Safaricom’s 5G router has been around for a few years now. It’s sleek, works everywhere (falling back to 4G, 3G, or even 2G when 5G isn’t around), and at KES 2,999 from Safaricom or Quickmart outlets nationwide, it’s a good deal. Pair it with one of the four home internet plans and you’re set:
- 10Mbps @ KES 3,000 – FUP 250GB
- 50Mbps @ KES 4,000 – FUP 1.5TB
- 100Mbps @ KES 5,000 – FUP 2TB
- 250Mbps @ KES 10,000 – FUP 4TB
On paper, this is all solid. The problem? Fair Usage Policy (FUP) visibility.
I’ve been using the Safaricom 5G router this month and subscribed to the 10Mbps package. Two weeks in, I woke up to no internet. After some frantic troubleshooting, I called Safaricom care on 400. Turns out I had already exhausted my 250GB FUP.
The most obvious question was: “Why can’t I just check this on the MySafaricom app?”
The answer I got: “This is a new product. The feature hasn’t been added yet.”
“New?” I asked. This router has been around for years. Clearly, “new” at Safaricom means something else.
The email era is alive and well
Still determined, I asked Safaricom support on X (formerly Twitter) how to check my FUP. The answer? Send an email. Yes. In 2025. To check your data usage on the country’s largest telco, you must write an email like it’s the early 2000s.
So I did. And to be fair, Safaricom replied promptly with my balance. Helpful, yes. Practical? Not really. I followed up, asking if I’d have to send an email every single time I needed this info. The response:
“In the meantime we can only share on demand, since this is a work in progress.”Translation: buckle up, you’ll be emailing… and calling.
Calling customer support on 400 works
This morning, I thought I’d try my luck with Safaricom care over the phone. Betty (shout out to Betty!) tried her best. She checked the system, asked me to hold… then asked me to hold again… then eventually admitted the system had hung. The call ended with no FUP update. But to her credit, Betty called me back an hour later and this time gave me my FUP balance. So yes, besides sending an email, calling 400 is another way to get this info, just don’t expect it to be instant. Depending on who picks up, it might take a while.
Interestingly, Airtel also has a 5G router, and it works in pretty much the same way as Safaricom’s. The difference? Airtel’s My Airtel app already shows you your FUP balance alongside your other account details. Safaricom’s MySafaricom app, on the other hand, hasn’t caught up despite the router being in market for years. So yeah, it’s not like the technology doesn’t exist. It’s simply a matter of priorities.
Safaricom is not a small player. This is a company with deep pockets and some of the best engineers in the region. Yet, somehow, the ability to check how much of your paid-for internet you’ve used is treated like a side project. Adding this feature to the MySafaricom app or even USSD shouldn’t be rocket science. Airtel has done it, and they don’t exactly have Safaricom’s market muscle.
My take
Don’t get me wrong: the router is excellent. The speeds are stable, coverage is solid, and the price point is competitive. But this FUP mystery box experience? It kills the vibe. Safaricom urgently needs to fix the “how do I check my usage” question.
Because honestly, in 2025, no one should have to send an email or call and wait on hold for ages for something as basic as knowing how much internet they have left.
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