Zen removing my static IP addresses

[Wizzkidy]

So I received this email today from my ISP. Keep in mind I have been utilising these 5 IP addresses on my zen service for the last 17 years. This will cut off some of the services I use, including email as I host my own domain, game servers and other connections on different IP addresses.

What are your thoughts about this? I would suggest they are breaking the contract

This will be a complete pain for me and will break many of my services I host.

I have had these on my service since I took out the original contract

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Hi xxxx, We hope you are enjoying your broadband service with us. We are emailing to provide you with notice of a change concerning your IP (Internet Protocol) address(es). Service Username: xxxxxxx@zen Service Installation Address: xxxxxx Firstly, a brief refresher on IP addresses: An IP address is a unique number that identifies a device on the internet or a local network. It is how devices find and communicate with each other online. Think of it much like a business address, but for your internet devices. We consistently review our network's usage and our recent review revealed that most of our customers primarily use just one IP address. To optimise our resources, we will be adjusting the IP addresses assigned to your Zen service down to one*. As part of this process, we will assign a new IP address(es) to your service. This network maintenance will enable us to improve our resources as we continue to provide the best possible service. *If you already purchase multiple IP addresses from us you will retain the same volume, but the IP addresses themselves will change. Your new IP address details from 28/02/2024 10:44 will be: IP Address: xx.xx.xxx.xxx Subnet mask: 255.255.255.255 How will this impact me? This change will not affect your broadband service, although you will experience a 30 second drop in connectivity at changeover. Your Zen account, contract, payments and internet speed will remain unchanged. In some instances, a router reboot may be needed to ensure all your devices pick up your new IP address. More information can be found at www.zen.co.uk/IPaddress. If you don't use the Zen-provided router, or if you operate a more complex internal networking setup additional updates may be required. If you require support with making these updates email us at [email protected] and one of our engineers will be in touch. If you wish to purchase additional IP addresses, please contact our sales team on 01706 902001.

Thank you for your continued support and trust in Zen,

The Zen Team

 

[ChrisD.]

Vote with your feet and go to Aquiss, you have the option of a /29 from them.

 

[Caged]

*If you already purchase multiple IP addresses from us you will retain the same volume, but the IP addresses themselves will change.

What's the problem?

 

[ChrisD.]

What's the problem?

I expect he has a really old account when you got the additional IP addresses for free and they're now wanting to charge for them.

 

[Wizzkidy]

What's the problem?

I expect he has a really old account when you got the additional IP addresses for free and they're now wanting to charge for them.

Correct, I got these IP's as part of the service when I took out the contract 17 years ago as standard, they even moved them over from FTTC to my FTTP service I took out about 2 years ago.

 

[Wizzkidy]

Vote with your feet and go to Aquiss, you have the option of a /29 from them.

This I will investigate, I almost moved to them a year ago when Zen just couldn't sort out my speed issues but in the end they fixed the issue after 3 months so I didn't pursue this.

The whole thing it going to cause me real pain though and I think it's just a money making scheme from zen

I also read that a few months ago Zen sold of a bunch of IPv4 ranges, probably because they are losing money. There service has gone seriously down hill

 

[ChrisD.]

This I will investigate, I almost moved to them a year ago when Zen just couldn't sort out my speed issues but in the end they fixed the issue after 3 months so I didn't pursue this.

The whole thing it going to cause me real pain though and I think it's just a money making scheme from zen

I also read that a few months ago Zen sold of a bunch of IPv4 ranges, probably because they are losing money. There service has gone seriously down hill

They have hired a lot of ex TalkTalk and VM people in middle and upper management apparently and want to adopt a similar model as it's more profitable.

 

[Vince]

This I will investigate, I almost moved to them a year ago when Zen just couldn't sort out my speed issues but in the end they fixed the issue after 3 months so I didn't pursue this.

The whole thing it going to cause me real pain though and I think it's just a money making scheme from zen

I also read that a few months ago Zen sold of a bunch of IPv4 ranges, probably because they are losing money. There service has gone seriously down hill

Have you considered just giving them a ring and saying "been with you for 17 years, can I just have the 5 addresses that you have sorted me with for the last 17 years please?"

you might actually get a human at the other end of the phone that will make it happen for you.

 

[Caged]

Well it sounds like there's no option to keep the exact addresses you have, so best case scenario is that you stay with Zen and your price stays the same but your addresses change. If changing the IPs is a big job then you have no barriers to moving to another provider.

