Do you want to buy the MTN Turbonet Router this year? Here is a simple guide that will help you acquire the device easily. I will give you many other ways to get this device genuinely.
The MTN Turbonet Router is a modern advanced internet router. Basically, the wireless alternative to the MTN Fibrebroadband gives you up to 300MBPS of internet speed hence making it the fastest internet connection in Ghana.
Here, I have the ‘Hands-on’ review of the router for my readers who want to get the device to gain more insights before going for the device.
How to Buy MTN Turbonet Router This Year
The MTN Turbonet router is a high-speed Wireless router and because is wireless, it has become scarce in recent times. Even though it is scarce, it doesn’t mean you can’t get one. Let me guide you on three different ways to get one.
1. Pre-order at any MTN office
The MTN Turbonet router does come to the MTN offices in Ghana at least every few months from wherever it is manufactured. However, due to the high demand, it runs out of stock quickly. The best way to counter this is to Pre-order the device.
What do I mean by pre-order?
Go to any MTN office and ask when the device will be available. Probably, you might not be able to get a specific date but you will be given some date range. You can easily ask to see the manager in charge and pay in advance. Currently, the MTN Turbonet router costs GHS 499.00 in MTN offices.
If this doesn’t work, you can exchange contacts with the manager and let him or her alert you whenever the device is available. With this, you are sure to get notified when the device becomes available.
2. Buy from Jiji
Jiji.com.gh is Ghana’s version of eBay where users sell their slightly used items. There are a lot of people on this platform that are selling the MTN Turbonet Router.
However, you should note that these Turbonet devices are not brand new. Most of them are also registered in the seller’s name which makes it a bit risky.
Another important thing to also check when buying an MTN Turbonet router is the sim. The MTN Turbonet router is just a regular Huawei router locked to MTN. It is the SIM card that makes it a Turbonet. Any regular MTN subscriber SIM can work in the device so don’t be deceived.
How do you know you are buying MTN Turbonet?
- First, let the seller turn the device on and open the dashboard.
- Navigate to the “My MTN” Tab and locate where it says “Check Balance”. Check the balance to make sure the device is working fine.
- Go to where you have to Enter USSD and enter *156# or *550#. If you see a message that says “Sorry, 23354xxxxxxx is not allowed on this service“, then it is a Turbonet SIM card in the device.
Make sure to go to the nearest MTN office with the seller to do a change of ownership and also get your number linked to the device.
3. Buy MTN Fibre Broadband Instead
The MTN Fibre Broadband is still the fastest internet connection compared to the MTN Turbonet Router. The only major downside of the MTN Fibre Broadband is its availability. Not every part of the country has a Fibre bypass which makes it difficult for most areas to have access to the Fibre connection.
Depending on your location, consider inquiring about the MTN Fibre Broadband first before opting for the Turbonet.
Why should you get MTN Fibre Broadband?
- It is cheap. It only costs GHS 150 for the device and installation as well.
- Compared to the Turbonet, the Fibre Broadband is faster.
- The data packages are more affordable
These are the three ways you can get access to a faster internet connection this year. While it is so difficult to buy a Turbonet these days, check below to see how cheaper and faster it was for me to get one in 2019.
How I Bought MTN Turbonet Router in 2019
I walked into an MTN service centre with a valid ID card, a sum of GHS 300, an email address and an MTN phone number. I paid the cashier and was given the Turbonet device in a sealed box with a form to fill out.
Some of the things on the form include My full name, ID number, the Turbonet number which was boldly printed on the box, my alternate MTN number, email address and my signature.
I submitted the form to the front desk assistant who assured me that everything had been registered and explained to me how the device works. In less than 20 minutes, I was done with the entire process.
What is in the box?
The size of the box is 11 x 10 x 6.5 inches. Inside this bigger box are two smaller boxes. First, a white 9 x 9 x 2.5-inch box that has it boldly written on ‘HUAWEI Omni Antenna AF78. There is also a second yellow box which has the MTN Turbonet Router and the MTN logo on it. The box is 10 x 9 x 4 inches.
Opening the antenna box, there is a neatly packaged Omni Antenna with a manual inside. The MTN Turbonet antenna is white with two long cables stretching from the inside of the antenna itself. It also has plastic wall mount which can be adjusted to make it sit on any smooth surface comfortably.
On the end of each antenna cable is a small connector which is meant to help connect the antenna to the router.
Description of the MTN Turbonet Router
Inside the MTN Turbonet Router box, we have the Turbonet device itself, SIM Card, computer LAN/WAN cable, landline telephone cable, a charger and a manual.
Taking the router itself, the router is more rectangular with curved edges. It also has a plastic stretch to make it sit on a flat surface comfortably.
On top of the device are two buttons. One is the Switch which is used to turn the device On and Off. The other is the WPS button which when pressed helps you connect to the device without having to enter a password.
Looking at the device from the front, we have five indicator lights, an MTN logo and HUAWEI logo as well.
LED Indicators
- Power indicator: When on, always white means the device is connected to a power source and turned On.
- Network Status indicator: Cyan/Yellow/Blue Turns red immediately after the device is turned on and turns Cyan when the device is connected to a Mobile Network with a strong signal.
- WPS/ WiFi Indicator: When steady and white it means WiFi is on and can be connected to. When blinking it means the device is in WPS mode and can be connected without a password.
- LAN/ WAN indicator: Lights up when a LAN/WAN cable is connected to the back of the device.
- Signal strength indicator: Five white lights each representing one bar of the network signal.
The Back of the device
Looking at the back of the device, we have the antenna sockets where there is a cover that you have to remove before seeing the sockets where you will plug the antenna cables.
Below the antenna sockets, we have the device information sticker where you will see the default WiFi password, the IP address to access the dashboard, the username and password including all the other information you need for your first-time access to the device.
- Power Input: Where you will plug the power supply.
- 4 LAN/WAN Ports: For connecting to any machine using the LAN/WAN cable.
- Landline Telephone port: This helps you connect a Telephone to the device for making calls.
- Reset button: A small hole where you can insert any pin to press a button to reset the device to factory default.
Under the device, we have only the SIM slot where you insert a Micro SIM. We have three types of SIM cards Mini-SIM which is the most common SIM card size for most phones in Ghana, then Micro-SIM which is the small SIM size and Nano SIM which is the smallest size of SIM card.
The device uses a Micro-SIM card size so be careful the type of SIM you put in so you don’t damage the device.
How to Log Into the Turbonet
To log into the MTN Turbonet router for the first time, follow the procedure below.
- First, open your web browser and type; HTTP://192.168.8.1 into your address bar and hit the enter key. This IP might be different for all devices. Always check the back of your device.
- The default Username is “admin” and the Password is also “admin“. All without the quotes.
Also, apart from the device IP address dashboard which is
198.168.8.1, you can also manage the device accounts with the Huawei HiLink Mobile App. You will have to be connected to the device to log into the dashboard using the IP or the Huawei HiLink app.
By default, if you buy your device from the MTN office, you will have 5GB of data bundle on the device. If you want to buy a new data bundle then you should check this article I wrote about “How to Buy Data on MTN Turbonet or FTTX“.
The MTN Turbonet Router is a lightweight device that runs at the speed of light. There are so many things you can do with the device that I am yet still exploring and since you are also following this super-fast internet connection device, I will be glad to let you know about my findings so keep looking out for more on this topic.