May 17, 2023

Ultimate Steps to Secure WordPress Website

Ultimate Steps to Secure WordPress Website

With software powering 43.2% of all websites, WordPress has established itself as the most widely used content management system (CMS). Unfortunately, because of its widespread use, hackers have found ways to exploit the system's flaws.

This is not to say that WordPress is insecure; users' lack of security understanding is often to blame for vulnerabilities. Therefore, you should implement preventative security measures before hackers target your website.

 

Wordpress Security

Your website is a virtual business card informing visitors about your company, products, and services. You may win over new followers and strengthen bonds with your current audience.

 

That's why your website must never go down for maintenance. If it suddenly becomes infected with malware, runs very slowly after being hacked, or disappears entirely, it will hurt your reputation.

 

If hackers get access to your website, you risk losing revenue from fewer visitors, fewer purchases, and fewer ad impressions. Fixing it up to full functioning will cost money. Losing search engine ranks is another possibility. To save money and keep your reputation intact, you should ensure your website is protected and locked down.

Common Reasons for WordPress's Security Problems

Google has recently made public a ranking of hackers' most common entry points to get into websites. Let's take a closer look at a few of them: 

 

·       Hacker-accessible passwords: Attacks using brute force are among the most prevalent methods hackers use to get into websites. They are utilizing bots to test a variety of usernames and passwords at a rate of thousands of possible combinations per second until they discover the correct one.

 

·       Unsafe plugins and themes: The vulnerabilities that may be identified in plugins and articles provide a reasonably simple entry point for malicious actors. The developers of high-quality pieces send patches to address these vulnerabilities as part of regular updates.


However, not all WordPress users regularly update their websites. Free versions of expensive plugins and premium WordPress themes that have been cracked typically include backdoors that allow hackers to enter your site and do anything they want.

 

·       Poor security policies: It is much simpler for anyone to get access to your website if you have lax security measures and permit weak passwords, for example, or if you provide site access to those without need. 

 

WordPress Website Security Measures

 

Listed below are some WordPress security best practices that can assist you in further protecting your website.

 

Keep WordPress Core Updated 

 

Ensuring that WordPress is always running the most recent version is essential to preserve your website's reliability and safety. After receiving a complaint of a security hole in WordPress, the core team immediately begins working on a new software version that will include a remedy for the problem. If you do not regularly update your WordPress website, you may be using an older version of WordPress that has known security flaws.

 

One of the easiest methods to strengthen WordPress security is to update to the latest version. However, nearly half of all WordPress sites use an out-of-date version of the software, leaving them vulnerable to attack.

 

Once you've logged into your WordPress dashboard, look to the left menu for "Updates" to see if a newer version of WordPress is available. If it indicates that your performance is outdated, you should upgrade immediately. If you don't want your site to run an out-of-date version of WordPress, you should watch the following update release dates.

 

WordPress is a favorite target for cybercriminals, spammers, and identity thieves because of its massive user base. Be sure to leave yourself vulnerable by sticking with an out-of-date version of WordPress. Just set up automatic updates and stop thinking about it.

 

Use a Managed WordPress Hosting service incorporating automatic updates if you'd like an even less time-consuming approach to keeping your site up-to-date. You should also update any plugins and themes used on your WordPress site. Incompatibilities between older plugins and themes with the latest version of WordPress may lead to broken functionality and security holes.

 

Use Strong Passwords 

 

Password theft is the primary vector for WordPress hacker efforts. Using complex, site-specific passwords may make this more challenging. They include but are not limited to the WordPress dashboard, FTP, database, WordPress hosting, and domain-based email addresses.

 

Strong passwords may be difficult to remember, so many novices avoid using them. The bright side is that you need to remember to memorize complex passwords. A password manager is available for usage.

 

Another thing you can do to lessen the danger is to prevent other people from accessing the administrative section of your WordPress website unless necessary. It is essential to familiarize yourself with user responsibilities and features in WordPress before adding additional user accounts and writers to your WordPress site, especially if you have a big staff or want guest authors to contribute content.


