Always Good Ships 🚀
“We build good ships here; at a profit if we can, at a loss if we must, but always good ships.”
Collis Potter Huntington
Hello beautiful nerds
Atomic Access was founded in Cape Town in 2018 to provide epic fibre internet services. We provide internet services on the 4 major fibre networks in the Western Cape: Octotel, Frogfoot, Vumatel and Openserve.
Why we started Atomic
We built Atomic with four simple principles: 1) treat people the way we would like to be treated, 2) be transparent, 3) make sure customers can trust they are getting what they are paying for, and 4) make people smile.
Atomic is a fibre-only ISP, started by friends for friends. Not so long ago, we were frustrated with our internet; fed up with lame excuses and BS call centres. So we thought it would be a fun challenge to build our own internet service provider. Our friends kept asking for advice about which ISP to use, so we invited them. Luckily some of them took the leap and joined our network.
Now our friends and customers get the speeds they are paying for, solid uptime, quick responses and monthly discounts when they invite their friends to join Atomic.
How we are different
Atomic Access is different because it is a founder-run business. We’re medium-size, we’re focused, we’re fibre-only, we’re Western Cape-only and we’re only offering services on Open Access fibre networks. Not having any legacy technology allows us to keep things very simple and lean, and lets us provide great service.
What we're not
Atomic Access is not yet another big call-centre driven ISP. We built our own network and we care about the smallest details of how every packet gets routed. We are not just a marketing and support company. We don’t outsource. We like being in control of the full stack of services we provide. We’re agile, humble and helpful. We’re not boring, we’re not lame, and we’re not greedy. We always think about what will make our customers smile.
Friendly
We’ve done things differently. We started our network because we were tired of not getting straight answers out of our old ISPs or the speeds we were paying for. Friends talk to each other, answer emails, respond to chat messages quickly and give straight answers.
Epic Fibre
Only Uncapped Deals. Unshaped, super low latency, with plenty of spare capacity, both locally and internationally. We manage our own network: AS328266. Cape Town focused. Fully dual stack IPv4 and IPv6. 100% Fibre network. Finally, internet as it should be!
Fiercely Independent
We’re not a heartless corporate with all the traits you are used to. We are a group of passionate network engineers, designers, nerds and full stack developers building an independent medium-size ISP. By the geeks, for the geeks.
About our team
We are a bunch of nerds, full stack network engineers, designers and developers. We’ve been building IP networks for more than 20 years now. We love and support open source – we’re mostly Debian geeks. Calm is a superpower. We are a team of calm, technical, relentlessly resourceful, relentlessly optimistic, infinite learners.
“Work ethic, taste, integrity, curiosity – the rest you can learn.” — Matt Mullenweg
Nick Soper
Go-to-kid at school for computers. First Router: Linksys. Past head of marketing at Yoco. Enjoys Surfing, Hiking and Super Mario Kart. Apple user since 2001. Here to help and to solve problems.
Joe Botha
Open networking nerd, serial entrepreneur: past co-founder of Octotel, Frogfoot and Teraco. INTP, podcast geek, flâneur, impatient idealist, Techstars alum. Enjoys Campari, Health hacking, Mountain biking, Cape Independence.
Michael Pollock
Reluctant bean counter, nerd, loves computers and sustainability. ~10 years in the telecoms space (Octotel and Atomic) Enjoys being in the surf, skiing, beer, outdoors and music (together if possible). First CD: Monster Hits 9 (the one with Faithless - Insomnia), First PC Game: Bubble Bobble.
Giles Filmer
Linux geek. Honed his sysadmin and networking skills in the early Frogfoot days, before moving to Riberry as a VoIP engineer. Came to Atomic after a brief stint in the consulting business. Enjoys beer, music, reading. Hates multicast. Occasional gamer.
Stewart Cousins
Customer service extraordinaire. Started out in fitness, switched gears to engineering, and ended up in IT Telecoms. Recently left Frogfoot management to get back to working with clients directly. Workaholic who likes helping people and learning about layer 3. 1/2 Viking, fondness for jewels and dragons.
