Internet & WiFi in Kenya (A Complete Tourists’ Guide)

If you are planning to visit Kenya any time soon, you might have wondered if Kenya has Internet and whether WIFI is easy to find. I have lived in Kenya all my life and I would love to answer this question.

Kenya has really good internet connectivity with some of the fastest internet speeds in Africa. Internet network coverage is fairly evenly distributed across the country with most major towns having 4G connectivity and most of the rest of the country having strong 3G internet connectivity. Most Kenyans use their mobile phones to connect to the Internet with a very small percentage connecting through broadband and fiberoptic cables. In this article, I would like to guide any newcomer to Kenya 0n the best ways of connecting to the internet in Kenya and a few considerations to think about like cost and network strength.

Does Kenya have Internet

When you think about Africa,  the things that may come to mind would be famine, Civil War,  poverty etc. This is the image that has been portrayed for a long time and it’s no wonder that many foreigners are surprised to learn that Africa is a leader when it comes to mobile technology. 

So to answer the question,  Kenya has some of the best internet connectivity in Africa. According to this article on Wikipedia, We are ranked 43rd in terms of internet speeds in the world with the average Internet speed in Kenya being 12.2 Mb/s. We are ranked above Russia, Greece  and Singapore, Australia, Brasil and China. Below is an exerpt of the table on the Wikipedia Article.

Rank	Country	Internet speeds  (Mb/s
38	Malta	12.8
41	Poland	12.6
43	Kenya	12.2
44	Russia	11.8
45	Luxembourg	11.6
46	Estonia	11.6
50	Australia	11.1
51	Singapore	10.8
57	Uruguay	9.5
58	Vietnam	9.5
60	Chile	9.3
61	Italy	9.2
62	Malaysia	8.9
64	Croatia	8.6
65	United Arab Emirates	8.6
68	Sri Lanka	8.5
71	Kuwait	7.9
72	Greece	7.9
74	China	7.6
75	Turkey	7.6
76	Mexico	7.5
77	Indonesia	7.2
78	Cyprus	6.9
79	Brazil	6.8
82	South Africa	6.7
84	Saudi Arabia	6.7
89	India	6.5

Source: Wikipedia

I also found the following heatmap  of the word’s internet speeds in 2016. 

Source: Fastmetrics

All this is to say that Kenya has some really good internet connectivity and you will be able ot use Internet that has decent speed in most parts of the country. 

The one caveat to this is that you will find much faster internet in the cities since most of it is 4 G and the speeds tend to reduce once you get to the outskirts.  This means that for everyone who is going to be going on safari ( which is usually in remote parts of the country)  the speed of your internet connection is not going to be as high as someone who is in the city. 

Most Kenyans use their mobile phones to connect to the internet and although there are a lot of Wi-Fi connections available (from coffee shops to hotel lounges and everything in between ) most of us generally prefer using mobile data to connect to the internet. 

Does Kenya have free wifi 

Most cities have a lot of places that can offer free Wi-Fi.  Some of these include:

1. Coffee shops
2.  Malls
3. Hotels
4. Some Public Transport vehicles
5. The Airport
6. Some Cabs

 out of my personal experience I don’t like connecting to any of these Wi-Fi hotspots  for two reasons: 

1. Speed:  they are usually pretty slow and I can browse faster using mobile data than when connected to Wi-Fi. 
2. Security:  I don’t trust most of these free hotspots since they may be set up as a way of trying to hack into my devices.   I will rarely connect to any Wi-Fi hotspot and the only times when I do are when I am sure of the source of the connection and have established that it is secured using something like a password.

What’s Better: Wifi or purchasing data plan?

When coming to Kenya I would advise that you plan to buy a SIM card at the airport which you will use to purchase a data plan on your mobile phone.  This will be the most reliable way of connecting to the internet without having to rely on unreliable Wi-Fi hotspots that may be unsafe and vulnerable to attack. 

You will need to have your passport with you and you will pay a small fee of about $2 to get a SIM card.  this SIM card will be registered to you and you need to keep it safe and report if it gets lost to avoid any issues with law enforcement in case your card is used without your knowledge. 

Best Network for Internet in Kenya

When choosing a internet provider in Kenya:  you only have two choices:

1. Safaricom: This is the most widely used network provider in the country and it has the widest and most reliable  4G network in Kenya. For any tourist in the country who will be going on safari to remote parts of the country, Safaricom is the network that you should choose for your internet. 
2. Airtel:  I personally use airtel for my data and this is because I live in the city where both Safaricom and airtel have strong network coverage.  the problem with the airtel network is that it tends to be weaker outside of major cities and that is why I would not recommend it for tourists visiting Kenya and going on safari. 

Does Kenya use GSM or CDMA

Kenya Uses GSM phone network and this means that CDMA phones will not work in Kenya.

In USA, Sprint, Verizon, and US Cellular use CDMA. AT&T and T-Mobile use GSM.

https://www.pcmag.com/news/cdma-vs-gsm-whats-the-difference

This means that if you already use AT&T or T-Mobile, you can use your phone in Kenya to use it for your Internet.

