South Africa’s best ISPs for fibre, LTE, and 5G

Analytico’s Q1 2024 broadband and ISP report shows that Afrihost is the best Internet service provider (ISP) in South Africa, followed by Axxess and Webafrica.

Analytico collected 1 million data points from 64 ISPs through MyBroadband’s mobile speed test apps and website for this report.

The data Analytico collected included speed test results and customer satisfaction ratings for South Africa’s top broadband providers.

MyBroadband’s mobile speed test apps and website ask users to rate their satisfaction with the service after doing a speed test.

These data points are then used to calculate each Internet service provider’s average customer satisfaction rating.

For this article, MyBroadband used the score of twelve of the country’s top ISPs. Smaller ISPs and fibre-only providers were not listed.

Afrihost topped the rankings with a customer satisfaction score of 74%, continuing its excellent performance over the last two years.

Afrihost burst onto the South African broadband scene in 2009 when it launched its unmatched R29 per GB ADSL data service. This helped it show rapid growth.

With its excellent customer service, Afrihost became a firm favourite among South African broadband users.

Afrihost won the coveted MyBroadband ISP of the Year Award every year in 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014.

In 2014, MTN bought 50% plus one share in Afrihost, which was the beginning of a tumultuous two years for Afrihost.

It dropped down the South African ISP rankings and struggled to launch innovative new products, one of its hallmarks.

Afrihost’s directors made the call to buy back MTN’s stake in the company in 2016, which set it on a recovery path.

The management buyback injected Afrihost with newfound energy and started to rise in the rankings again.

In 2017, Afrihost ranked eleventh in the South African ISP rankings. By the end of 2022, it had climbed back to first place.

Afrihost won the MyBroadband ISP of the Year Award in 2023 and 2024 and continues to top the rankings.

Another top South African ISP, Axxess, finished second in the Q2 2024 rankings with an average customer satisfaction rating of 70%.

Axxess won the MyBroadband ISP of the Year Award five times and continues to provide exceptional service levels and value for money.

What makes Axxess unique is that it is the only top South African Internet service provider outside Gauteng and Cape Town.

It is an iconic business in the Gqeberha region, and South Africa’s oldest cricket test venue was renamed Axxess DSL St Georges following a sponsorship deal in 2009.

Webafrica was a close third with a customer satisfaction score of 69%. The ISP has been moving up the rankings in recent years.

It is still struggling with some customer support issues. However, despite these problems, most customers are happy with the service levels they receive.

Rain was among the best performers in the second quarter, jumping from second to last to sixth place.

The other mobile operators, MTN, Cell C, Telkom, and Vodacom, struggled to compete against their smaller and more nimble counterparts.

South Africa’s top ISPs

The table below ranks South Africa’s major ISPs in the first quarter based on user satisfaction ratings from MyBroadband’s speed test platforms.