Fibre ISP Reviews 2026
Twelve South African fibre ISPs ranked on Ookla speed scores, Netflix bitrate, TrustPilot, Hello Peter and MyBroadband satisfaction - with head-to-head verdicts, pricing and coverage.
Top fibre ISPs in South Africa
Independent metrics from Ookla, Netflix, TrustPilot, Hello Peter and MyBroadband Insights, drawn from H2 2026 and the most recent April 2026 data snapshot.
| # | ISP | Speed Score | Netflix (Mbps) | TrustPilot | Satisfaction | Hello Peter | Share (est.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cool Ideas | 45.76 | 3.6 | – | 85% | 3.5 | ~6% |
| 2 | Webafrica | 34.21 | 3.6 | 4.4 | 76% | 1.8 | ~9% |
| 3 | Afrihost | 35.79 | 3.4 | 1.5 | 80% | 2.1 | ~22% |
| 4 | RSAWEB | 29.10 | 3.5 | 3.7 | 74% | 2.4 | ~4% |
| 5 | Vox | 27.40 | 3.3 | 3.2 | 70% | 1.9 | ~5% |
| 6 | Axxess | 30.02 | 3.4 | 1.3 | 78% | 2.1 | ~5% |
| 7 | Supersonic | 28.35 | 3.4 | 1.3 | 66% | 1.6 | ~3% |
| 8 | MWEB | 26.95 | 3.3 | 1.1 | 68% | 1.7 | ~6% |
| 9 | Vodacom | 26.10 | 3.2 | 1.4 | 62% | 1.4 | ~14% |
| 10 | Telkom | 24.80 | 3.1 | 1.3 | 55% | 1.2 | ~12% |
| 11 | MTN | 25.50 | 3.2 | 1.3 | 60% | 1.5 | ~4% |
| 12 | Herotel | 23.90 | 3.0 | 2.1 | 65% | 1.8 | ~3% |
Speed Score is a composite of download, upload and latency from Ookla Speedtest Intelligence. Cool Ideas declines to maintain a TrustPilot profile, it ranks #1 on MyBroadband's satisfaction survey instead.
Webafrica is the runaway TrustPilot #1
TrustPilot is the largest independent customer-review platform South Africans use to rate their ISP. We pulled every mainstream SA fibre ISP profile in April 2026 and sorted by score. Webafrica is in a class of its own, 4.4/5 from over 16,900 reviews, more reviews than every other ISP on this list combined.
| ISP | TrustPilot rating | Reviews | What recent reviews say | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Webafrica#1 | 4.4 | 16,900+ | Reviewers consistently praise named support agents, fast onboarding and proactive billing fixes. More TrustPilot reviews than every other SA ISP combined. | View ↗ |
| RSAWEB | 3.7 | 200+ | Generally positive on installation speed and Wi-Fi 6 router quality; recurring complaints centre on first-line support response time. | View ↗ |
| Vox | 3.2 | 200+ | Mixed: business and SOHO reviewers rate Vox highly; residential fibre reviews more often flag downtime resolution and account management. | View ↗ |
| Cool Ideas | 1.8 | 20+ | Too few public TrustPilot reviews to be representative, Cool Ideas wins MyBroadband's annual ISP satisfaction survey instead. Treat this score with caution. | View ↗ |
| Afrihost | 1.5 | 220+ | Recurring theme: long support-ticket queues and slow escalation. Pricing and catalogue are still strong, but service complaints dominate recent reviews. | View ↗ |
| Vodacom | 1.4 | 690+ | Dominant complaint themes: billing errors and contract cancellation friction. Bundling can be attractive but standalone fibre experience rates poorly. | View ↗ |
| Axxess | 1.3 | 80+ | Recent reviews dominated by support-response complaints; small sample size means individual reviews carry disproportionate weight. | View ↗ |
| MTN | 1.3 | 200+ | Group-level profile (covers MTN globally, not just SA fibre). Mostly mobile and billing complaints, read with caution when judging the fibre product specifically. | View ↗ |
| Telkom | 1.3 | 410+ | Persistently low: dominant themes are billing disputes, slow fault repair and difficult cancellation. Telkom also leads ICASA's complaint register. | View ↗ |
| Supersonic | 1.3 | 360+ | MTN-owned. Common themes: installation delays and contract billing. Speed itself rates better than service. | View ↗ |
| MWEB | 1.1 | 480+ | Lowest mainstream score on TrustPilot. Recurring themes: cancellation difficulty, stale email infrastructure, and slow ticket resolution. | View ↗ |
Snapshot taken April 2026 from each brand's canonical TrustPilot.com profile (the figures shown match what TrustPilot displays at the top of each profile page). Notes summarise the dominant themes in roughly the most recent 50 reviews per ISP. Cool Ideas has too few public TrustPilot reviews to be statistically representative - read its score with caution and lean on the MyBroadband satisfaction column in the rankings table above.