Use Two-Factor Authentication 

 

Logging in using a two-factor authentication strategy necessitates the usage of a second authentication factor. The first is the traditional login and password, and the second is to employ an additional piece of hardware or software to verify your identity.

 

Most of the world's most popular websites, like Google, Facebook, and Twitter, provide the option to do so. Your WordPress site, too, may be equipped with this feature. The Two-Factor Authentication plugin must first be installed and enabled. After activation, you must visit the Two Factor Authentication link in the WordPress dashboard's sidebar.

 

Secure WordPress

The next step is to launch an authenticator app previously downloaded to your mobile device. Google Authenticator, Authy, and LastPass Authenticator are just a few options. LastPass Authenticator and Authy are highly recommended since they provide cloud-based account backup. If your phone ever disappears, gets reset, or you decide to upgrade, this will be extremely handy. Your access to all of your accounts may be quickly restored.

Install SSL Certificate 

 

These days, every website may benefit from using SSL (Secure Sockets Layer). In the past, SSL was essential for ensuring the safety of online financial transactions. However, Google now understands its significance and gives sites with an SSL certificate a higher ranking.

 

Sites that handle private information like login credentials or financial data must use SSL encryption. All communications between a user's browser and your server will be sent and received in plain text if you don't utilize an SSL certificate. In other words, hackers can decipher this. Using an SSL makes your site safer since important information is encrypted before being sent from the user's browser to your server.

 

Purchasing an SSL certificate ranges from around $70 to $199 per year for websites willing to receive sensitive information. There's no use in shelling out for an SSL certificate if you're not collecting private data. Nearly all web hosting providers make available to their customers a free Let's Encrypt SSL certificate that can be installed on their respective websites. 


Website Security

Use a Secure WordPress Theme 

 

Try not to use any old WordPress theme simply because it looks nice; this is similar to installing a plugin from an unknown source. Why? Because doing so may put your site at risk of harm and make it harder to fix any problems that do arise. 

 

Choose a theme that follows WordPress's guidelines to avoid exploits the article may have created. Paste the URL of your site (or any theme's live demos or WordPress site) into the W3C's validator to see whether it complies with WordPress' criteria for using a specific theme. Check out the WordPress theme directory for alternatives if your current theme doesn't adhere to the standards.

 

You may feel confident using any of the themes from this collection with your installation of WordPress. Try one of the premium WordPress themes HubSpot suggests, or look for a different one on a reputable theme store.

 

Limit Login Attempts

 

WordPress users are not restricted in the number of times they may try to log in. The WordPress admin section is vulnerable to brute force attacks because hackers may guess valid passwords by testing millions of possible combinations.

 

Therefore, you should restrict login attempts to protect the site from hacking. Limiting unsuccessful logins is another good way to watch for malicious activity on your site. Most people can access the system after one or two tries. Therefore, you should be wary of suspicious IP addresses surpassing the maximum number of attempts.

 

Using a plugin to restrict the number of failed login attempts is one technique to beef up WordPress security. Numerous excellent alternatives exist, including:

 

·       Limit Login Attempts Reloaded: Allows administrators to set a maximum number of unsuccessful login attempts for individual IP addresses, allowlist or blocklist people, and update visitors on the time they have before access to the website is suspended.

 

·       Loginizer: Includes two-factor authentication, reCAPTCHA, and security questions for logging in.

 

·       Limit Attempts by BestWebSoft: IP addresses are immediately added to a deny list and blocked when they have reached the login attempt limit.

 

This WordPress security feature has the danger of accidentally locking out a valid user of the WordPress administration panel. However, several options are available for accessing WordPress accounts that have been accidentally locked.

 

Use Security Plugins 

 

Frequently checking your website's security for malware is a time-consuming job, and if you don't often refresh your knowledge of best practices for coding. You could only recognize you're seeking a piece of malware that's been put into the code if you verify your knowledge periodically.

