A price and quality review of some of the local ISPs

Last year I did a review of the best and cheapest ISPs that were available in the market but I have got many requests to post an updated version and so in this post I am going to go over some of the favourite ISPs and give a quick review on their speeds,bandwidth and price.







ZUKU  
Run by the Wananchi Online company Zuku offers Wimax and fibre connection that come come bundled with cable TV.
Price
Wimax-256 kbps @1499      
             512 kbps @2499
             1 Mbps    @4499
Fibre-1 Mbps       @999
         -4 Mbps       @1999
         -8 Mbps       @3499
All connections come with a setup and installation fee of 2999
Pros    
Cheap
Wimax is available in most of Nairobi and Mombasa
Reliable connection

Cons        
Fibre connection coverage very small
Initial setup takes them forever to start(weeks,months)
Customer service isn't the best                              

ORANGE EVERYWHERE 3G+       
Data service that runs on the EVDO network.Orange offers bundles that start with 150 MB and climb all the way to 4GB and if you are like me and don't like being limited you can get the unlimited 7 day connection for 990/=.The modem costs 1999/= and comes with a free week of unlimited Internet and is available at orange shops and select retailers.The speed is really good with downloads speeds of around 120 kbps and bandwidth of around 1Mbps(the orange people will tell you 3.1 Mbps but I am yet to experience such bandwidth)

Pros
Cheap modem+cheap bundles
Fast Internet connection 
Mobile and easy to use

Cons
Limited network coverage     

SAFARICOM 3G    
The only good thing I have to say about Safaricom's 3G is that it is fast and widely available,other than that there is really nothing good about it.I used to get download speeds of around 140 kbps and bandwidth of 1.3 Mbps.They recently introduced a bundle offer that enabled people to get 100% more data but even still they cannot care to the affordability of Orange.By the way they suspended the Bamba Unlimited offer and in a particular safaricom fashion didn't even tell anyone they have to wait for you to call customer care so they can tell you.But bamba unlimited was shit anyway(even thinking of giving me 32kbps and calling it internet) .the modem costs 2999 and if you already have one am sure it is rotting in a desk drawer somewhere like mine(but on the bright side if airtel offer a good deal when there 3G comes out you can unlock the modem and is use it for something useful)         

LOOPNET 
Loopnet is a free ad powered internet service that was offered by KDN but I think is now run by SwiftGlobal(KDN no longer deal with retail and home solutions but now deal with corporate solutions i.e they are the ISP of your ISP).But it looks like since SwiftGlobal started running the show it has lost most of its flare as majority of the base stations were shut down in residential areas were shut down and service outages are common.When it was available I used to get download speeds of around 300-500 kbps and bandwidth of around 5 Mbps

Pros
Its free
Its very fast,when few people are using it

Cons
Shared bandwidth so it is very slow during high traffic times such as mid-day