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Static IPs

5 min read

⚠️ Atomic does not do any CGNAT.

🎯 Get a static IP address for your Fibre Internet #

We offer a static IP address service, or multiple static IP addresses, on our Home and Business Fibre Internet services on Octotel, Frogfoot, Vumatel and Openserve.

Your router will always be assigned the same IP address. Static IP addresses are assigned from a different IP pool than our dynamic IP pool, and your static IP(s) are reserved just for you. The methods for implementing a static IP can differ depending on which fibre network you are on.

🧩 Extras #

  • If you buy a static IPv4 service, we can also configure static IPv6 for you
  • We can set up DNS PTR (reverse) records for customers with static IPs (IPv4 and IPv6)

4️⃣ Static IP address options (IPv4) #

  • 1 static IP /32
    • You can buy two /32 services on the GPON networks
    • You can buy two /32 services on Vumatel AE – not officially supported by Vumatel
  • 8 static IPs /29 (5 usable normally) – not available on Vumatel AE

Pricing is on our change request form.

⚡️ Order static IP(s) #

Please use our change request form to order a static IP address. You will need your service ID (AAx-nnnnn, on your invoice).

⚠️ Important #

  • Never configure your router to have a static IP config on the WAN port – keep it on DHCP/Dynamic or PPPoE. When we create a static IP for you, your router settings do not need to change – you get a static DHCP lease or static IP via PPPoE.
  • A static IP on Vumatel Active Ethernet has extra setup steps, but we’ll communicate how this works when you order a static IP.
  • If you change your router, please let our support team know, as we will need to update the MAC address that the static IP is linked to.
  • If you move fibre network, you will not be able to keep the same static IP address.
  • IP space is routed to a single fibre line, it is not possible to use a /29 across multiple sites.
  • You can’t host a DNS server on your static IP, we filter outgoing UDP port 53 (DDoS reasons).

⚙️ How to add a /29 network (traditional routing) #

  • You’ll need an existing static IP config for your router’s WAN port, linked to the MAC address or via PPPoE config
  • Keep the WAN side of your router configured the same (no change needed). Do not set this to ‘Static IP’.
  • We’ll route the /29 network to the static IP on your WAN port
  • Give the router LAN port (or bridge) the 1st usable IP in the /29 network, with subnet mask 255.255.255.248
  • The 1st usable IP in the /29 is the 2nd IP, you can’t use the ‘network’ or ‘broadcast’ addresses.
  • Now assign the other IPs in the /29 to devices on your LAN, and give them a gateway of the 1st IP in the /29, which is on the router’s LAN port. Make sure you give them the correct netmask.
  • If you are using a Unifi gateway, look at the section below.

⚙️ How to port forward traffic to a server on your LAN #

This depends on your router’s admin interface, but the generic answer is that you’ll need to tell it:

  • If traffic arrives on your public IP with port NNNN
  • Send it to your LAN, towards a private IP example address 192.168.100.77 port NNNN

Public IP on your router WAN interface port NNNN ➡️ Private IP on your LAN port NNNN

Note: This is IPv4 thinking, with IPv6 you don’t need port forwarding. Just send the traffic directly to the device on your LAN with a public v6 IP, but take care with firewalling.

⚙️ How to add additional IPs with DNAT #

  • You will need an advanced router or firewall, a basic home router will probably not support this
  • This method can give you more usable IPs and can be more secure, but will be more complex to configure and maintain
  • You’ll need an existing static IP config for your router’s WAN port, linked to the MAC address or via PPPoE config
  • Keep the WAN side of your router configured the same (no change needed). Do not set this to ‘Static IP’.
  • We’ll route the additional IPs to the static IP on your WAN port
  • Bind the additional IPs to the router, usually to the loopback interface
  • Now set up DNAT (Destination Network Address Translation) rules to map the additional public IP to a private IP on the LAN
  • Give your servers or services private IPs on the LAN, usually something like 10.n.n.n
  • Each firewall or router will have its own way of configuring Port mapping using DNAT
  • Consult the documentation for your router or firewall.

6️⃣ IPv6 #

If you would like to know more about IPv6, please see our IPv6 guide: https://www.atomic.co.za/docs/ipv6/

⚙️ Unifi Gateway SNAT issue #

If you would like to route a static /29 network via a Unifi gateway, you can run into a NAT problem. By default, the Unifi gateway will NAT all the IPs on the LAN side to the primary public IP on the WAN interface.

Using Unifi Network Application version 10.0 or newer: Settings > Networks > your LAN network (br0) > Additional IPs > add the /29

Settings > Policy Table > Create New Policy > add a Source NAT rule for the /29 > scroll to the bottom and tick the Exclude box.

This will exclude your /29 from the default ‘Masquerade NAT’ rule just below the rule you just added.

⚙️ How to request a new public IP when you are using dynamic IPs #

You may need to temporarily use a different MAC address until your lease has fully expired (this can take a day). Or you can unplug your router overnight. You can also open a support ticket and ask that we give your MAC a temporary static IP.

Static IP