Can I use my own router?
Almost always yes — the catch is knowing whether your ISP needs PPPoE or DHCP. Here's what each provider actually documents.
Rule of thumb: Fibre services running Active Ethernet (also called IPoE) generally use DHCP, which needs no configuration. Everything else generally uses PPPoE, which needs a username and password from your ISP.
What each ISP requires
PPPoE on Openserve, TT Connect, Unifybr and Vodacom lines. DHCP on all other fibre networks, which needs no setup.
PPPoE for most fibre services. Documented exceptions use IPoE/DHCP instead: Vumatel Active Ethernet, and Vumatel Parkhurst on a dynamic IP.
PPPoE with your fibre product username and password on most services; DHCP where the line is Active Ethernet / IPoE.
PPPoE. Cool Ideas’ own support articles walk through switching a router from a dynamic IP to PPPoE, so a third-party router needs the connection type set to PPPoE and their username and password entered.
ISPs we haven’t verified
We track these providers’ pricing, but we could not confirm their connection settings from an official source — so we’re not going to state them. That’s not the same as “we didn’t look”: below is what we found when we went through each provider’s own documentation, which usually explains why the answer is missing. Ask the ISP directly before reconfiguring anything.
Vox doesn’t publish PPPoE or DHCP settings, because its supplied MikroTik router configures itself: you enter a configuration key on a Vox web page and the router is provisioned remotely. That’s fine until you want to use your own router — for which Vox publishes nothing, so we state nothing.
RSAWEB publishes a router setup guide, but it covers cabling and Wi-Fi naming only — it never states whether the WAN should be PPPoE or DHCP. So we have official documentation for the hardware and none for the connection type, and we won’t fill the gap with a guess.
We checked Cybersmart’s public knowledge base and it carries no fibre router setup, PPPoE or connection-type articles at all. Nothing official to cite, so nothing stated.
Herotel includes a free-to-use router with every installation and manages it for you, and publishes no self-configuration guide — its self-help pages stop at basic troubleshooting. There is no official source for its connection settings, so we don’t state any.
Routers with official South African setup guides
These models are here because an SA ISP publishes a setup guide for that exact unit — the strongest available evidence that local users actually encounter them. Links go to the ISP’s own instructions.
| Manufacturer | Model | Official guides |
|---|---|---|
| Huawei | WiFi AX3 (WS7100 / WS7100 V2) | Afrihost · Afrihost (V2) |
| Huawei | WS5200 | Afrihost |
| TP-Link | EX511 | Afrihost |
| TP-Link | EC230-G1 | MWEB |
| TP-Link | Archer C20 | Cool Ideas · Cool Ideas (firmware) |
| TP-Link | TL-WR840N | Cool Ideas |
| D-Link | DIR-825 | Afrihost |
| ZTE | H3601P (ZXHN H3601P) | Webafrica · MWEB |
| Zyxel | EMG3525 (EMG3525-T50B) | Webafrica · MWEB |
| MikroTik | hAP ac lite TC (RB952Ui-5ac2nD-TC) | Vox (self-install guide) |
| MWEB | WR7010 | MWEB |
What we deliberately don’t publish
Plenty of sites list VLAN IDs and MTU values for South African ISPs. We don’t, because we couldn’t verify them against an authoritative source — and a wrong value here doesn’t degrade your connection, it stops it working:
- VLAN IDs — we found no authoritative public source per South African ISP. A wrong VLAN tag stops the connection working entirely, so we won’t guess one.
- MTU values — the 1492 figure commonly quoted for PPPoE is a general convention, not something SA ISPs publish per network. Leave it on automatic unless your ISP tells you otherwise.
- Custom DNS requirements — no SA fibre ISP we checked requires specific DNS servers to connect.
- Router LED meanings — these are per-model and the ISP guides don’t document them. The lights that actually diagnose a fibre fault are on the ONT, which our ONT light checker covers.
- Firmware versions — they change without notice, so any version we published would be stale. Use your router’s own update screen.
If your ISP tells you a specific VLAN or MTU is required, use theirs over anything you read online, including here. Where we do publish a setting above, the ISP’s own documentation is linked so you can check it yourself — that’s the point.
How the swap actually works
- Find your ONT. It’s the box the thin fibre cable enters, with the PON and LOS lights. Your router is separate and connects to it by an ordinary network cable. If you’re not sure which is which, the ONT light checker explains both.
- Connect ONT → router WAN port. Not a LAN port. This is the single most common mistake.
- Set the connection type. DHCP (sometimes called Dynamic IP or IPoE) needs nothing further. PPPoE needs the username and password from your ISP — not your account login.
- Expect a few minutes. Sessions don’t always come up instantly after a change.
If it doesn’t come up, the fibre troubleshooter separates an authentication problem from a line problem, which are handled completely differently.
Should you use your own router?
Often worth it. ISP-supplied units are built to a price, and a better router usually means noticeably better Wi-Fi coverage — which is what most people actually experience as "slow internet". Our Wi-Fi or line? tool shows whether that’s your bottleneck before you spend anything.
Two caveats. If your ISP supplies the router free and supports it, swapping it means you own the troubleshooting — some will decline to help with third-party hardware. And if your service includes voice or IPTV, those sometimes depend on the supplied unit; check before you swap. Whether ISPs charge for hardware at all is covered in fibre routers from ISPs.
Help us extend this
This page grows as settings get verified, not as they get guessed. If you’ve set up your own router on an ISP marked “not yet verified” — especially with a link to their official instructions — send it through and we’ll add it with the source credited. Everything above was last checked on 2026-08-18.
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