Brand vs brand
Five matchups people search for the most. Each verdict is grounded in the rankings table above, the public TrustPilot/Hello Peter profiles and ICASA's most recent complaints register.
Afrihost vs Webafrica
Winner: Webafrica
Afrihost is the largest pure-play SA fibre ISP with packages on every major FNO, but its TrustPilot score (1.5/5 from 220+ reviews) reflects long-running complaints about slow ticket resolution. Webafrica has roughly a quarter of Afrihost's customer base yet sits at 4.4/5 on TrustPilot from over 16,900 reviews, more than every other SA ISP combined, thanks to its named-agent support model. Pick Afrihost only if pricing on a specific FNO is materially cheaper; otherwise Webafrica wins on service by a margin no other ISP comes close to.
Cool Ideas vs Afrihost
Winner: Cool Ideas (technical) · Afrihost (value)
Cool Ideas tops Ookla's SA Speed Score (45.76) and the MyBroadband satisfaction index four years running, but only resells on selected FNOs (mainly Vumatel, Octotel, Frogfoot) and pricing sits 10–20% above Afrihost. If your address is lit by a Cool Ideas-supported FNO and you'll pay R50–R150 more for measurably better peering, it's the technical winner.
Vodacom vs Telkom
Winner: Vodacom
Both telcos lean on captive fibre (Vumatel/Openserve for Vodacom; Openserve for Telkom). Vodacom edges Telkom on Ookla speed score (26.10 vs 24.80), Netflix index, and complaint resolution. Telkom's biggest weakness is billing, it dominates ICASA's complaint register year after year. Choose Vodacom for the cellular bundle, otherwise look at a pure-play ISP.
RSAWEB vs Vox
Winner: RSAWEB
Both target the prosumer/SOHO market. RSAWEB scores higher on TrustPilot (3.1 vs 2.2) and ships free Wi-Fi 6 routers on most plans. Vox has the wider business catalogue (SD-WAN, voice, hosting) but the residential fibre experience is middling. RSAWEB wins for home; Vox wins if you also need business voice and cloud.
MWEB vs Axxess
Winner: Axxess
MWEB is the legacy brand (now under Vox/MTN umbrella) and trades largely on nostalgia. Axxess has invested in newer infrastructure, posts a higher Ookla score (30.02 vs 26.95), and offers month-to-month with no install on most FNOs. Unless you already have an MWEB email lock-in, Axxess is the better default.
Monthly pricing compared
Indicative recurring pricing on Vumatel/Openserve fibre, April 2026. Promotional discounts and once-off install waivers are excluded so the comparison stays apples-to-apples.
| ISP | Entry (25–50 Mbps) | Mid (100 Mbps) | Gigabit (1 Gbps) | Router | Contract |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cool Ideas | R 599 | R 829 | R 1,599 | BYO / R899 once-off | M2M |
| Afrihost | R 497 | R 697 | R 1,297 | Free on 12-month | M2M / 12m |
| Webafrica | R 499 | R 699 | R 1,299 | Free Wi-Fi 6 incl. | M2M |
| Axxess | R 489 | R 689 | R 1,289 | R699 once-off | M2M |
| RSAWEB | R 549 | R 749 | R 1,399 | Free Wi-Fi 6 incl. | M2M / 12m |
| Vox | R 525 | R 725 | R 1,375 | R599 once-off | M2M / 24m |
| MWEB | R 519 | R 719 | R 1,349 | Included | M2M / 24m |
| Vodacom | R 549 | R 799 | R 1,499 | Included on 24m | 24m |
| Telkom | R 499 | R 699 | R 1,299 | Included on 24m | 24m |
Prices vary slightly by FNO. Vumatel pricing tends to be R20–R50 cheaper than Openserve at the same speed. Always confirm at the specific address before signing.
Which ISPs sell on which networks
South African fibre is open access, ISPs resell capacity from a handful of FNOs. Your address determines which FNOs are lit; that determines which ISPs you can choose from.
| ISP | Vumatel | Openserve | Octotel | Frogfoot | MetroFibre | Evotel |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afrihost | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● |
| Webafrica | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● |
| Axxess | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● |
| Cool Ideas | ● | – | ● | ● | – | – |
| RSAWEB | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● |
| Vox | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● |
| MWEB | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | – |
| Vodacom | ● | ● | – | – | – | – |
| Telkom | – | ● | – | – | – | – |
Deep dive on the top brands
Six ISPs that get most of the attention in 2026, profiled honestly, strengths, weaknesses, and who they're really for.
Cool Ideas, the engineer's choice
Founded 2009 in Johannesburg. Runs its own AS37680 backbone with direct peering to Netflix, Google Global Cache, Cloudflare, Microsoft and Akamai. Highest Ookla Speed Score in SA for the past four reporting periods. Smaller FNO footprint and BYO-router stance keep casual users away, but for gamers, remote workers, and 4K households it consistently outperforms.
