Static IP addresses

CurlyWhirly · 16 Apr 2006 at 09:48

I am thinking about migrating to Zen next month when my current 12 month contract is up.
I notice that they use static IP addresses!

I know that Zen is primarily a business ISP but surely there is a security risk for the home user or am I safe because I am behind a router :confused:

tolien · 16 Apr 2006 at 09:49

There's no security risk...

CurlyWhirly · 16 Apr 2006 at 09:50

Thanks Tolien

Nothing to worry about then.

Mr Man · 16 Apr 2006 at 13:29

tolien said:
There's no security risk...

Just make sure you have a good firewall.....

Luke284 · 16 Apr 2006 at 14:42

i dont understand why isps bother with dynamic ips? surly its more work that way as they would have to log who had what ip at what time?

Lummux · 16 Apr 2006 at 14:49

Its a legacy thing, back in the days of dial up the ISP's didn’t have enough IP's for all there customers so they did it dynamically. I presume this isn’t the case any more because broadband is always on.
Doing it dynamically means less configuration for the users as well which most aren’t capable of.
And logging is automated so no problem at all.

NathanE · 16 Apr 2006 at 15:15

Mr Man said:
Just make sure you have a good firewall.....

Why?

tolien · 16 Apr 2006 at 15:23

Lummux said:
Doing it dynamically means less configuration for the users as well which most aren’t capable of.

No more or less for the EU, since it all works the same (device gets IP/gateway/DNS from ISP via PPTP).

Just make sure you have a good firewall.....

No more so than with a dynamic IP...

CurlyWhirly · 16 Apr 2006 at 15:44

Mr Man said:
Just make sure you have a good firewall.....

I have the router firewall and also McAfee personal firewall as well.
I think it's best to have both a software firewall and a hardware firewall isn't it?

Incidentally, I found out that the router firewall was off by default when I checked out the homepage :eek:

Luke284 said:
i dont understand why isps bother with dynamic ips? surly its more work that way as they would have to log who had what ip at what time?

I can believe that as in the event of the ISP having to release logged details of an individual (because he or she has been sharing copyrighted material for example) then it must be a nightmare especially for large ISP's like AOL who have millions of customers worldwide!

tolien · 16 Apr 2006 at 15:46

CurlyWhirly said:
Incidentally, I found out that the router firewall was off by default when I checked out the homepage

You've still got NAT though, which'll offer some limited protection.

I can believe that as in the event of the ISP having to release logged details of an individual (because he or she has been sharing copyrighted material for example) then it must be a nightmare especially for large ISP's like AOL who have millions of customers worldwide!

Doubt it's that much of a nightmare.

CurlyWhirly · 16 Apr 2006 at 15:49

Lummux said:
Its a legacy thing, back in the days of dial up the ISP's didn’t have enough IP's for all there customers so they did it dynamically. I presume this isn’t the case any more because broadband is always on.

So that's how dynamic IP addresses came about then.

No more so than with a dynamic IP...

But surely a static IP address is more at risk from hackers or is this a myth and home PC's are rarely targetted :confused:

I have always had dynamic IP's.

NathanE · 16 Apr 2006 at 15:58

CurlyWhirly said:
So that's how dynamic IP addresses came about then.

But surely a static IP address is more at risk from hackers or is this a myth and home PC's are rarely targetted

I have always had dynamic IP's.

The only added "safety" with a dynamic IP is that you're a moving target. Not that Internet worms are deterred in any way by that...

tolien · 16 Apr 2006 at 16:04

It's a complete myth - because most of the worms et al are scanning entire subnets, so a dynamic IP isn't going to help you.

CurlyWhirly · 16 Apr 2006 at 16:06

NathanE said:
The only added "safety" with a dynamic IP is that you're a moving target.

I was wondering, as I am now behind a router (I used to use a USB modem) can my IP address be seen to other internet users or is it hidden behind the router as Tolien mentioned in a previous post that NAT will still offer limited protection even if the router firewall is off (as it was by default as already mentioned).

CurlyWhirly · 16 Apr 2006 at 16:08

tolien said:
It's a complete myth - because most of the worms et al are scanning entire subnets, so a dynamic IP isn't going to help you.

Fair enough but what about hackers?

Surely having a static IP address makes it easier for them to find you or is it that routers are designed not to reply to pings making you 'invisible' on the internet?

NathanE · 16 Apr 2006 at 16:09

CurlyWhirly said:
I was wondering, as I am now behind a router (I used to use a USB modem) can my IP address be seen to other internet users or is it hidden behind the router as Tolien mentioned in a previous post that NAT will still offer limited protection even if the router firewall is off (as it was by default as already mentioned).

The IP address is not hidden. You'd have to bounce via another host on the Internet if you wanted to truly hide your IP.

NAT offers plenty of protection. It completely "hides" your internal LAN computers from the Internet (provided you don't map any ports.)

The "firewall" on most consumer routers is best turned off anyway. Most of the time it just causes stability issues, clogs up the router log with false alerts, or hogs memory/CPU time that is better spent on (surprise surprise) performing routing... or the NAT table (more P2P connections...)

tolien · 16 Apr 2006 at 16:10

CurlyWhirly said:
Fair enough but what about hackers?

Same story...they're not out to get you.

NathanE · 16 Apr 2006 at 16:13

<ftse100company>.com though and NAT would barely be seen as protection at all. Everything is relative... Those companies spend millions on Internet security.

CurlyWhirly · 16 Apr 2006 at 16:15

NathanE said:
NAT offers plenty of protection. It completely "hides" your internal LAN computers from the Internet (provided you don't map any ports.)

I wouldn't know how to map any ports anyway!

How can NAT hide my PC when my IP address is visible :confused:

The "firewall" on most consumer routers is best turned off anyway. Most of the time it just causes stability issues, clogs up the router log with false alerts, or hogs memory/CPU time that is better spent on (surprise surprise) performing routing... or the NAT table (more P2P connections...)

So I should go back to the Homepage and disable it then should I :confused:

tolien · 16 Apr 2006 at 16:19

CurlyWhirly said:
How can NAT hide my PC when my IP address is visible

Because the IP address that's visible is your router's.