 

Fortunately, others have come to terms with the fact that only some are developers by creating WordPress security plugins. When you install a security plugin, it will scan your site for viruses and watch it around the clock.

 

A highly recommended WordPress security plugin is Sucuri.net. They provide services such as website firewalls (for a price), file integrity monitoring, remote malware scanning, blocklist monitoring, effective security hardening, post-hack security measures, security alerts, and audits of security-related activities.


Use Secure Hosting

 

Choosing a host with multiple security measures is the easiest way to protect your website. Choosing a low-cost hosting service can seem appealing because the money you save can be put to better use elsewhere in your business.

 

Don't give in to this temptation, however. It can and usually does lead to nightmares in the future. It is possible that all of your data will be deleted and that your website URL will start pointing to a new location.

 

By spending a little extra on a reliable hosting provider, you can rest assured that your website is protected on several fronts. In addition, if you choose a dedicated WordPress hosting service, your site will load much more quickly.

 

You are suggested WPEngine among the numerous available hosts. Support is available at all hours of the day and night, every day of the year. The cherry on top is that they have fair pricing.

 

Backup Your Website Regularly 

 

Preventing irreparable damage to your site is as easy as maintaining a regular backup. If you have a backup from not too long ago, you should be able to restore your website to its state before it was hacked or damaged in some other manner. With this information, you can immediately address the problem and move on from it.

 

Hold onto many copies of your data. Having at least three recent backups accessible is recommended since even the most recent backup might include problems that have yet to be discovered. Maintain copies of your data in several off-site places, including the cloud and external hard drives.

 

Create a regular backup plan and stick to it. The time and frequency are up to you; however, there are several good guidelines to follow. Before modifying your site, generate an additional backup to your usual backup plan. It's highly recommended that you have a recent backup before taking any security-enhancing measures.

 

Conclusion 

 

Website security is more critical now than ever before. Hackers are targeting more and more WordPress sites. Therefore, owners must take precautions to keep their data safe and secure. The recommended practices suggested in this blog post will help website owners protect their WordPress site against malicious attacks.

 

The core of your WordPress installation should be kept up-to-date, and strong passwords should be used. Further, two-factor authentication should be activated, SSL certificates should be installed, and secure themes should be used. Moreover, the number of failed login attempts should be limited, security plugins should be activated, and certain hosting providers should be selected. Regular backups should also be performed.

 

Owners of websites should take the duty of keeping their sites secure very seriously. The data of the website's owner and its users are safer on a secure website. In the event of a security breach, users run the risk of having personal information stolen or compromised.

 

Therefore, protecting a WordPress website is essential for protecting its data and users. Website owners may lessen their exposure to cyber assaults, data breaches, and other security risks by adopting the recommended practices discussed in this article. It's crucial to take precautions to protect WordPress websites and not take security for granted.

Mar 28, 2021

How to Shop Safely on Aliexpress

How to Shop Safely on Aliexpress

It may be hard to believe, but between October 2017 and till date, I've done more shopping on Aliexpress than I have on any other stores, and today I'll be sharing a few tips with you on how to shop safely on the website.

It is no longer news that many people believe it is very unsafe to shop on Aliexpress. They believe that there are only fake products or as they usually say, "Chinese products", in the store. This is false and in this post, I'll be shedding some light on why it is so.

Believe me, Aliexpress is a good place to shop, there are many misconceptions about the place but as a regular shopper on the website, I can tell you that it's a really safe place to shop.

Of course, I'm not trying to dispute the fact that like most other online stores, there are items that are counterfeited on Aliexpress, but just like the other stores, if you shop carefully on Aliexpress you won't fall for the deceitful sellers.

How to not get scammed on Aliexpress

There are a few things you have to consider when shopping on Aliexpress, mostly about making sure that the product you receive actually looks like what you saw on the website.

I've listed below, a few tips that if implemented correctly, you'll always be sure of getting only the expected genuine products that you paid for, rather than getting scammed of your money.

