MyBroadband tested the mobile data speeds at the major networks’ headquarters in Gauteng and found that not all networks are the fastest at their own offices.

Mobile operators’ headquarters have traditionally been the place to test and roll out the latest network technologies.

As such, the average network performance of the mobile operators at their headquarters was unmatched.

However, MyBroadband’s recent tests showed that not all mobile operators achieved the best performance at their home base.

We used five identical Samsung A34 5G smartphones for this testing, which ran a custom version of the MyBroadband Speed Test app.

These devices performed a speed test every minute. This means multiple tests were performed at each of the mobile company headquarters.

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 allows us to fairly compare different network operators and achieve results that represent speeds that a normal consumer would achieve.

It is important to keep in mind that Cell C has network agreements with MTN and Vodacom, which have had a big effect on its network performance.

MyBroadband visited Vodacom, MTN, Cell C, and Telkom’s campuses and performed tests in and around the area.

The results revealed that Vodacom achieved the best performance, followed by MTN. Rain had the worst network.

World of Cell C – Buccleuch

Vodacom achieved the fastest recorded speed at the Cell C headquarters, with 5G download speeds of over 500Mbps.

MTN also had good 5G in the area, coming in just over 300Mbps, while Telkom 5G recorded speeds up to 270Mbps.

Cell C does not have a 5G network but recorded a very good LTE-A speed of 206Mbps at its headquarters, close to many of the 5G tests.

Rain performed poorly and recorded a fastest speed of only 31Mbps.

Telkom Park – Highveld Technopark

Telkom 5G speeds disappointed us at its headquarters, falling behind Vodacom and MTN.

The fastest test in the area was achieved on Vodacom’s network and reached a download speed of 569Mbps.

MTN was close behind with 468Mbps, while Telkom only managed 207Mbps.

Cell C recorded an LTE-A speed of 163Mbps, while Rain came in last, with an LTE test reaching 59Mbps.

Vodaworld – Midrand

Vodacom delivered the best performance at its head office, with a 5G download speed of 558Mbps.

Telkom also had surprisingly fast 5G at Vodaworld, closing the second-place gap with a download speed of 492Mbps. MTN also had decent 5G with speeds of up to 320Mbps.

Rain beat Cell C in fourth place, with LTE tests of up to 76Mbps, compared to Cell C’s 67Mbps.

MTN HQ – Roodepoort

We had a bit of trouble testing around the MTN headquarters, as we could not get a 5G connection on any of the networks.

MTN regularly tests different technologies and setups at their headquarters, so it is likely that the 5G on the nearby towers were down for this purpose.

Surprisingly, Cell C showed the highest speed during our testing, with download speeds up to 191Mbps.

MTN was not far behind with speeds of 164Mbps, while Vodacom only reached 112Mbps.

Rain and Telkom were in a close battle to stay out of last place, with 67Mbps and 53Mbps, respectively.

Don't miss the latest news

• Add MyBroadband as a preferred source in Google Search
• Follow MyBroadband on Google News