Best uncapped Internet for people without fibre or 5G in South Africa

Households in South Africa without fibre-to-the-home or 5G coverage have several uncapped fixed-LTE products available to them, with prices for 20Mbps packages starting at R295 per month.

A 20Mbps connection is ideal for single-person use and small households. It is sufficient for HD video streaming, online gaming, video conferencing, and general browsing.

However, it should be noted that a 20Mbps package might be a bit slow for data-intensive activities, such as 4K video streaming.

According to Internet service provider (ISP) WebAfrica, a 20Mbps connection is considered “outstanding” for activities such as general browsing and social media, and “very good” for tasks like streaming and working from home.

While the ISP describes a 20Mbps connection as “acceptable” for gaming, it is more than sufficient for online gaming. However, downloading large titles might take a while.

For example, downloading a 50GB file on a 20Mbps connection will take just over five-and-a-half hours, provided the connection isn’t slowed by other browsing activity while the file is downloaded.

While 20Mbps connections can offer a sweet spot for affordability and high-speed Internet, many South African fibre network operators (FNOs) don’t offer 20Mbps connections.

The entry-level point for monthly fibre-to-the-home packages has shifted to between 25Mbps and 60Mbps, and these are often far more expensive than 20Mbps fixed-LTE packages.

However, unlike fibre-to-the-home, fixed-LTE packages are subject to fair usage policies (FUPs) to protect operators’ network integrity, with connections usually throttled once a certain data threshold is reached.

MyBroadband looked for the best uncapped 20Mbps fixed-LTE packages available to customers in South Africa and found nine products priced between R295 and R690 per month.

RSAWeb offers an MTN Uncapped fixed-LTE 20Mbps package for R295. Customers get speeds up to 20Mbps for 50GB of usage, after which speeds are throttled to 2Mbps for the remainder of the billing cycle.

Subscribers without a suitable router must purchase one for a one-off price of R1,985.

Afrihost and Axxess both offer uncapped 20Mbps fixed-LTE packages priced at R299 per month.

Afrihost’s package is on MTN’s network, and provides speeds up to 20Mbps until a 100GB threshold, after which speeds are throttled to 4Mbps. Subscribers can add a router for R1,499.

Axxess’ R299 uncapped 20Mbps fixed-LTE package is on Vodacom’s network. It provides speeds up to 20Mbps for 50GB before throttling to 2Mbps for the remainder of the billing cycle.

Customers without a suitable router can add one for the discounted price of R1,499.

MTN’s Home Internet Pro fixed-LTE package offers speeds up to 20Mbps for R465 per month and includes a free-to-use router.

Regarding its FUP, customers will see speeds up to 20Mbps until they reach 300GB of usage, after which speeds are throttled to 512kbps for the rest of the billing cycle.

Vox’s uncapped 20Mbps Telkom fixed-LTE product is the most expensive package listed, but offers the highest FUP threshold of 600GB.

The package is priced at R690 per month, and once customers hit the threshold, speeds are throttled to 4Mbps for a further 50GB of usage, and then to 2Mbps for the remainder of the billing period.

Customers without a suitable router can add one for a once-off fee of R1,895.

The table below compares the best 20Mbps fixed-LTE packages available to South African residents regarding their respective prices, speeds, and FUPs.