Is Airtel 5G Router Worth The Money?
Airtel Uganda has been making drives as well as posting ads on social media informing people about their Airtel 5G Router. Some people have also had an opportunity to be called by Airtel customer service informing them about the same product.
When you hear 5G router; the first thing that comes to mind is high speed. Airtel 5G Router comes in two packages. The unlimited internet option which is not unlimited actually! And the limited internet package commonly known as Airtel broadband.
Unlimited Internet Package
The word unlimited simply means without limit. The moment there is a limit, then something ceases to be unlimited. Based on that fact, Airtel does not sell any unlimited internet bundles. They sell you limited data which they refer to as unlimited. Of course, they have a licensing body called Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) which has nothing to say amidst the Airtel lies packaged as unlimited internet bundles.
Besides the unlimited internet lie; Airtel goes further to promise internet speeds they cannot guarantee. It is like someone selling you a chair labeled “up to 100kgs” but when on a number of occasions, it cannot even carry someone of 70kgs. The logical tag in this case would have been, “up to 50kgs” because for that they can be sure at least 99%.
Now airtel promises internet speeds of 10mbps, 20mbps, 40mbps, and 60mbps for the limited (unlimited) internet. Unfortunately, when they fail to deliver what they promise, no one can hold them accountable regardless of how much money you have without receiving the service you paid for.
I had to opportunity of buying the 60mbps packages as well as the 20mbps package. When the internet was slow; there was no difference between the two packages. The internet speeds were more or less the same. On the non-peak time which is somewhere past midnight on weekdays, you would get something close to 40mbps though you paid for 60mbps.
The logical explanation that was given to me by one of their agents was that they would have given me a mini dish (microwave; that’s what he called it) unfortunately, it was not a logical solution for someone who needed mobile internet to use in the car while moving.
Based on my experience using the highest-speed package and the medium-speed package. I would recommend you stick to 20mbps. It is cheaper yet provides almost the same speed as the 60mbps package. I have not used the 10mbps, so I do not have any opinion about that.
Lastly regarding the limited (unlimited) internet packages. The 5G router comes with two bands. The 2.4G band and the 5G. Some devices cannot pick 5G therefore it would be useless for you to buy the 5G router. On the other hand, the lower band which would have given you at least 4G is usually very slow sometimes to the point that it cannot even load a simple page on Google.
If you had to choose between MTN and Airtel limited internet (unlimited). I would recommend Airtel because it is cheaper. You will likely encounter similar challenges on MTN fiber. It is also important to note that MTN fiber internet is not very secure. You will always getting an unsecured warning when you connect to MTN fiber internet based on my experience.
Unlimited Internet Vs Broad Band
If you wish to get something lower than 150k per month. Then Airtel broadband is a better package than the 10mbps package. This is because broadband internet doeses not have an internet speed cap. You are guaranteed to have 4G internet apart from moments when you have a poor signal.
On the other hand, if you can raise 170k per month. The unlimited internet package would offer a better deal.
In conclusion the Airtel 5G router is not a good for anyone that considers very high internet speed such as 60mbps. In fact if you can afford starlink mini in Uganda; you should go for it. However you might need something like $1200 to cover the product purchase, shipping and taxes.