Fastest 5G networks in Gauteng’s biggest shopping malls

MyBroadband tested Vodacom, MTN and Telkom’s 5G network performance in Gauteng’s biggest malls with excellent results.

Vodacom was the best in Brooklyn Mall, Fourways Mall, Centurion Mall and Sandton City, and MTN was the best in Menlyn.

The rest of the malls had mixed results.

For this testing, MyBroadband visited all the top shopping malls in Gauteng on 9 and 10 October 2024 and walked through them with a smartphone test bench.

We used a test bench with three identical Samsung A34 5G smartphones.

These devices were allowed to connect to the best technology available, which creates an accurate picture of the speeds the average consumer should be able to get.

Each phone in the test bench performed a speed test every minute using a custom version of the popular MyBroadband Speed Test App.

MyBroadband’s speed test servers are hosted in Teraco’s vendor-neutral data centres to ensure a neutral testing environment.

NAPAfrica provides all network operators at its peering points a free 10Gbps connection to the MyBroadband Speed Test platform.

This extensive testing enabled MyBroadband to get a clear view of the coverage and network performance inside the shopping malls.

Brooklyn Mall

Vodacom was the clear 5G winner in Brooklyn Mall, recording average download speeds of 311Mbps.

MTN customers also get a fast connection with an average download speed of 276Mbps, while we couldn’t get a 5G connection on Telkom inside the mall.

Menlyn

MTN and Vodacom gave us nearly identical 5G download speeds inside Menlyn at 173Mbps.

MTN did offer significantly higher average upload speeds of 32Mbps compared to Vodacom’s 9Mbps.

We couldn’t get a 5G connection on Telkom inside the mall.

Mall of Africa

Mall of Africa provided some interesting results, with Vodacom offering nearly double the download speed of MTN but noticeably worse coverage.

The Telkom test device picked up a 5G connection in a few spots, but coverage was extremely spotty.

This also reflected in the poor average speed recorded on Telkom.

Fourways Mall

All three 5G networks performed well inside Fourways Mall, with Vodacom being the clear winner.

We recorded an average download speed of 258Mbps on the Vodacom device, compared to 184Mbps on MTN and 146Mbps on Telkom.

Centurion Mall

Vodacom also beat the 5G competition in Centurion Mall with an average download speed of 270Mbps.

MTN was also fast at 246Mbps and recorded a significantly faster upload speed of 58Mbps compared to Vodacom’s 28Mbps.

Telkom had abysmal 5G coverage in Centurion Mall, but it performed well when it had a connection.

Eastgate Mall

Vodacom was the only network with any 5G coverage inside Eastgate Mall, and even then, coverage was spotty.

Download speeds were reasonably fast, averaging 145Mbps, but upload speeds left a lot to be desired.

Rosebank Mall and The Zone @ Rosebank

Telkom had the best average 5G download speed in Rosebank Mall but had poorer coverage than its two 5G counterparts.

In the areas it did connect, we recorded an average download speed of 357Mbps.

Vodacom and MTN recorded average download speeds of 211Mbps and 154Mbps, respectively, with good coverage.

Sandton City

Vodacom demolished its 5G competition in Sandton City with an average download speed of 426Mbps.

It also recorded the best upload speed of 32Mbps.

MTN and Telkom only recorded average download speeds of 158Mbps and 101Mbps in Sandton City.