For info, I currently have a /48 IPv6 from Zen. They've obviously changed to allocating /56s now. It's free at the moment but how long until they start charging for it? 4.7 sextillion IPv6 addresses is probably sufficient, I don't really need 1.2 septillion!

It was [email protected] that provided the pricing information, after I complained to [email protected] (albeit via their live chat)!

I know no more than what I posted. It's not an avenue I will be going down. Feel free to contact them if you need more info.

I will struggle with a /32 until I'm back. Then I'll migrate to a different provider.

In reply to a post by zeb99:

For info, I currently have a /48 IPv6 from Zen. They've obviously changed to allocating /56s now. It's free at the moment but how long until they start charging for it? 4.7 sextillion IPv6 addresses is probably sufficient, I don't really need 1.2 septillion!

Addresses are not the limited resource under /48's and /56's, it is subnets which are limited. 65536 with a /48 and just 256 with a /56. Actually, you are more limited for subnets under ipv6 than you are under ipv4.

It's very disappointing that there's no feedback from Zen in this thread.
It's a pity if the old company culture is going down the pan, as it seems to be.

Long gone are the days when undone (Dave) would jump into these threads and share some of the technical projects he was working on. That was part of what made Zen feel different.

At the risk of going off topic, broadband has gone the same way as mobile SIMs. For the majority of consumers, it's become a race to the bottom of the barrel. People are happy to spend £1,000s on a phone, but when it comes to the tiny bit of plastic that actually makes it work, they want unlimited everything for £12 a month. The same mentality has crept into broadband.

I managed to secure one of the last /22 allocations from RIPE for my company, we got burnt when our ISP did the same and changed our allocation. We pay around €1,800 a year in RIPE membership fees to retain that range. Zen pay the same annual membership fee despite managing address space many times larger than mine, so this feels more like an opportunity to monetise something that long standing customers have had for years.

To me, removing /29 allocations is another sign that Zen is becoming just another UK ISP rather than the company that stood out for doing things differently. Quite coincidentally, PC Pro asked me to vote for my favourite ISP today. Perhaps Zen's long run at the top might finally come to an end in 2026.

In reply to a post by David_W2:

Zen seems to be playing fast and loose with contract law.

Zen has backed down in our case. We will be moving to a replacement /28 at no additional one-off or monthly costs. However, I am somewhat concerned that the new block they have allocated is in the same 82.71.0.0/17 that is part of these changes, just one up in the third octet (something like moving from 82.71.123.32/28 to 82.71.124.32/28; for privacy reasons, those aren't the actual addresses). I will be clarifying with Zen that these are the correct new addresses. Maybe this is just an address space clearance and consolidation process in at least some of the affected blocks, and they are not, as some have suggested, selling some of their IPv4 address space.

The arguments that I put to Zen are, unfortunately, largely specific to our circumstances. Zen has accepted my primary argument that, as we paid an allocation fee to Zen when we submitted our RIPE form for a /28, we fall into the "paid service" exemption. I also put forward the argument that the assurances I received during the pre-contract discussions about our FTTP upgrade that our address allocations would remain the same had become part of our contract with Zen via section 50(1) of the Consumer Rights Act 2015. I indicated to Zen that I regarded a reduction to a /32 as a change that would cause significant disadvantage to us, thereby giving rise to a right to cancel without penalty under clause 14.7 of Zen's standard terms and conditions. That latter point might have strengthened our case, given that we are only in the second month of a 24-month minimum term following a recent FTTP upgrade after some ten years on a monthly rolling contract.

I acknowledge that the correct course of action is to continue re-engineering our network so that we are prepared to use the smallest possible IPv4 address space in the future. My problem all along has been that I cannot complete this substantial project in less than a month. Even though I could probably renumber to a /29 or maybe even a /30, I cannot quickly get to the place where I can cope with a static /32. I hope to have at least until the end of my current minimum contract period to free up as much of my /28 as possible.

Hi,

Please can you tell me what department fixed this for you?
What method? (chat or email)

I'm having a terrible time getting relevant responses from Zen via email.

I emailed [email protected] on 2 July and got a reply this morning, 9 July. I have not reached out to Zen in any other way (chat, phone calls, chasing emails, etc.).

thanks

I have also received confirmation that I will be receiving a replacement /29 at no cost as I am a "valued customer"! I received an email last night with the new allocation and an explanation email this morning.

I believe that this was instigated by a complaint being raised on my behalf!

Good luck to everyone else, I hope you have a similar outcome.