Warwick Duncan
Started working life as Network Supervisor at the Chemical Engineering department at UCT then moved to Frogfoot as a Linux sysadmin. Learned some networking along the way. Currently routing packets, drinking whisky, and complaining about systemd.
About our Network
Version 4.0
We build and manage our own network: AS328266. We average around 142ms latency to London (UK), 112ms to Lisbon (EU) and 16ms to Joburg (ZA). We have extensive local peering links. We believe in open access, open source, open standards, open peering and open networking.
Open Networking
We built a 100% Open Source 100Gbps IP network!
Atomic Core Values
Version 1.05
When we started Atomic it was very important to us that we treat customers the way we would like to be treated. Inspired by the Tony Hsieh (RIP) Zappos story and the writings of Derek Sivers we published our own Ten Core Values. These values are a framework which guide our actions, including how we interact with our team, how we interact with our customer community, vendors and business partners.
1. Delight Customers and Create Smiles
We deliver WOW through service. Great service is a priority for our entire company.
2. Relentless and Passionate Problem Solvers
We are proactive, resourceful, infinite learners and never shy away from a challenge.
3. Attention to Detail and Design
We value excellent design, high standards and quick, clear answers.
4. Strive for Epic and Grow via Word of Mouth
We want customers to love their service so much they tell their friends.
5. Simplicate and Add Lightness
We manage complexity while keeping things effortlessly simple for customers.
6. Purist Open Networking
We design and build our network to stable and reliable while using open standards and open source.
7. Create Fun and a Little Weirdness
We can be a bit unconventional, sometimes nerdy and never average.
8. Stay an Independent Medium Size ISP
We aim to remain a small team of multi-skilled experts.
9. Proudly Local
We support small business and we do our part to grow the local economy.
10. Calm is a Superpower
We aim to be good listeners, humble, helpful, open and transparent.
Some time ago now...
We keep this around for nostalgic purposes
.
top smaller ISP again.
.
October 2022: We were top smaller ISP by MyBroadband.
March 2022: We started peering at CINX.
August 2018: Launch announcement on MyBroadband and our first Frogfoot customers went live.
June 2018: Received our first IPv4 and IPv6 address space and set up peering at NAP Africa JHB and CPT.
March 2018: First Octotel customers went live.
January 2018: Got our AS Number AS328266.
December 2017: Installed our first router at Teraco (Debian 9, FRR 3, Kea 1.4).
November 2017: Listened to Derek Sivers book “Anything You Want”. Figured it would be cool to start a company using some of those ideas.
“The new needs friends.” — Anton Ego, Ratatouille (Watch the Youtube clip)
Read more on our blog, like our Facebook page, follow us on X, Instagram or LinkedIn.
What is my ISP doing wrong?
Well, they might be doing a combination of these:
Outsourced Network
Some ISPs do not build and manage their own networks, they just want to be marketing and billing companies. It’s a bad idea outsourcing the networking parts. You need an internal team with a solid technical understanding of networking.
Stuck in the Past
Some ISPs are complacent and stuck in the past, busy supporting a long list of old technologies, dial up, ADSL, outdoor wifi etc.
Congested Links
Some ISPs are running oversubscribed upstream internet connections, simply not buying enough capacity for peak time usage.
Unmotivated People
Some ISPs are operating call centres full of unmotivated staff who are really great at putting you on hold, with no intention of helping you solve a problem quickly.
Legacy
Some ISPs are using legacy protocols like PPPoE, which can’t do gigabit fibre speeds. Using PPPoE is not optimal, it lowers the maximum size of packets. We avoid using PPPoE on networks that support DHCP.
Slow Wi-Fi
Some ISPs provide customers with cheap wi-fi routers, not matching the router to the line speed or home size. No point in having a fast fibre line if your wi-fi sucks.
Slow Support
Some ISPs are reactive and not pro-active, they don't publish information about fibre network outages and they wait for customers to detect problems.
Undersea Cables
Some ISPs choose undersea cable systems which are not optimal, often using east coast cables which don't have the lowest latency.
We Have Epic Reviews
More than 33% of our customers joined because of word of mouth and reviews!
