting at KES 2,999 for 15Mbps, considering its biggest competitor, Airtel, starts at KES 1,999 for 15Mbps.