Kampala - Post Report Question and Answers
Is high-speed home Internet access available? How long does it typically take to install it after arrival?
Yes and no. They say it is, you pay for it, it does not work. It's expensive, we pay $500+ per month to have two providers plus my US cell phone. There are outages constantly, it's jammed a lot by the government. My cell phone from home roaming on data still has faster speeds. A few have been able to bring starlink successfully. Would highly suggest that. - Jan 2024
Yes, with increasing speed and reliability. It has improved greatly during our tour and our fiber internet works well most of the time. There are multiple providers for fiber now and it depends on neighborhood and house location to know what is best for your area. Installation can be quick if you have the identification you need and if the companies have the routers, etc., in stock. I would recommend bringing a router with you as the ones the internet companies provide are not of high quality. We also use an extender/repeater which makes a big difference in the internet reaching various parts of our house. - Jun 2022
I would not say that there is any high-speed internet in Uganda yet. Certain area of Kampala have fiber, others do not. I would recommend subscribing to different internet companies. They are not cheap, and they are not reliable, but at least you have one that works when another goes down. For a sense of speed, our Northern VA home's internet has 450 times faster than the ones that we actually had in Kampala. - Dec 2021
Yes it is available. Installation times vary. Ours took about 5 days. Currently there are two companies (maybe more) that offer fiber internet. It seems like slowly everyone in the embassy is switching to these services, so maybe you'll get lucky and move into a house where the previous occupant had fiber installed. This would drastically reduce the installation time. I recommend paying for more than you think you'll need as whatever speed you pay for is rarely what you'll get. - Aug 2020
It’s available, Zuku has proven to be pretty good. It didn’t take long to install, a few days after arrival. - Nov 2019
In 2015-2018 it was slow and expensive. 4mbs for US$150/mo. I was able to stream. 80-90% reliable. - Oct 2019
It is available. About $200+/month. It is not really that 'high speed' though. The higher speed options often also have packages where you have a data cap which is probably one of the most frustrating things, especially when you have kids in middle or upper school (where 90% of their school work and assignments are online). - Mar 2019
No. Internet is available, but high-speed? pfffftt. It typically takes between two-six weeks to get it installed, two to six years to get the installed internet operational. - Feb 2019
Some neighborhoods have fiber internet, which is fast and reliable and can be installed on day 1. Everyone else suffers with moderate speeds, moderate to low reliability and "limitless" plans that actually are only limitless from 12-6am or such. - Jan 2019
Internet is available, but expensive. - Dec 2018
Yes, we have Zuku and it’s super fast and pretty reliable. - Dec 2018
Internet is hit or miss and is expensive. We have switched between three providers in our time here and finally settled on Smile. They charge about $150 a month for 100GB. We are able to stream Netflix without a problem. The service does go out from time to time but never for too long. There apparently is a new Kenyan company that offers quality internet service, but only in the Naguru neighborhood for now. Hopefully they will expand to other neighborhoods soon. - Oct 2018
Internet is a constant topic of conversation at post. Internet is expensive, I think around US$135/month but that is not unlimited and if you stream it won't last you a month. We also have experienced outages and the company we purchase from will often downgrade the internet plan without notice. - Sep 2018
LOL, high-speed again is very expensive and it goes out often. - Sep 2018
Internet is expensive, and not super speedy. We pay US$150 per month for 4 mbps from 7PM to 7AM and all day on weekends. There are lower cost options, but the reliability and/or speed will be slower. - Aug 2018
High speed internet is an issue in many expat residential neighborhoods, however optic fiber is being put in different places which seems to offer higher speed internet at lower cost that existing providers. However, not everywhere available yet but the next thing over the coming year. - Jun 2018
Home internet is available; I wouldn't call it "high-speed." It is expensive and a hassle. You can't buy it by the month, you have to buy data bundles and I have found it to be confusing and difficult to decipher the packages. It doesn't take long to install. Just buy a wireless router and you are good to go. - Jun 2018
See above in phone section - Aug 2015
High-speed is a bit of a misnomer here, but yes it is available. You can either get DSL service hooked up at home or buy a wireless router and load it with data as needed. The latter is actually the better option these days, but the options--and which one is the best--change regularly. We did have broadband at home for about a month, and it was fantastic. But then it just completely stopped working and no one was able to fix it (par for the course here). - Jun 2014
IN and Smile are good. Depends on usage. 100,000 to 250,000 ugx. - Oct 2013
es, there are many different suppliers, and the service is getting better all the time. We pay about $100/mo for wireless service, and I have a back-up plug-in from another carrier just in case. - Mar 2013
Yes. It's exhorbitantly expensive, but getting cheaper as competition increases. Still, expect to pay at least $200/month for "high speed." It's reasonably reliable, but nowhere near US standards. - Sep 2009