How not to get Scammed on Aliexpress

Always check the product descriptions: 


This is the best way to make sure that the pictures of the item you're seeing are actually true, you may see a different item pictured and even titled on a product but in reality, the product is actually something different. By checking the description you would get to know what it really is, the sellers tend to always write the real specifications and features of their products there.

Read the product reviews: 


There are numerous people shopping on Aliexpress every day, though only a few of them actually write helpful reviews while others may only leave comments like "It arrived in peace and in one piece", the comments you should look for are those that sound like they actually have knowledge about the actual product and its functions. 

Aliexpress reviews

The best reviews to look at most of the time are those with pictures, that way you can judge the product by yourself and even make comparisons. Don't forget the one-star reviews; if numerous people are complaining of the same thing on a product then you should probably avoid it and look for another, the chance of all those people lying at the same time is very low.

Talking about product reviews... how about you check out a few product reviews of mine below;




Compare products in different stores: 


Aliexpress is a market with different sellers and their respective online stores. It's only wise to compare the prices, reviews, and shipping options available in different stores for the same item before making your purchase from any of them.

Aliexpress real products

Buy from stores with an already high number of orders


When comparing products between stores, I'll advise clinging to the stores with an already high number of orders for the product you intend to buy, and that have good customer reviews and ratings. This is because chances are high that the product is real and will be delivered to you when other customers have nothing but praises to sing about the store and product in particular.

Chat with the sellers: 


If you're in doubt about the quality, specs, or reviews of a product, you can clear your doubt by chatting with the seller. You could even chat with the sellers to ask for special offers or discounts in some cases, maybe if you're buying in bulk or something. 

Not getting scammed on Aliexpress

Also, you don't have to worry about not knowing how to type Chinese, most sellers there speak and write in the English language, and Aliexpress has an auto-translation system that works really well to display your English language written chats to the seller in the Chinese language.

Search deeply and precisely, especially if you want normal branded parts: 


For some reason, Aliexpress does not push some normal branded parts to the front page of the market, even when you search for a product categorically you would usually find only the Chinese branded ones or the normal branded parts but in used condition. To find a specific brand that isn't Chinese or used you may have to be very specific. I mean searching for "Noctua CPU cooler" instead of "CPU cooler", else you may have to scroll through pages to actually find what you want. I'm sure you get the point.

Shopping on Aliexpress is really safe once you take the necessary precautions. Your money is always safe with the Aliexpress management and would only get released to the sellers when you confirm that you received your item without any problems, otherwise, you'd be refunded as long as you're able to prove that there's a problem with the item you received, or if you didn't receive it at all. 

Happy shopping.

Nov 14, 2019

Spectranet Blaze CPE 4G Router Review and Guide

Spectranet Blaze CPE 4G Router Review and Guide

The Spectranet Blaze CPE 4G LTE router is the latest router that Spectranet launched a few days ago. It is an upgrade and replacement to the Zoom CPE.

I'll be reviewing this new Spectranet Blaze CPE right away, and also guide you to make the right decision on whether or not to buy this 4G router.

Please note that this review is not sponsored by Spectranet or any other company. With that said, you should know that this review would be very unbiased. So let's begin.

Spectranet Blaze CPE - A perfect upgrade to the Zoom CPE?

Spectranet Blaze CPE Review

My Experience:


Two weeks ago, I and my brother decided to get a wireless router for home use. After much searching and reading numerous reviews, we finally settled for one from Spectranet, which at the time was the Zoom CPE since it was the only Spectranet home router with far enough range that could suit our house.

I quickly browsed through Spectranet's website and found that the Zoom router we wanted was selling for 25000 Naira, with an unlimited Gold plan inclusive.

Spectranet Zoom

That's a good deal, we thought. So we got the money ready and I headed out to one of the closest Spectranet stores in Gwarinpa, Abuja, to purchase the router.

Before heading out, I had already called a Spectranet sales agent that I enquired about Spectranet and exchanged numbers with some time ago.

I asked her if she still had the Zoom CPE but she said No, that she had finished selling the stock that she had.

