• rain has revealed a new router in the101.
• The router sports a touch display where users can run speedtests and even log support queries.
• The router comes bundled with rainone which starts at R595 per month for unlimited 30Mbps 5G connectivity.

While we’ve been enjoying GeForce Now thanks to rain, the network operator has been working on its own 5G router that it launched this week.

Dubbed the101 by rain, the router is being bundled with rainone packages and can be customised using easily removable stickers. The router sports 4×4 MIMO AX3600 wifi and runs on a MediaTek T750 platform. In terms of performance, there is a quad-core ARM CA55 process, 2GB of RAM and 32GB of NAND storage inside the router.

The star of the show however, is the touchscreen display. The display allows users to run a speedtest from the display and that display will also help you find the optimal position for your router thanks to a signal strength indicator.

Furthermore, rain says that users can tap the display to log a support call which is rather cool, providing it works of course.

“As the world becomes more connected, the wifi router has become one of the most important appliances in our homes, defining how we live and work. But, while everything else in our homes has evolved to offer a range of designs to suit our tastes, routers have remained largely functional. With the arrival of the101, your home router can now take pride of place in your home, whether that’s on your counter or mounted on the window or wall. And with powerful AX3600 wifi and a touchscreen display, your router has never been smarter,” rain wrote in a press release.

The router can also be customised using stickers that rain has designed. Two of these skins ship with the router but there are 10 to choose from so that, for once, your router can match your decor. In a world of grey, white and black routers, this is a nice change and cudos to rain for dreaming up something unique.

As mentioned, rain is bundling this router with its rainone offering which includes unlimited 5G data at 30Mbps, free mobile data, minutes and SMS for two phones every month for R595 per month. Should you want faster speeds you will end up paying more so take note of that.

Before you rush to purchase rainone, we should mention that it regularly ranks at the bottom of Ookla’s network analysis. As of September 2023, rain ranked among the worst networks as regards the expected speed range in Johannesburg, with only Telkom offering worse expected speeds. The new router might be cool but we recommend doing some research before spending R595 on a service that may disappoint you.