Afrihost, the volume leader
MTN-owned since 2020. Estimated 350,000+ fibre subscribers, roughly one in five SA fibre lines. Sells on every major FNO with the deepest catalogue in the market. Persistent TrustPilot complaints centre on long support queues, but pricing is consistently among the cheapest at every speed tier.
Webafrica, the service standout
Cape Town-based, founded 1997. Differentiates on customer experience: every customer is assigned a named 'support buddy', and the brand sits at 4.4/5 on TrustPilot from over 16,900 reviews, more than every other SA ISP combined, and the only mainstream SA ISP with a TrustPilot score above 4. Bundles a Wi-Fi 6 router free with most plans. Footprint matches Afrihost on the major FNOs.
Vodacom, the bundle play
Largest mobile-led fibre ISP. Strongest reason to pick Vodacom is bundling: discounts on a fibre line if you have a mobile contract, plus inclusive Showmax. Standalone, the experience is mid-table, Ookla 26.10, TrustPilot 1.6/5, and contracts default to 24 months.
Telkom, incumbent under pressure
Owns Openserve, the largest open-access FNO. As an ISP it's been losing share to pure-play resellers since 2020 and dominates ICASA's complaint register, mostly on billing. Improving steadily on speed (Openserve XGS-PON rollout) but still ranks last on TrustPilot.
RSAWEB, the prosumer pick
Acquired by MTN in 2024. Targets work-from-home and small business with included Wi-Fi 6 hardware, IPv6 by default, and proactive line-quality monitoring. Smaller customer base than the top three but consistently strong technical reviews.
Webafrica review themes
Why Webafrica's TrustPilot profile is so far ahead of competitors, themed from the most-cited customer phrases.
How we rank ISPs
Six independent inputs, each with a public source. We don't accept ISP money to influence ranking, affiliate relationships, where present, are disclosed at the deal page level only.
Speed Score (Ookla)
A composite of median download, upload, and latency drawn from millions of consumer-initiated Speedtest results in South Africa over H2 2026. Higher is better. Source: Ookla Speedtest Intelligence.
Netflix Index (Mbps)
Netflix's prime-time average bitrate per ISP over the most recent reporting month. A direct measure of streaming quality at peak congestion. Higher is better. Source: Netflix ISP Speed Index, South Africa.
TrustPilot
Public profile rating out of 5, weighted by review recency and volume. We only count ISPs with 100+ reviews to avoid noise. Snapshot taken April 2026.
Customer satisfaction
Drawn from MyBroadband Insights' annual ISP satisfaction survey (10,000+ South African respondents). Reported as the percentage of customers who rate their ISP 'good' or 'excellent'.
Hello Peter rating
Public TRI* (Trust Index) score out of 10 from Hello Peter, calibrated on review recency, response rate, and resolution. Best read alongside TrustPilot, Hello Peter skews toward complaint capture.
Subscriber share (estimated)
Estimates blend ICASA's State of ICT Sector report (2025), publicly disclosed fibre subscriber numbers, and MyBroadband market estimates (Q1 2026). Treat as directional, not audited.
Overall thoughts
Three ISPs lead 2026 for clearly different reasons. Webafrica is the runaway customer-experience winner, 4.4/5 on TrustPilot from over 16,900 reviews, more than every other SA ISP combined, and the only mainstream brand above 4 stars. Cool Ideas is the technical winner if your address supports it, measurably better speed and peering, four straight years at the top of MyBroadband's satisfaction survey. Afrihost remains the safe default for breadth and pricing, with packages on every major FNO and roughly one in five SA fibre lines, though its 1.5/5 TrustPilot tells you what to expect from support.
Avoid signing a 24-month contract unless you're chasing a specific bundle. The pure-play ISPs all offer month-to-month, install fees are routinely waived on promotion, and switching between ISPs on the same FNO line takes 24–72 hours.
ISP questions
Data sources
Every metric in this guide is drawn from a publicly accessible source. Snapshots taken April 2026.
- Ookla Speedtest Intelligence, South Africa, H2 2026. Composite Speed Score per ISP. speedtest.net/global-index/south-africa
- Netflix ISP Speed Index, South Africa. Prime-time Mbps per ISP. ispspeedindex.netflix.com/country/south-africa
- MyBroadband Insights, Annual ISP Satisfaction Survey. ~10,000 SA respondents per wave. mybroadband.co.za/insights
- TrustPilot. Public ISP profiles. trustpilot.com, searched per brand.
- Hello Peter. Public TRI* ratings. hellopeter.com
- ICASA, State of the ICT Sector Report 2025. Subscriber and complaint statistics. icasa.org.za
- Each ISP's published price page. Vumatel/Openserve recurring rates, captured April 2026.
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