She, therefore, directed me to their Gwarinpa branch, though I had already seen this branch while searching for Spectranet stores on Google Maps.

I got to the Spectranet store at Gwarinpa on Friday, 1st November 2019, at a Plaza named "Pathfield", just after the more popular Chambian plaza.

I walked into the store and my eyes were met with four energetic staff sitting behind the counter, 3 females and a male. Their faces weren't scary, nor were their voices, lol.

My eyes were sharp enough to notice a couple of Zoom CPE routers on the table which the staff was using to work.

One of the ladies quickly asked me "Good day Sir, how may I help you?", I told her what my mission was, which of course was to buy a Zoom CPE router.

She told me that they no longer have it. But that they are expecting a restock to arrive the next day.

The second lady (I later found that her name was Mrs. Nana), a very jovial kind, quickly affirmed to what her colleague had just told me.

She continued with her jovial words of encouragement, encouraging me to be patient till the next day when their stock would arrive.

I went on to enquire why they, being one of the biggest Spectranet stores in the state would not have such an important gadget in stock at all times.

She then told me the reason, one that made me very comfortable and skeptical at the same time.

The reason she gave was that the company was getting rid of the Zoom CPE as they wanted to introduce a better and more battery-efficient device, the Blaze CPE.

Spectranet Router

She confirmed that they still had one Zoom CPE router remaining but had been instructed to stop selling it, so she wouldn't sell that to me.

I asked her why such instruction was given and she told me that it was because the Zoom CPE had some problems which have been fixed on the new Blaze CPE.

She showed me pictures of the Blaze CPE on a Spectranet flier which she had on her phone. That was one of the few places where any detail or picture of the new router could be seen, aside from a picture of it which I had seen online prior to visiting the store.

That was because Spectranet had not updated its website with details of the new 4G router at the time.

She collected my phone number and urged me to be patient, that she would give me a call once the stock of Blaze CPE router arrived the next day, or on Monday as one of her colleagues had informed her.

From the details on the flier, I could see that customers would be able to buy the Spectranet Blaze router in either of the two options.

There was an option to buy the router with a 60GB monthly plan + free night browsing for 20000 Naira.

Buy Spectranet Blaze CPE

The second purchase option was the same offer as the one I saw for the Zoom CPE, which is a Blaze CPE + an unlimited monthly Gold plan for 25000 Naira.

I left the store with different thoughts running through my mind.

One of which was if I should go for the 60GB purchase option instead when I get the call, or if I should go for a different network entirely.

The only network I could think of was Ntel, but that was indeed a very bad thought.

I already have an Ntel SIM which I use with my phone and MiFi, the network recently hasn't been anything to write home about.

From the slow internet speed and the regular increase in the price of data plans to the inconsistent connection that the Ntel network is known for, I quickly removed the thought of it from my mind. 

On Monday, 4th November 2019, at around 1PM, I got a call from Mrs. Nana. She informed me that the Blaze CPE was now available in their store.

I left with my brother immediately and after a short while on the road, we arrived at their store.

I was shown the new Blaze CPE router and without wasting any time, I quickly made known my dissatisfaction with the fact that it only had one Ethernet port, the Zoom CPE that it was meant to replace had four.

Spectranet Ethernet

I went ahead to check the other specs and features on it, and should I say I was impressed? Well, not really.

Blaze CPE Features

I was told that the Blaze CPE would be an upgrade to the Zoom CPE, but the specs looked almost identical to me, with the Zoom even having better specs in some cases, like the number of Ethernet ports which I just talked about.

However, I and my Bros had already made up our minds, and we weren't ready to go back home without a router.

I quickly filled out the necessary KYC document, submitted my National ID card (Paper NIN edition, if you know what I mean, lol), and they took a passport photograph of me.

The two POS machines in the store rejected my debit card, I guess the issue was from my bank, Guaranty Trust Bank.

I quickly went out and withdrew the sum of 25000 Naira from a nearby ATM, went back in and made the payment to Mrs. Mariam (one of the three female staff), then she coupled and handed me the device.

