I carry all of the data modems available from Safaricom, Orange and Zain. I also carry my data connected mobile phone (this trip itâ€s the Nexus One), and an unlocked multi-purpose modem. To this I add my Acer Netbook, which Iâ€d feel a lot better about losing than I would my Mac, and that completes the setup.
In Gatab, on Mount Kulal, you can get two signals. One is Safaricom, that reaches all the way up the mountain (if youâ€re standing in the right spot) from Loyangalani on the shore of Lake Turkana. The other is from Orange Telkom, with a tower on the mountain itself. Both are powered by windmills.
Where else will you find a connection?
These are the towns that I know of with cell phone towers. Whenever you have a voice connection up here, you also have a GPRS connection (always Edge, never 3g). The Orange connectionâ€s are CDMA, not the normal EVDO “3g+†speeds that you get in Nairobi and Mombasa.
Sometimes all you get is the one tree within 20km that gets a signal…