Zen Broadband - can I get a dynamic IP?

Anyone know?

http://www.zen.co.uk/home-office/broadband/home-offi...

"Choice of 1 or 8 static IP addresses"

I have been thinking of leaving my current ISP and signing up with Zen, but this is an issue for me, as I really do prefer a dynamic IP when I access the internet. I'm not really comfortable with the added potential for tracking that a static IP provides.

Thanks,
PJ.

Only ever seen those options.

Nefarious websites would just use cookie tracking anyway, since dynamic IP is so common, and dynamic can remain with you for weeks unless you are rebooting the modem every couple of hours.

Choose 8 static and cycle through them when you want.

His full name/company name will be associated with the block, available for anyone to lookup. Not great if he's interested in privacy.

Can't Zen hide that info? That's appalling

If that's true, then there's absolutely no way on this earth that I'm signing up with them. Even if their service is as good as people say it is.

I've been on the internet a long time now - certainly long enough to know that there are lots of people out there who believe that the way to deal with someone saying something they don't like on the internet is to find out where they live and cause problems for them in real life.

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

Only ever seen those options.

Nefarious websites would just use cookie tracking anyway, since dynamic IP is so common, and dynamic can remain with you for weeks unless you are rebooting the modem every couple of hours.

My current ISP allocates me with a different IP every time I log on (or disconnect/connect my box), FWIW. I'd like any new ISP I sign up for to also do this - but without the traffic shaping, which is the reason I was considering joining Zen...

I'd rather be 'one of ten thousand' (or whatever) on the internet than 'that guy'.

PJ.

I'm afraid that Zen don't offer the choice of a dynamic IP address on any of our services - as previously mentioned we only offer static IPs. As standard customers can choose to have 1, or 8 IPs. Anything more than this requires justification & a form to be completed.

With regards to customer details being shown, this is actually linked to terms and conditions from the RIPE policy & procedures. If the account is in the name of an individual, the default entry on the RIPE Database will be in the format of [firstname] [surname].

If you do not wish for your details to be shown on the RIPE database in this way, we are able to change this so that your name can show in one of the following ways;

[Firstname] [last-initial]
[First initial] [last-name]

If the account is in a business name, then the name of the business will be shown instead.

Your address details don't get published online, these are only stored with RIPE and not disclosed to the public.

I hope this helps explain the information posted earlier about having a range of IPs.

Would I be right in thinking, from what you say and from the earlier posts, that with the single fixed IP address only yourselves know the name and premises address?

As the enquirer seems only to be concerned about that becoming public, my view is that he would have to upset someone very seriously, (and very nasty), to provoke them into successfully hacking into your system to find it.

I would imagine even with a dynamic IP address, with any ISP, the risk of one's name and address being obtained would be almost identical. There has to be an IP address-customer history maintained for legal reasons, so such a hunter would only need a small number of recent IPs used by his target to trace him through that, if successful in hacking in.

Have been with my present isp for 5 years or more with a static ip. I have never encountered any problems with it, no one has tried to attack me in any way. My router, firewall and ant-virus tend to stop all nefarious stuff getting in (or out). It seems to be in the mind of the user that a fixed ip is a dangerous thing, in my exoperience, over many years, it is not as long as you have the right protection and browsing safety.

In reply to a post by cavillas:

I have never encountered any problems with it, no one has tried to attack me in any way.

How certain are you ? Is it not more a case of "no one has tried to attack me in any way that I know about" ?

In reply to a post by cavillas:

It seems to be in the mind of the user that a fixed ip is a dangerous thing...

Certainly, but perhaps for justifiable reasons. Maybe the user is in some organisation that helps 'activists' who are striving for freedom from a dictatorial government, or on some parallel ideal where those in power might exploit people from their 'diplomatic mission' (aka spies) to take action to prevent such supporters from acting to assist an 'opposition'.

I have three internet connections from here, one via landline, one a mobile phone which can act as a hotspot, and a router offering HDSPA broadband via Wi-Fi to a number of devices. When I access some websites I use Opera with 'Turbo' mode enabled, so requests appear to originate at Opera's servers in Norway (?). My 'landline' ISP gives me a fixed IP and I use that for access to certain servers (which will only allow certain functions from that IP), and fortunately the rest are dynamic by default.

While I could be tracked down if I broke certain laws, or simply annoyed a suitably large body that could get an ISP to respond to a 'formal request' but for the most part I can browse in the knowledge my anonymity is likely to remain intact.

I think it is easy to dismiss the concerns of another but you really need the full facts to do so in a reasonable (and reasoned) way, IMHO.

Correct - with a single IP address it's just the ISP details that appear in the RIPE database. Customer details are only stored in our database in that case.

ISPs operating dynamic IP ranges will store information on who used that IP for identification purposes - so they can attribute responsibility for actions using that IP address in response to abuse reports or legal requests as appropriate.

The remaining "risk" with a single static IP is if posting on a site which stores that information results in somebody with access to it deciding to take some form of action against you (e.g. DoS attack or some-such). It's a pretty low risk though, if you avoid interacting with sites where the administrators may not be trustworthy or accountable for abuse of the information they have access to.

ta,
Phil.

Strange that dynamic has always been something I've veered away from. for exactly the opposite reasons of the OP.

Hoo look there's the geeza on xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx the IP address has been banned. But that wasn't me!

When anonymity is required just use Tor.

A quick look a ripe will show how there is no information held about you for a static IP.

If someone wants to track you that bad they will regardless of static or dynamic IP address.



Of course this is from a UK perspective.