One of the core attractions at rAge Expo has always been the NAG LAN BYOC, which sees hundreds of gamers coming together for +68 hours of non-stop gaming. The infrastructure necessary to run such an event clearly has to be cutting edge, which is why rAge Expo partnered with Clear Access to provide the internet connection. 

Usually positioned as the backbone of media houses around South Africa, and the reason why sports and live events can be streamed on terrestrial TV, Clear Access recently branched out into supporting the country's most enthusiastic gamers, with an Internet service offering they say is simply unbeatable in that field. 

The 30Gb/s connection they will be bringing to rAge is a significant investment in the event, as in not something just anyone can do. With one of the most secure networks in the country, Clear Access delivers an enormous amount of redundancy to ensure their lines stay up, even when others are failing.

Marketing Manager for Clear Access, Rob Nelson, explains that this stability comes off the back of their work in the media. 

“Imagine if, during a live broadcast, a link goes down. You can't. We cannot allow that to happen,” he says. 

With TCP/IP acceleration, Clear Access is able to accelerate data downloads and media streaming during the handshake of the TCP connection. This allows them to take control and give priority to data downloads. This is also beneficial to gamers who need to download new maps and updates for their games. Clear Access’s multiple international routes and optimised routing on their international and local routes offers resilience and exceptional low ping times.

Apart from the stability and the redundancy Nelson is adamant that their network is “pretty special”.  

One of the things rAge was looking at when it came to the network was stability. It is essential that despite the workload, games on the network go uninterrupted and once again this meant that Clear Access was streets ahead of the competition. Apart from the faster and more resilient connection, the support offered by Clear Access is also unsurpassed. 

“We are the only ISP with proper 24/7/365 support,” says Nelson. “What this means is that if you are gaming at 2am, and you call us, you don't find out we are closed, go into an endless queuing system, and finally speak to a call centre operator. With Clear Access you will go straight through to an engineer who knows what he is doing – someone who was instrumental in building this network. I mean, we can't have a client calling us with a problem, and for them to be told, 'hang on, let me check my notes'.” 

At the NAG LAN this network will be further supported by Clear Access' Neutrino which is usually only used on high end business connections to clears barriers on the line and deliver intranet speeds over the internet.  

“In essence we will have 30 Neutrinos active at the NAG LAN so that gamers are able to fully experience our Quark connection with TCIP acceleration and no lag. It's going to be incredible,” says Nelson. 

It's already easy to see why Clear Access would become the go to ISP for gamers around South Africa, but the company goes even further. Shortly after launch they became aware that no matter how good their network, their clients wouldn't be able to get the best experience, without an equally good Wi-Fi partner. So began their relationship with Plume. Plume is a revolutionary, next gen, Wi-Fi solution that uses machine learning and AI to track the devices that are on the network and optimise the Wi-Fi dependent on usage and needs.  

The full Clear Access offering from Quark to Neutrino, and Plume will all be on display at the Clear Access stand, as will their side project with Ring cameras, which in conjunction with top level Wi-Fi offers homes the very smartest home security.  

Tickets to rAge Expo are available to buy online via Howler.