MTN 5G vs 4G – Side-by-side speed tests

MTN recently launched its 5G network in three cities in South Africa – Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Bloemfontein.

The service is offered in two variants – 5G home Wi-Fi and 5G mobile.

• 5G home Wi-Fi – Home-connected plug and play solution that connects Wi-Fi-enabled devices.
• 5G mobile – Connects to MTN’s 5G network for fast connectivity at home or on the go.

MTN SA CTIO Giovanni Chiarelli said this launch was made possible, in part, by the recent allocation of temporary spectrum by ICASA.

MTN delivers 5G connectivity using four spectrum bands – 3.5 GHz (58 sites), 2,100MHz and 1,800MHz (35 sites), 700MHz (5 sites), and 28GHz (3 sites).

The operator is also re-farming some of its 4G spectrum to allow it to run 4G and 5G spectrum, at the same time, in the same band.

MTN’s 5G is currently only available in Bryanston and Honeydew in Gauteng, Blouberg in Cape Town, and Universitas in Bloemfontein.

MTN SA CEO Godfrey Motsa said their 5G network rollout will be ramped up to more sites once government allocates permanent spectrum through the planned auction later this year.

“Our call to the regulator and government is to release permanent 4G and 5G spectrum as a matter of urgency so that we can fuel the digital revolution,” said Motsa.

5G versus 4G performance

MTN’s 5G home Wi-Fi promises average speeds of 100Mbps and peak speeds of 500Mbps, while 5G mobile offers average speeds of 50Mbps and peak speeds of 500Mbps.

To compare the performance of MTN’s 5G and 4G mobile networks, we performed a series of speed tests on the MyBroadband Speed Test app using two Huawei P40 Pro smartphones.

We ran the tests on MTN’s 5G and 4G networks at four locations – Epsom Downs Shopping Centre, Design Quarter, The Palazzo at Montecasino, and Nando’s Bryanston.

To ensure a like-for-like comparison, the tests were performed at the same locations and at the same times.

For all the locations, we ensured we had full signal on both the 5G and 4G test phones, and used the MyBroadband Speed Test app’s signal monitor to verify that we were close to MTN’s towers.

The test results showed that MTN 5G’s download and upload speeds were almost four-times as fast as its 4G network.

The average 5G download speed from all four locations was measured at 616Mbps, while the 4G download speed averaged 163Mbps.

The 5G network managed an average upload speed of 90Mbps, compared with the 26Mbps on the 4G connection.

Additionally, the average latency on the 5G network was around half that of the 4G network.

The tables below provide an overview of the performance of MTN’s 5G and 4G networks in our tests.

Epsom Downs Shopping Centre

Design Quarter

Montecasino Palazzo

Nando’s Bryanston

Now read: MTN 5G tested – Blisteringly fast speeds

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