Broadband3.10.2024

Best ISP in South Africa revealed

Analytico’s Q3 2024 broadband and ISP report shows that Afrihost is the best Internet service provider (ISP) in South Africa, followed by Mweb and Axxess.

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

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, Analytico 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 popular among South African broadband users.

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

After a slump in service while under partial MTN ownership, Afrihost climbed back to the top of the rankings at the end of 2022.

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

Mweb is one of South Africa’s oldest and most successful Internet service providers. It launched in the age of dial-up, pioneered uncapped DSL, and quickly adapted as fibre and LTE took over.

In 2010, Mweb changed the South African broadband landscape forever when it launched uncapped ADSL, which many thought would be unsustainable.

It remains one of the best-known ISPs in the country, and customers are clearly satisfied with the service and value they get from the company.

Another top South African ISP, Axxess, finished third in the Q3 2024 rankings with an average customer satisfaction rating of 72%.

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.

The big mobile networks in South Africa all provide fixed broadband options but struggle to compete against the top ISPs in customer satisfaction.

Analytico also examined the average speeds recorded by users of each of the top ISPs. However, it found that speed does not necessarily equate to a good customer experience.

While Afrihost showed the second-highest average speed of 62Mbps, Mweb users only achieved an average speed of 35Mbps.

Speed indicates the subscriber mix rather than network performance. An ISP with more low-end customers will have a lower average speed, independent of its network quality.

Customer satisfaction is at its highest if they can consistently get the advertised speeds they pay for, whether that is a higher or lower package.

Customer support levels and the general experience when ordering or changing packages also play a significant role.

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.

Top ISPsRatingAverage download speed (Mbps)Average Upload Speed (Mbps)Average Latency (ms)
Afrihost74%61.9748.4219.50
Mweb73%34.6522.479.50
Axxess72%51.6644.3324.94
Internet Solutions69%44.0534.0228.48
Vox67%48.3145.3816.55
Webafrica66%65.4566.399.94
Cell C65%36.1628.2936.35
Telkom64%27.0918.4744.60
Rain64%31.179.2645.26
Vodacom63%31.4523.2139.52
MTN61%23.4716.4043.96
Supersonic60%48.8544.0116.20

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