 

[Vince]

Well it sounds like there's no option to keep the exact addresses you have, so best case scenario is that you stay with Zen and your price stays the same but your addresses change. If changing the IPs is a big job then you have no barriers to moving to another provider.

It's not going to be crazy difficult to update some mx and a records and as long as you can bring down ttl's you can make it happen nice and quick. It's annoying but updating records on a range as small as 5 addresses is never going to be that big a job.

 

[Wizzkidy]

Have you considered just giving them a ring and saying "been with you for 17 years, can I just have the 5 addresses that you have sorted me with for the last 17 years please?"

you might actually get a human at the other end of the phone that will make it happen for you.

I will indeed try this, you never know but if the last conversations I had with agents from zen is anything to go by it won't end well

Well it sounds like there's no option to keep the exact addresses you have, so best case scenario is that you stay with Zen and your price stays the same but your addresses change. If changing the IPs is a big job then you have no barriers to moving to another provider.

Yes, I guess the barriers are down now anyway as I will have to perform work on my internal network no matter what, something I can't seem to avoid now, so much for lifetime guarantee from zen.

I don't think they should be allowed to disrupt my service like this personally, I am not your average internet user and just to blanket cut out what I was sold is completely wrong!

 

[Caged]

It's very unlikely that anybody has given you a contract saying your IP addresses will never change. It's also a good opportunity to look at why these addresses changing is going to be such a burden.

 

[Wizzkidy]

It's very unlikely that anybody has given you a contract saying your IP addresses will never change. It's also a good opportunity to look at why these addresses changing is going to be such a burden.

Zen are changing something in my original contract, it will break my email setup. I am not sure if you know but that config on its own takes time to change and replicate DNS over the internet, it will cause my email service to be unavailable for a period of time due to no fault of my own apart from my ISP deciding to make this change which is detrimental to me as a customer

 

[Caged]

But it won't - your MX record will be a DNS name (hopefully) and that DNS name will be an A record with your IP address in. Drop the TTL down to 60 seconds (you have a month to do it) and then change the IP and bring the TTL back up when the address has changed.

I understand it's disruptive but I guarantee you do not have a contract with Zen that says the IP addresses they allocate will never be changed.

 

[Wizzkidy]

I understand it's disruptive but I guarantee you do not have a contract with Zen that says the IP addresses they allocate will never be changed.

You may be right about the contract, without sifting through stuff I cannot verify that, and yes fair point on MX and stuff but either way it is disruptive and not my own doing!

I will call them and update the thread with what they say, I would expect them to accommodate me after being with them that long, if they don't I'll just move to Aquiss.

The whole thing stinks though, it's simply a money making scheme off a very few select customers that do this sort of stuff, they must be desperate for money!

 

[TheVoice]

Zen are changing something in my original contract

After 17 years and presumably various renewals and service changes during that time (e.g. the upgrade to FTTH), it's very unlikely you're still under that original contract.

 

[Wizzkidy]

After 17 years and presumably various renewals and service changes during that time (e.g. the upgrade to FTTH), it's very unlikely you're still under that original contract.

Yes that may be true but do you think it's reasonable for zen to do this? Someone has been using this service for over a decade and a half and they just drop me an email saying it's being taken away.

 

[SpellowHouse]

I thought this would happen. They sent round a link to a poll to find out how many people actually used their IP addresses.

To me, it makes no difference, I don't use the fixed IP.

However, it prompted me to question whether Zen are offering the same quality of service they once did, to which the answer was no. So I researched moving. Incidentally, I was going to move to Aquiss (I think the alternative I had lined up was IDNET?). I phoned ZEN up to find out whether there were any fees or anything for moving and to cut a long story short they reduced the amount they charge very significantly. I hate to tell them, though, but come next year I will still be moving unless they keep that rate, and I very much doubt they will.

I am not sure what has changed at Zen but there is no doubt they seem to be driven by profit these days rather than service.

 

[GregI]

I am not sure what has changed at Zen but there is no doubt they seem to be driven by profit these days rather than service.

Most people state that service got really bad around the time they took on cityfibre connections. They just can't cope anymore. You know something is wrong when Coop internet has the same customer satisfaction as you!

I actually wonder the financial value of static IP addresses 17 years ago compared to now. They probably want to sell them and get everyone onto CGNAT. Mr. Tang needs another house!

 

[!bluetonic!]

It's not right, but I'm sure they feel entitled to and will do this anyway.

I'm a long term Zen customer and have a single static IP address.

At one point in time, I was using this to route back to my home network when I was out for things like RDP. Now, I don't really need to.