[TriLUG] Residential IPv4 address stability, etc. (AT&T vs. Google Fiber)

[Michael Marley via TriLUG]

I agree with the others who recommended to use a dynamic DNS service; 
this is a good idea whenever you are hosting something from a 
dynamically-assigned IP, regardless of how often it actually changes.

However, on Google Fiber, my experience has been that as long as the 
DHCP (and DHCPv6) clients do not send a RELEASE message on shutdown and 
I don't change my MAC address, my IPv4 and IPv6 addresses and my IPv6 
prefix do not change.  Conversely, if the client does send a RELEASE 
message, the IP/prefix will change every time.

How you configure this depends on your client, but on my homebrew router 
using systemd-networkd for IP configuration, this is done by putting 
SendRelease=no in the [DHCPv4] and [DHCPv6] sections of the .network 
file configuring the WAN interface.

Michael

On 9/14/23 18:25, David Burton via TriLUG wrote:
> I'm looking for some advice.
>
> Can anyone who has either AT&T fiber or Google fiber please tell me about
> how long your IPv4 assignments typically last?
>
> I currently have "60 Mbps" Internet from Spectrum (née Time-Warner). It's
> actually about 70 Mbps down and 6 Mbps up. I've been with them since
> January, 2007, and apart from a 3-day outage in July, 2017, it's been
> pretty good.
>
> But both AT&T and Google have run fiber to my curb.
>
> So far, I've stuck with Spectrum because:
>
>     - I run a web server in my house, and I really appreciate that my IPv4
>     address hasn't changed since early 2019.
>     - Spectrum *was* slightly cheaper than the other options. (But no more!)
>     - Inertia (if it ain't broke, don't fix it)
>
>
> But Spectrum has quietly raised my rate from $60/mo to $80/mo, even though
> the advertised price on Spectrum's Internet site
> <https://official.spectrum.com/lfo-spectrumone> for 300 mbps is only $49.99
> / month.
>
> They also show a special deal on their web site in which they also throw in
> "Advanced WiFi" [normally $5/mo] and one unlimited mobile line [normally
> $29.99/mo], total value $84.98, but for the first 12 months it's just
> $49.99/mo, with auto-pay. Here's a screenshot (click to enlarge it
> <https://sealevel.info/spectrum_lying_about_their_prices_2023-09-14.png>):
>
> <https://sealevel.info/spectrum_lying_about_their_prices_2023-09-14.png>
>
> So I called Spectrum and asked them, 'why did you hit me with an
> unannounced 33% price increase?' They said my $59.99 rate (which I'd paid
> for years) *was a promotional rate*, and it had expired, and they said the
> regular rate for my 60 mbps Internet is $80/month. (Oddly, I didn't hear
> him giggling, while telling that whopper to a customer who'd been with them
> for 16¾ years.)
>
> He also said the price change wasn't unannounced, because they'd mentioned
> it on one of my previous bills (which I didn't read, of course, since I'm
> signed up for auto-pay).
>
> He also said Spectrum's regular price for 300 mbps Internet is actually
> $85/month, even though their web site shows it as $49.99/month. "That's a
> promotional price," he said. I asked him where the "regular" prices are, on
> their web site. He said they aren't on the web site.
>
> What a sleazy company!!!
>
> So it's obviously time to move on. Google has 1 Gbps for $70/month. AT&T
> has 300 Mbps, 500 Mbps, & 1 Gbps, for $55, $65, or $80, respectively. I
> don't know what taxes & fees they charge.
>
> AT&T has a reputation of being as sleazy as Spectrum, but I hate Google.
> So, which is the lesser evil?
>
> One thing which would be good to know is how long do IP address assignments
> typically last with each company? Every time my IPv4 address changes, it'll
> take my site offline for a few minutes, until my script notices it, and
> updates the nameserver, and the change percolates out.
>
> With Spectrum, the IPv6 addresses change very frequently, but their
> "dynamic" IPv4 addresses are remarkably stable. That's wonderful (but not
> wonderful enough for me to put up with the aforementioned abuse).
>
> So, can anyone who has either AT&T fiber or Google fiber please tell me how
> long your IPv4 assignments typically last?
>
> Also, are there any other gotchas to impede you from hosting a web server
> at home?
>
> Thanks!
> Dave