{"id":624056,"date":"2026-01-06T11:00:03","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T09:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=624056"},"modified":"2026-01-07T11:05:42","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T09:05:42","slug":"r500-for-200mbps-internet-in-the-middle-of-nowhere","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wireless\/624056-r500-for-200mbps-internet-in-the-middle-of-nowhere.html","title":{"rendered":"R500 for 200Mbps Internet in the middle of nowhere"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If SpaceX’s satellite Internet service, Starlink, launches in South Africa, fixed-wireless access (FWA) providers may need to lower their prices to prevent a customer exodus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was one of the key points from MyBroadband’s recent comparison of the performance of Starlink’s residential service on a remote farm in Botswana with that of a reliable home FWA service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the crow flies, the farm in question is about 20km outside Botswana’s capital, Gaborone, and 27km from the country’s border with South Africa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before signing up for Starlink, the farm had been using an FWA service for many years. Although its after-sales service was excellent, the product’s technical limits and price persuaded the owners to try Starlink.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The FWA package offered average speeds of 15Mbps for P770 (R948) per month, but it performed poorly in bad weather and would intermittently lose connectivity for several minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, the farm owners decided to try out Starlink. MyBroadband was at the farm for the installation of the Starlink Gen 3 dish and app-guided setup in December 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The process was straightforward, as the roof of the farmhouse had a nearly completely unobstructed view of the sky, the only requirement for the Starlink dish to get online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After placing the included Starlink wireless Internet router in the best position for optimal Wi-Fi coverage, we ran the cable to the antenna through a hole in the wall and up to the dish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The app made it easy to point the dish in the right direction and pivot it to the correct angle for the best possible signal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within minutes of the package being set up, we conducted several tests using the MyBroadband Speed Test app on a smartphone near the router with download speeds exceeding 200Mbps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starlink provided an hour of free Internet access to give customers time to sign up for a package. Two options were available \u2014 Residential at P688 Pula (R846) and Residential Lite at P400 Pula (R493).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both packages offered uncapped data but had slightly different maximum speeds and fair usage policies (FUPs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Residential supports download speeds between 135Mbps and 305Mbps and upload speeds ranging from 20Mbps to 40Mbps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Residential Lite supports download speeds of 80Mbps to 200Mbps and upload speeds of 15Mbps to 35Mbps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, these customers have lower priority in areas with high concentrations of users, especially during peak Internet demand periods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speeds over 10 times faster \u2014 at half the price<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n
The FWA service’s antenna mounted on top of a water tank stand.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n
The Starlink Standard Gen 3 dish on the farmhouse’s roof. Two holes for screws on the stand allowed for fixing to the roof. The brick was added for the ideal angle, but the connection worked well without it.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As the household generally had light connectivity requirements and was located in an area that was unlikely to be congested with traffic, we opted for Residential Lite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After setup, we performed 10 speed tests on the FWA service and Starlink to see how they compared. We achieved an average download speed of 241.47Mbps \u2014 exceeding the claimed performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The average upload speeds also surpassed the advertised speed, achieving 42.92Mbps. Latency was also at a very usable 30ms, making video calling and competitive online gaming possible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The FWA connection achieved its advertised 15Mbps download average. Upload speeds averaged at 7.91Mbps<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The farm owners intend to use the increased bandwidth to support a smart home camera system for enhanced security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FWA vs Starlink connection in Botswana<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/th>Fixed-wireless access provider<\/th>Starlink Residential Lite<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Performance<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Average download speed<\/td>15.12Mbps<\/mark><\/td>241.47Mbps<\/mark><\/td><\/tr>
Average upload speed <\/td>7.91Mbps<\/mark><\/td>42.29Mbps<\/mark><\/td><\/tr>
Average latency<\/td>34ms<\/mark><\/td>30ms<\/mark><\/td><\/tr>
Highest download speed<\/td>18.82Mbps<\/mark><\/td>346.52Mbps<\/mark><\/td><\/tr>
Highest upload speed<\/td>19.22Mbps<\/mark><\/td>50.44Mbps<\/mark><\/td><\/tr>
Best latency<\/td>27ms<\/mark><\/td>26ms<\/mark><\/td><\/tr>
Lowest download speed<\/td>11.86Mbps<\/mark><\/td>149.97Mbps<\/mark><\/td><\/tr>
Lowest upload speed<\/td>2.25Mbps<\/mark><\/td>38.30Mbps<\/mark><\/td><\/tr>
Worst latency<\/td>40ms<\/mark><\/td>34ms<\/mark><\/td><\/tr>
Pricing<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Installation price<\/td>P855 (R1,053)<\/mark><\/td>Self-install with app guidance<\/mark><\/td><\/tr>
Equipment price<\/td>Free-to-use \u2014 No ownership after expiry<\/mark><\/td>P4,999 (R6,157)<\/mark><\/td><\/tr>
Monthly price<\/td>P770 (R948)<\/mark><\/td>P400 (R493)<\/mark><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Warning shot for South African ISPs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

MyBroadband continued testing the Starlink connection for two weeks. Within the same room as the Starlink router, we consistently achieved download speeds of over 200Mbps and upload speeds above 20Mbps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was despite more than 10 devices being connected to the router at the time of our tests and using it as their primary Internet connection. There were also several storms during the period. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Starlink app consistently showed a ping success between its dish and the Internet of well over 99.9%, with at most two outages lasting less than 10 seconds per day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wireless Internet service providers have argued that Starlink won’t be able to compete with their offerings and that the main competition will come from geosynchronous satellite services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our experience says otherwise. While many people living in rural areas might be satisfied with their FWA connection’s speed, Starlink’s competitive pricing and greater bandwidth are important considerations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the farm in Botswana, the lower price of Starlink would offset the cost of the kit within a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A cheaper option \u2014 the Starlink Mini dish with a built-in router \u2014 is also available for a once-off P2,400 (R2,954) or can be paid off in instalments over six months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pricing for South African FWA products is not significantly different from what the Botswana provider charges. For example, Herotel’s 15\/5Mbps uncapped product costs R999 per month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rush Network’s 20\/4Mbps package is priced at R700 per month with router rental, excluding a R2,500 installation fee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Starlink’s pricing turns out to be as sharp in South Africa as in neighbouring countries, it will be a serious threat to the FWA industry \u2014 especially in rural areas. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MyBroadband recently tested Starlink’s Residential Lite service in Botswana at a farm less than 20km from South Africa’s border. The results were impressive. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341042,"featured_media":566825,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[22727,78924,563,11375,48987,75976],"class_list":["post-624056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wireless","tag-fixed-wireless-access-fwa","tag-low-earth-orbit-leo-satellites","tag-satellite-internet","tag-spacex","tag-starlink","tag-wireless-internet-service-providers-wisp"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624056"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341042"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=624056"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624056\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":624303,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624056\/revisions\/624303"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/566825"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=624056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=624056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=624056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}