And off we went with our new Blaze CPE router, with SIM and battery already inserted.

We arrived home and powered on the router, it took a couple of seconds to initialize and then we were greeted with three signal bars out of the five on the front of the Blaze CPE.

The blue indicator lights on the Blaze CPE are really beautiful and bright.

New Spectranet Router

The power indicator turns orange when the battery is low, blinks when the device is powered on and charging, and stays still when the battery is full.

I was disappointed that there is no way to tell if the router is charging when connected to A.C. and powered off, the lights do not come on unless powered on.

We updated a few apps on the Google Play Store to test the network speed, we were comfortably going over a megabyte per second, and it occasionally went as high as 4 megabytes per second.

I turned off the WiFi connection on the router using the Wi-Fi button on the back of the device and plugged it in with the 12V - 1Amp charger supplied in the box so it could charge properly.

Spectranet Charger

It took around 3 to 4 hours to get it fully charged. I powered it on and started my speed test with Ookla's Speed test software.

I can confidently say that Spectranet doesn't really perform well on speed tests, I've done a speed test in two Spectranet stores including the one that I bought the router from and the results were absolutely unremarkable.

The results I got from testing in the stores were always less than 700KB/s (I'm talking about actual Kilobytes per second and not kilobits per second which some people are confusing it with).

The speed test I did at home wasn't any different. The upload speed was even settled at 0KB/s... Really!?

However, the ping results of the tests I've done at home were really good, the ping was always less than 50ms.


I went into the Google Play Store to see the miracle of Google's "give me all your speed" protocol once more, lol.

As expected, I was still comfortably downloading at speeds between 1MB/s and 2MB/s and occasionally hitting over 3MB/s.

At that point I was impressed, this shouldn't be a surprise when you consider the fact that Ntel wasn't giving me anything above 800KB/s on very good days.

Should you buy the Spectranet Blaze CPE? 

My Verdict:
We've used this router for more than a week, and from my experience I would say it's a YES. But don't take my word for it, your mileage may vary due to location and other circumstances.

The new Spectranet Blaze CPE 4G router has a couple of pros and cons.

Spectranet Blaze CPE Pros


The 2000 mAh battery is good enough, that's one of the selling points according to the members of staff I met at the Spectranet office.

Spectranet Battery

They hyped that the device could last up to 10 hours on the battery... Of course, it's only a marketing lie that can be pardoned. 

However, they weren't too far from the truth because the device stays on for around 6 hours when unplugged and actively in use. That's a pro.

Another pro is the range of its wireless connection, though I personally think it could be better.

When compared to my smaller Huawei Mifi I could tell that the Spectranet router has almost thrice the wireless range.

The size could also be a pro for you depending on where you want to use it, it is noticeably smaller than the older Zoom CPE but is nowhere close to being called a Mifi like the Spectranet Evo and Ace Mifi.

Spectranet Blaze CPE Cons


Let me talk about the cons now, starting with the inability to know whether or not the router is charging while it's turned off and plugged in.

All the lights just stay off like you didn't do anything.

I'm also very dissatisfied with its one Ethernet port, this would mean that one had to use an Ethernet splitter to connect the router to more than one computer via Ethernet. 

Blaze CPE Ethernet

This wasn't the case with the Zoom CPE that I saw in the Spectranet office when I visited.

Another thing you should be aware of is that this router supports only 2.4Ghz WiFi band, the ability to choose or use a 5Ghz WiFi band for any reason is non-existent.

This shouldn't be a problem for homes since it's usually best to use the 2.4Ghz WiFi band for better wall penetration and longer wireless range which the 5Ghz band is not known for.

However, the absence of a 5Ghz band could be a problem when you're using the router in close range, say on a table, very close to your laptop or desktop.

In such cases, it's sometimes best to use the 5Ghz WiFi band in order to avoid interference from other devices that are using the 2.4Ghz (which most household gadgets use).

The ability to unlock this router to use other network SIM cards is still very impossible. You should take note of that too.

