Home›Openserve speed test

Openserve speed test

Check your Openserve fibre line against the package you pay for, and find out whether the line or your ISP is the slow part.

Openserve lines are sold at set speeds and many packages have lower upload than download. Compare your result with both numbers of your package, on a cable.

What speed is normal on Openserve?

Openserve, part of the Telkom group, runs the largest fibre and copper network in the country. You buy internet over it from an ISP such as Telkom, Mweb, Afrihost, Vox or Axxess. Openserve owns the line and the ONT; the ISP owns the package and your support.

Openserve package (via your ISP)	Typical download	Typical ping	Good for
25–50 Mbps	Within about 10% of package	3–15 ms	Browsing, HD streaming, calls
100–200 Mbps	Within about 10% of package	3–12 ms	4K streaming, working from home, families
500 Mbps – 1 Gbps	60–90% on a cable; WiFi much lower	2–10 ms	Heavy downloads, many devices
Openserve copper (ADSL / VDSL)	2–40 Mbps	20–50 ms	Browsing, one HD stream

Many Openserve fibre packages are asymmetrical (for example 100 down, 50 up). A lower upload is not a fault if it matches the package.

Rule of thumb: under 80% of the download package on a cable at any hour is a fault. Evening-only dips are usually the ISP, not the line.

Why your Openserve speed is slow, and what to do about it

Separate the line from the ISP from your WiFi with these steps.

Test on a cable, not WiFiPlug a laptop into the router with an Ethernet cable and test again. If the cable result is much higher than WiFi, the problem is inside your home, not with your provider. Move closer to the router, switch to the 5 GHz WiFi band, or add a mesh unit.
Read the ONT lightsA red LOS light on the Openserve ONT means the line has lost signal; your ISP logs it and Openserve dispatches a technician. Green lights mean the line is up.
Confirm the package with your ISPCheck the download and upload speed you are on. Openserve packages are often asymmetrical, so a lower upload may be correct.
Test at a quiet hour and at peakRun the test at 10 am and again at 8 pm. A big evening drop points to congestion on the network, not your setup. A steady shortfall at every hour points to the line or the plan.
Restart the routerSwitch it off at the wall for 30 seconds. Routers that have been on for weeks leak memory, drop to slower WiFi modes and hold onto poor connections. Do this before anything else.
Check the routerIf the ISP router is old, it may be capping you at 100 Mbps. A router with a gigabit WAN port and current WiFi fixes that.
Contact your ISP with your numbersIf daytime speeds on a cable are still far below your plan, log a ticket with your ISP; Openserve only accepts faults from ISPs. Send the download, upload and ping numbers, the time of day and whether you were on cable or WiFi. That gets you past the first-line “restart your router” reply.

Openserve vs your ISP: who fixes what

Openserve maintains the fibre, the ONT and the connection into the ISP. The ISP sells the package, routes your traffic and handles support. A dead line is Openserve, an evening slowdown on a healthy line is usually the ISP, and you can change ISP on the same Openserve line without a new installation.

Still on Openserve copper?

Openserve is switching off ADSL and VDSL area by area and migrating customers to fibre or wireless. If your copper line tests slowly, ask your ISP whether fibre is live at your address; the migration is usually a bigger gain than any fix.

Common questions

Why is my Openserve fibre slow?

Test on a cable. If the cable matches your package, WiFi is the limit. If not and the ONT is green, log a ticket with your ISP.

Why is my Openserve upload lower than download?

Many Openserve packages are asymmetrical. Check the package: if upload matches it, that is normal.

Do I contact Openserve directly?

No. Log the fault with your ISP; they escalate to Openserve.

Is Openserve switching off ADSL?

Yes, area by area. Customers are migrated to fibre or wireless as copper is decommissioned.

Test by provider

Guides: WiFi speed test Fibre speed test Ping test