Why I Changed My Mind About Home Internet

In 2012, I wrote about why I do not have, and had no plans not get home internet. It simply did not make sense then, both financially and practically. That has since changed. For the last two years, I have had a fibre connection to my house. So what caused me to change my mind?

First, fibre internet got cheaper. When I wrote that article, you needed at least KES 5,000 per month to get a lowly 2MB connection, with hefty installation fees because fibre was not as widespread as it is today. Today, that amount will buy you 5MBPS from Safaricom, who undoubtedly have the best service in terms of value for money, uptime, and cost.

Safaricom fibre rates (July 2018)

The second thing that prompted my change of mind was the worsening Nairobi traffic. In 2012, it would take  15 minutes to do a 7km commute at 7am. Today, it takes  1 hour 40 minutes to do a 10km commute from Langata to Westlands, and sometimes even more. This means that commuting during regular hours costs me at least 3 hours in productive time. I realised that working more from home would save me fuel money and commute stress.

Finally, streaming content became a thing! The peak of this for me has been streaming the World Cup on my phone both at home and while on the move, thanks to the partnership between Safaricom and Kwese Iflix.  In addition to this, we now have Netflix, Showmax, and a host of other legal (and not so legal) entertainment options. We are so spoilt for choice, that it no longer makes sense to pay for cable TV.

The process of getting fibre internet at home has also become much simpler. In the past as mentioned above, you would need to pay an installation fee. Now, you simply dial *400# and select the “Get Safaricom Home Fibre” and follow the simple steps. You will then get a call back from Safaricom within 48 hours. Installation is free and is done within 40 hours of making the payment.

Should you be wondering how you can get your fibre internet to pay for itself, below are some ideas:

1. Freelancing
2. Online writing (we had a Twitter chat about this last year)
3. Flexi-time where you work from home sometimes and save commuting time and money
4. Discontinuing your cable TV subscription
5. Purchasing less mobile internet bundles since you have internet at home