Virgin IP address changed after multiple years

I have fortunately had the same public Virgin Media IP address for a few years. This "almost" static IP helps because I use IP whitelisting on various cloud services etc.

I noticed that my IP it changed at 01:30 on 2 Sept (I know the time because ThinkBroadband ping monitor stopped working at this time).

I know I am not paying for static IP so it means I need to go and get my IP address modified in various places. Has anyone else noticed their own IP change recently?

I am hoping this is a one-off event and doesn't become a regular occurrence,

Edited by TopDog (Thu 03-Sep-20 11:02:07)

In reply to a post by TopDog:

Has anyone else noticed their own IP change recently?

Yes, same IP since Oct last year, changed on the 1st of the month.

I am hoping this is a one-off event and doesn't become a regular occurrence,

I am planning it will change more regularly, as other ISPs, so would suggest using VPN or SSH tunnels, rather than adding your IP to an acess list.

It's rare, but they can change. The most common reasons for an IP changing is:

1. Different MAC address is presented to their DHCP server. e.g. Switching between router and modem mode
2. They reconfigure their side of the network i.e. make a config change that redistributes IP addresses on the network
3. General network maintenance or an extended period of downtime can then mean you get a different IP once the DHCP server is contacted again

One solution is to use DDNS, so you don't have specify your IP everywhere, but instead a DNS A record your IP is linked to, then a DDNS client automatically checks to make sure the IP on this record is correct, with a short TTL of around 5 mins, this is usually acceptable.

This isn't always possible though, because some firewalls can't handle hostnames directly and instead need the IP address in the case of whitelisting.

Without a truly static IP, this will always be something to bear in mind. Virgin Media IPs are "sticky" they can change, they rarely do, but can and will at any time as you've found out.

An upgrade was done which moved you to a different edge router. It's rare though obviously does happen.

It'll happen as often as capacity needs require it, though VM will do this as a last resort having exhausted other capacity upgrade options.