What is your fastest Internet Service Provider in Nigeria?

Posted by Felix Okoli on Friday October 4, 2013 at 14:47:48:

There are many internet service providers(ISPs) in Nigeria and while some of them are fast, others are not so fast. Some ISPs are the main ISPs while others are basically clients of the main ISPs making them a secondary ISP.

Since the submarine cable landed on the coast of West Africa, internet speed has really increased and companies that benefited directly from this includes Mainone cable and Glo.

What I've basically found out is that internet speed tends to differ as one changes from one ISP to another and slows down as you deal with lower ISPs and I guess it's because they have reduced the speed to make a profit from the main ISP which provides them with the service.

Yes, in Nigeria, when it comes to internet speed, you can really get the ones that have the fastest speed if you can pay for it and if you are dealing with the right provider.

This is basically my review of ISPs I've used in Nigeria that offered me the best speed.

1. Main One cable: This was one of the fastest internet service I've experienced till date and it happened when I visited the Palms shopping mall Lekki in Lagos. They were doing a free browsing promo and since I had a laptop that came with a WiFi antennae, it was easy to connect. How fast was it? Well, I can't specify the speed but YouTube was not buffering and I downloaded a lot of files including a video file that was 4gb in just 2 hrs from a file sharing site. Mainone offered a broadband service and probably provides services to other clients like Swift, busyinternet, etisalat, ipnx, netcomafrica and MTN Nigeria.
Mainone cable is like an ISP of ISPs and they are helping improve internet speed in Nigeria. They are into providing wholesale broadband solutions
I would have preferred sticking with them but I don't live in Lekki and would prefer using a portable ISP plan rather than just Fixed WiFi. Besides, I don't know of any direct private home internet service being offered by Mainone as other ISPs do.

2. MTN Hynet: MTN Nigeria offers one of the fastest internet service and although their internet packages include Fastlink, mobile internet and others, the fastest I've tried with them is with Hynet. MTN Hynet is a fixed modem that offers broadband internet service to single or multiple users through a LAN or Wireless connection. The modem needs to be plugged into a source of power in order to allow a wire or wireless connection using an ethernet port or WiFi hotspot. MTN's hynet is really fast when it's fast but there has been an increase on their plans. It is also not as portable to use MTN Hynet as you would use a USB internet stick like in Fastlink. You always need to plug in the modem before use. I still use it and have resorted to plugging it into a UPS system just to keep it powered on. It is really fast but I don't think it's as fast as my number 1.

3. Oxygen WiFi: I also had a good experience with these guys as they were opening up services at shopping malls in Lagos like at the E-center Yaba, and Adeniran Ogunsanya Shopping mall surulere. Oxygen is a company that offers broadband internet services to the public at public places by creating a WiFi hotspot through which users can access using a ticket. One needs to be registered first with Oxygen and then pay for a ticket before being able to browse. Like MainOne, they offer unlimited data downloads but on a time based limit. Their speed is ok but it slows down when there are many users or during busy times of the day.

4. Glo internet: The fastest plan I've seed on this is for Glo bolt. I've tried out Glo 3g plus, Glo mobile internet and Glo bolt and for me, Glo bolt works really fast. I guess it's because Glo also has direct access to it
s submarine cable that connects UK to West Africa. In terms of reliability, Glo's internet service works fine for most times of the day during a 24 hr basis. GLo's internet serivce is mostly targeted at private home or office users by means of a USB stick. The only Wireless internet plans I know they also offer is the one called Glo mifi. Glo mifi consists basically of a portable device powered by a battery that creates a Wifi hotspot that allows multiple users to connect to the internet at once. Their servies are mostly based on a data limit.

Which internet service provider do you consider the fastest in Nigeria based on your personal experience?