In October 2023, I switched to Safaricom’s 50 Mbps 5G Plan. I was excited to experience the blazing-fast speeds that 5G promises, and I was not disappointed.

Initially, I was consistently getting speeds of over 50 Mbps, and sometimes even over 100 Mbps. I was able to download movies and TV shows in seconds, and I could play online games without any lag.

However, in November 2023, I started to notice that my 5G speeds had decreased significantly. During periods of heavy rain, my speeds would often drop to between 5 and 9 Mbps. This was still much faster than my previous 4G connection, but it was a noticeable decrease in performance.

I contacted Safaricom customer support about the issue, and they explained that rain can attenuate 5G signals. This is because raindrops are roughly the same size as the millimeter wave radio wavelengths used by 5G. When raindrops scatter the radio waves, it reduces the signal strength.

Safaricom also explained that they are working on ways to mitigate the impact of rain on 5G signals. This includes deploying more cell towers and using beamforming technology to focus the signal on individual devices.

Overall, I am still happy with my Safaricom 5G Plan. The speeds are typically very fast, and even when they do slow down during rain, they are still much faster than my previous 4G connection. I am confident that Safaricom will continue to improve the reliability of its 5G network in the future.

Here are some tips for improving 5G performance during rain:

• Move closer to a cell tower. The closer you are to a cell tower, the stronger the signal will be.
• Avoid using your 5G device outdoors during heavy rain.
• Connect to a Wi-Fi network if available. Wi-Fi signals are less affected by rain than 5G signals.
• If you are experiencing slow 5G speeds, try restarting your device. This can sometimes clear up minor issues.

I hope this blog post has been helpful. If you have any questions about my experience with Safaricom’s 5G Plan, please feel free to leave a comment below.