Moreover, we don't even know yet if the router has support for other 4G bands, or if it supports only Spectranet's band 40.


What's in the box of the Spectranet Blaze CPE?


Free Spectranet
  • Spectranet Blaze CPE 4G LTE Router x1
  • 2000mAh Battery
  • Two Antennas
  • Gospell Tozed 12Volts 1Amp charger x1
  • Ethernet cable x1 (I haven't measured its length yet)
  • Device Manual x1
You should watch my quick unboxing and test video of the Spectranet Blaze CPE 4G LTE router below to get the full information of its contents and also see what they look like.

Spectranet Blaze CPE Quick Unboxing Video


Is Spectranet currently the best telecommunication company in Nigeria?


Spectranet has a lot of exciting data offers but they are still very far from being called the best, that's my two cents.

I've heard and read a lot of positive reviews about them, and some negative ones too.

One problem I've experienced on the network is some random times when the network would just go off and sometimes doesn't come back until I reboot the router.

Or maybe I'm usually not patient enough to wait over 15 minutes for it to return by itself before I manually reboot it.

Aside from that, we've all been having real fun at home with the network's performance.

I also want to mention that the "unlimited" Gold plan that Spectranet offers technically has a limit.

Spectranet data plans

Spectranet states that the internet speed would be throttled to a mere 512kb/s which is equal to just 64KB/s (8 kilobits = 1 Kilobyte) once 100GB has been used from the plan.

We're still about 10GB shy of using 100GB on the plan so I can't say what the experience is like, but I do know that 64KB/s would be unbearable, to say the least.

From my experience, I can say that only Ntel truly has an "unlimited" unlimited monthly plan.

The problem is that the slow speed of 512KB/s on the Ntel network may frustrate you to the point that you would just decide to dump it.

Spectranet's 4G LTE is quite fast when it's not throttled, though it's not as fast as MTN's 4G LTE which I hit an amazing 12MB/s on some time ago while I was downloading.

I did go over 6MB/s for some seconds while downloading with Spectranet on one of its good days, so I feel that's good enough.

I would give Spectranet a 7/10 rating in general. Maybe they'll get a better rating from me when they introduce an unlimited plan that has no strings attached.

Talking about having no strings attached, Swift networks seem to have amazing data offers that are just too good to be true.

Swift data bundles

I noticed that they have data plans with unlimited night browsing that are usable from as early as 10PM to 8AM for as low as 3000 Naira.

This is also with some amount of capped data for day usage, with a 15-day validity.

If what they offering on paper is what it is in reality then I wouldn't hesitate to give them a 9/10, especially since I've seen screenshots of their internet speed to be around 2MB/s to 3MB/s.

The obvious reason why I went for Spectranet instead of Swift Networks is that Swift is only currently available in Lagos, and I'm based in Abuja.

Which Nigerian Telecom Network Router Should You Buy?


Finally, I'll end this article by saying this;

If you're in Lagos and you need a network that's cheap with lots of great promises which I'm yet to know if they really live up to since I haven't tried it, go for Swift Networks.

If you're in need of a network that gives you a real unlimited data allowance for your money, and downloading files with less than 1MB/s internet speed is your thing, then go for Ntel Nigeria.

Do you want something in the middle of the two I just talked about? go for Spectranet.

Spectranet 4G LTE

Other networks you may want to try are Smile (Quite expensive), Tizeti (I recently heard about this one, but I've never seen it in action), or our very popular Nigeria telecom networks - MTN, Airtel, Etisalat, Glo (ranked by internet speed, with MTN being the fastest).

I hope you found this review helpful, if you did, please leave a comment and also share this article with your friends using the social share buttons below.

I would also appreciate it if you would subscribe to my Tech YouTube channel and also invite your friends to do the same.


I plan to write an article to guide you on how to connect the Spectranet Blaze CPE to any device, both wirelessly and wired, soon on this blog. Therefore you should make sure to hang around so you don't miss it.

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See you later, stay Techy! Enjoy Tech.