South African Wi-Fi speeds double in five years

The average Wi-Fi speed in South Africa has more than doubled over the past five years.

This is according to new research by MyBroadband Insights, which analysed over 8.2 million Wi-Fi speed tests conducted on smartphones and computers between 2020 and 2024.

All speed tests were conducted on the MyBroadband Speed Test app, which is the go-to speed test app for South Africans.

Every year, millions of South Africans run speed tests on their smartphones using the MyBroadband Speed Test app to ensure their connections are working or to see how their provider is faring.

The MyBroadband Speed Test app is free to download from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.

If you want to know more about your smartphone’s performance and measure your network speeds, download the MyBroadband Speed Test app on Android or iOS.

MyBroadband Insights analysed the average broadband speeds across Wi-Fi networks in South Africa for each year since 2020.

The analysis showed that the average download speeds in 2020 were 16.6Mbps, the average upload speeds were 12.5Mbps, and the average latency (ping) was 73.9ms across South Africa.

By 2024, the average download speed across the country was 36.1Mbps downloads, showing an impressive 117% improvement.

The average upload speed climbed by 147% to hit 30.9Mbps in 2024, while the average latency was cut in half over the same period — coming in at 36.1ms for 2024.

In other words, Wi-Fi speeds in South Africa improved by over 20% every year on average — with download speeds improving by an average of 22% annually and upload speeds improving by 26% annually.

The graphs below show the Wi-Fi download speeds, upload speeds, and latency since 2020.

Wi-Fi download and upload speeds

Wi-Fi latency

Driving factors

A number of factors have contributed to these rising broadband speeds in South Africa.

Over the past 25 years, the cable infrastructure connecting South Africa to the rest of the world has drastically improved, with capacity increasing from 560Mbps to over 400Tbps.

This is thanks to new and improved fibre technology, as well as the deployment of several new undersea cables in recent years.

For example, Google’s Equaino cable arrived in South Africa in 2022, offering a 144Tbps capacity, while the Meta-backed 2Africa cable went live in 2024 with an additional 180Tbps of capacity.

These cables provide South Africa with additional capacity, leading to more resilient networks, reduced congestion during peak times, and faster Wi-Fi speeds across the board.

In the past five years, FNOs have also aggressively expanded their FTTH infrastructure, while ISPs are competing among each other – leading them to offer more affordable connectivity packages.

For example, 500Mbps and 1Gbps line speeds are now available for under R1,000 per month in South Africa, and as these solutions have become more affordable, South Africans have started to opt for faster line speeds.

Other factors, such as the adoption of Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6e routers that support faster data speeds, also play a role, enabling South Africans with faster line speeds to take full advantage of this capacity.