Everyone and their dog 🐶 has run a Speedtest at some point. “Hey, my Internet is slow, let me check Speedtest!” But here’s the cold, hard truth—Speedtest, especially the Ookla-hosted ones, is often a terrible way to measure real-world performance.

Yes, you heard me. Your favourite Speedtest might be lying to you. 👀

Let’s break down why Speedtest is not the holy grail of troubleshooting and what you should be using instead.

🎭 The Problem with Ookla Speedtest

Most people just fire up speedtest.net, hit “Go,” and think they’re getting the full picture. Nope. Here’s why:

1️⃣ ISP-Hosted Servers are a Conflict of Interest

ISPs self-host their own Speedtest servers. This means when you run a Speedtest, there’s a good chance you’re not actually testing your real-world Internet performance—you’re just testing how fast you can talk to your ISP’s own equipment. 🤦

🔴 What’s wrong with this?

The test never leaves the ISP’s network, so congestion, routing issues, and peering problems are completely ignored.
ISPs often prioritise traffic to their own Speedtest servers, meaning you might get better speeds than in real-world use.
Many of these servers are hosted on dodgy, old hardware, meaning the results are wildly inconsistent.

Think of it like running a 100m race on a treadmill in a controlled room—sure, you might be fast, but can you sprint in a thunderstorm? ⛈️

2️⃣ Speedtest Ignores Fairness

Speedtest runs a single TCP stream (or a few) to saturate your connection. But that’s not how real-world traffic works!

🔴 Real traffic includes:

Multiple users/devices at once (your phone, laptop, smart TV all competing for bandwidth)
Applications with different priority levels (Zoom calls, gaming, Netflix, etc.)
Jitter and packet loss, which affect voice/video more than just raw speed

Speedtest doesn’t care about any of this. It just throws as much data as possible down the pipe for a few seconds and calls it a day. That’s not how the Internet actually works.

3️⃣ Latency? What Latency?

Speedtest hides latency issues by running tests in a way that makes everything seem smooth. Real networks experience jitter, congestion, and buffering, but Speedtest only shows you a basic ping (which is often misleading).

🔴 What’s wrong with this?

It doesn’t show real-world bufferbloat (high latency when your connection is under load)
It doesn’t expose peering problems (bad routing between ISPs)
It doesn’t reflect the latency-sensitive nature of apps like video calls or gaming 🎮

You can have a 500 Mbps Speedtest result but still have terrible Zoom calls and laggy gaming. Speedtest won’t tell you why.

🎯 The Best Speedtest Server in SA? Afrihost!

Not all Speedtest servers are created equal. If you must use Ookla’s Speedtest, make sure you select Afrihost’s server manually. Why?

✅ Afrihost’s server is well-connected and has stable results
✅ It’s not hosted by an ISP trying to game the numbers
✅ It gives a more realistic view of your Internet performance

But let’s be real—Ookla’s Speedtest is still not ideal.

🚀 The REAL Way to Test Your Internet | MyBroadband Speedtest

If you want the most accurate and fair Speedtest in South Africa, forget Ookla. Instead, head over to https://speedtest.mybroadband.co.za/.

Why? Because this server is hosted by Teraco, on the NAPAfrica backbone—meaning:

✅ You’re testing real-world performance, not ISP-optimised nonsense
✅ You get a neutral test across multiple ISPs
✅ It’s hosted in SA’s biggest peering exchange, making it the best overall benchmark

This is the gold standard of bandwidth testing in SA. Anything else is just guessing.

💡 Wrapping Up with the Bottom Line

Speedtest isn’t the magic bullet for troubleshooting. Most tests are:
🚩 Unfair – They ignore congestion, fairness, and real-world conditions
🚩 Misleading – ISP-hosted tests prioritise their own networks
🚩 Incomplete – They ignore key factors like packet loss and latency

If you want a real measure of your Internet performance, ditch random ISP-hosted Speedtests and use MyBroadband’s Speedtest instead.

👉 Your Internet is more than just a number. Test wisely. 💡

Why Speedtest is NOT the Ultimate Troubleshooting Tool 🚫⚡