IP changing, block of 6 lost

I escaped the last round where Zen moved IP addresses so they could flog off blocks of IPv4. Today they say I'm getting a new IP in August and I'm losing my block (cos I don't pay).

To be fair I've never used the block so I won't miss it. The IP address moves from 82.68.x.x to 82.71.x.x. My only regret is I've used my current IP for a mailserver without trouble for years, hopefully the new address won't be on any blocklists.

I guess if I really need other addresses I could get my head around IPv6.

Anyway, hours of endless fun ahead as I reconfigure all my DNS forwards, VPNs and all the other stuff I can't remember untill it all goes down...

I've been with Zen since 2003, and one of the reasons I've stuck with them is that they've always catered well to more technical customers.

For over 20 years I've had a static /29 IPv4 allocation. It's become part of my infrastructure. Firewalls, VPNs, DNS, monitoring, remote access, allow lists, all built around those addresses. They're not just IPs, they're embedded in years of configuration.

I've now also been told that in August my /29 will be withdrawn and replaced with a single /32 address, and it's not even one of my existing IPs.

For many customers this probably won't matter. But for those of us who actually use the allocation, it's a surprisingly disruptive change. It's not just reconfiguring my own equipment, there are third-party systems, whitelists, services and remote sites that all need updating. There's also the possibility I'll need to pay extra elsewhere to replace functionality I've had included for decades.

Do Zen have commercial pressures? Or is this money grubbing. Removing long-standing allocations feels like quite a shift in direction.

Same for me, Over 20 years a customer and they just cut you off with no options, I have kept wit them as they have always been more open and technical, seems that’s the way they started but are not interested in it staying that way. They said to mail them with any questions, I did and no response, tried to call over 30 minutes and still waiting with that same twaddle message as every other call centre does "we are experiencing higher than normal call volumes"... very disappointing.

Did they offer you the callback service (press 1 during hold)? It seemed to work alright for me, but they did need about 90 minutes to call me back(!).

In reply to a post by clmfsh:

... I've now also been told that in August my /29 will be withdrawn and replaced with a single /32 address, and it's not even one of my existing IPs.

Time to move to IPv6. Cutting you off in August is not right. I think for something like that, they should give you 6 months' or a year's notice, give you a static IPv6 prefix and tell you that for static IP it is IPv6 going forward.

In reply to a post by RichTea23:

that same twaddle message as every other call centre does "we are experiencing higher than normal call volumes"

For all of these, I would like to know at exactly what time I can call when call volumes are normal.

In reply to a post by clmfsh:

Do Zen have commercial pressures? Or is this money grubbing. Removing long-standing allocations feels like quite a shift in direction.

There's a shortage of IPv4s and cash to be made from selling blocks or - less cynically - they need them for new punters.

Yes, as I say I've been with Zen a long time too. But I never made use of my allocation so can't moan too much. But I do have DNS pointing to my address and will need to work out a way of changing without disruption.

Having the same IP for 18 years or so is what kept me at Zen through various house moves. My mailserver doesn't get blocklisted so I feel the IP is 'clean'. Who knows the history of the new address. So as soon as my current contract is up I think I may move to a friendlier smaller ISP. You know, like how Zen were a couple of decades ago.

I've been with Zen since 2015 and have always had a /29 within 82.68.x.x however I've not (yet?) received notice that this is going to change. It's embedded in quite a few places as I have several VPNs.

Whilst I've been dual-stack since before I moved to Zen, and way before they started to support IPv6 (using he.net's tunnel broker), not everything has IPv6 yet...

Dedicated IP addresses still play better with SIP and that's what I use it for (amongst other things) at the moment.

I've just contacted Zen to see whether they do 12 month contracts as I'm looking to move a family member off of their SMPF connection to FTTP as a) it's now available for them and b) moving the phone service to aa.net as it'll be so much cheaper - I've been with them for a good number of years.

If I hear from them that my IP address will change then I'll post here but I will be looking around for alternatives if they're going to do this!

In reply to a post by zeb99:

If I hear from them that my IP address will change then I'll post here but I will be looking around for alternatives if they're going to do this!

I'm thinking of moving too. But then I'm going to have to change IPs twice... I'm investigating ways of using a dynamic DNS to ease my move.

Meanwhile where to go? Only Aquis and IDNet seem to have fixed IPs and a decent reputation. AA obviously have a very good reputation and will supply a block of IPs at no charge, like Zen once did. But for a 1Gig connection on CityFibre its £25 more per month (£65 vs £40). Not worth it for me.

Got an email today from them saying that it's going to change in a month's time - absolutely great, I'm away then!

They've also told me I will be changed from a /29 to a /32. I'm sitting on their online chat queue at the moment waiting for answers as to a) updating their system to allocate me a /29 and b) why they automatically downgraded me to a /32. If they won't give me a /29 then it's time to move. I pay over the odds for the connection anyway!

For info, their page on this change is here:

https://www.zen.co.uk/IPaddress