Based on my research, most of the other countries in the world use GSM so you may not need to get another device to use when you come to Kenya. Your phone should still work perfectly with our network.

If if you use CDMA, and you don’t want to spend money on a new phone, you may take the option of using the WiFi hotspots you find as you travel but this introduces extra risk to your security and you will need to use these hotspots with caution.

How much does data cost in Kenya?

The cost of using the internet in Kenya is charged depending on your usage.

You can purchase bundles of data and this will generally be cheaper than paying as you go. 

Mobile data costs about $1 for every megabyte.  This is a rough estimate and it depends on the network that you choose. 

How much Safaricom Bundles Cost:

Before giving you the procedure, you will need to top up your Sim Card with the amount of money your Internet bundles cost: Refer to the Safaricom Website for the current charges for internet but for reference, here is what their bundles cost as at 22nd Feb 2020

Resources	Price (Kenyan Shillings)	Price (US Dollars)
350MB	250/=	2.5
2GB + WhatsApp	500/=	5
5GB + WhatsApp	1000/=	10
15GB + WhatsApp	2000/=	20
25GB + WhatsApp	3000/=	30

These are valid for 30 days and will be more than enough for your stay during your visit to Kenya.

How to purchase Internet Bundles for your phone

The method of purchasing bundles may vary depending on when you’re reading this but the standard shortcode that gives you access to making this purchase is *544#

At the time of writing this article, the procedure of purchasing Safaricom bundles is as shown in this video I recorded below.

How fast is internet speed in Kenya

How fast internet speeds are will depend on where you are located when using internet:

1. City: If you are in the city you are more likely to have very fast internet.  most cities have a strong 4G network that allows for speeds upwards of 12 Mb/s. it may vary depending on what parts of the city you are in but you were generally expected to have much higher internet speeds in the city compared to the more remote parts of the country.  This type of internet connection is more than sufficient to stream video without buffering
2. Remote Area/Villages: By virtue of the fact that remote areas in Kenya are less densely populated and that the population in this area does not have a high demand for the internet,  internet speeds here are much slower and you would expect to find 3G internet connectivity. the speeds here would be much lower and would range around 2 Mbps at best.  This internet you will barely be able to stream video but it should be sufficient enough to send an email and view light websites.

Internet connectivity in the National Parks

Most of the national parks are located in the remote parts of Kenya and would have low internet connectivity.  the internet speeds here will not be very fast but may be strong enough for light use. 

 you can be sure that you won’t be able to use it to make video calls or stream video but it should be sufficient for very light internet tasks. 

Your Lodge or hotel may have Wi-Fi connectivity which is supplied via satellite broadband.  however, not all hotels have these amenities and you are likely to be spending more on your hotel if they have wifi available. 

What kind of phone will you need when in Kenya

If you intend to use the internet and Kenya through the mobile networks as I have  explained, she will needs to have a GSM enabled phone that can accept foreign SIM cards. 

 the phone will need to be unlocked and not restricted to any particular network for it to work  with the network providers here.

 I would recommend that you use a smartphone (  Android or iOS) but to avoid being flashy and to reduce your chances of attracting unwanted attention, don’t make it a very expensive one. 

 in case you don’t have any unlocked phones and you would want to buy a simple device that you will use in Kenya,  here are a few affordable phones that I found on Amazon that you may consider

Hig End: Samsung Galaxy S10E

( View Price on Amazon)

Mid range: Samsung Galaxy A10

(View Price on Amazon)

Budget: BLU Advance

(View Price on Amazon)

Tips And Things To Consider When Using Internet And Wifi In Kenya As A Foreigner.

Here are a few rules of thumb that you may want to take into consideration when using the internet in Kenya as a newcomer or foreigner: 

Don’t Pay as you Go

I would avoid going on the pay-as-you-go plan when you get your SIM card. cuz it may cost you more to use your internet then if you get an internet bundle as I showed you in the video above.  It’ relatively easy to set up and it gives you a lot more bang for your buck when you use bundles than if you use a pay-as-you-go plan.

Don’t throw away your sim card

As I mentioned earlier,  your SIM card is registered to your passport number and so you need to take care of it because losing it may put you in some trouble.  if someone uses your SIM card to do anything nefarious, you may be the person implicated. 

It is for the same reason that you also need to report your SIM card has lost immediately you lose it. 

Get your Simcard and Airtime at the Airport

This is not so much a rule but it is useful advice. Immediately you land,  get your SIM card and airtime. it will allow you to use things like Uber and  other online services to get around. 

Register for M-Pesa

Something that you might find very convenient is the mobile Money platform called m-pesa.  it allows you to make purchases like the way you use your credit card. 

 To avoid using your credit card everywhere,  load up your m-pesa account with the amount of money you expect to spend in Kenya and use m-pesa wherever you go instead of your visa card.  m-pesa is accepted nearly everywhere and you will be surprised how convenient it is compared to using your card or cash.

Avoid using WiFi

for your online security,  it will be best to avoid using any Wi-Fi public or otherwise.  since you will already have enough data to even tether your computer,  you will generally be more secure using your own internet connection t o browse the internet and log into any of your online acounts.