Static IP

[tomvalenz]

Could someone please tell me the details around my external IP address? Is it true I have to pay an additional $20 a month for static? On Rogers my IP only changed once and that was after that major outage. I was with them for years.

[Lubcubs]

I too just discovered this issue. I run a server for friends to join and was with cogeco for years. Never had any issues. For the year and a half my public IP never changed. But even if IP leases were monthly or bimonthly. That would be ideal. But with Bell, my public IP has changed 3 times in the last 2 weeks. Utterly ridiculous. I will be looking for more options outside of Bell I guess. I am not a business so will not be paying hundreds of dollars extra just to get access to a static IP.

The other thing that shocks me is I manage servers for multiple people. IP address's are supposed to mark who you are. Its a security feature. We ban people based on their IP's. No wonder people always get around their bans when ISP's are just giving them a new IP address whenever they feel like it.

[WelshTerrier]

Good Day & Welcome to the Bell Community Forum.

Bell doesn't offer static public IPs to residential customers. If you are a business customer, you can get a static IP address so that you can securely access your data from anywhere and host your own website, instead of relying on a third party. It is approximately $30.00 on a 3 yr. lease.

There are a number of free DNS services that offer a similar service that is free. E.g. DuckDNS, No-IP, etc.

Take care.

[dks]

Thank you for your comments. I'd like to clarify matters a bit.  

First, Bell has never offered static IP's in their consumer level internet service. I believe that is in the Terms of Service that customers sign. Bell has always offered static IP service in their business level service and charged a premium for that.  

No internet major telecom internet provider has, to the best of my knowledge, ever offered static IP's for their consumer internet service. Smaller independent internet providers have and still do offer a static IP service. You might wish to research that option if it appeals to you. You might also look at DDNS, which is available in your modem. You might also look at installing your own router behind the Giga Hub modem, using the modem's PPPoE pass through function and running a game server through that. 

You refer to having internet service with a cable provider and having a static IP. What you had was an apparent static IP but it was not guaranteed as part of your Terms of Use. To the best of my knowledge, no cable provider offers an actual static IP as part of their consumer level internet service. Like all the major providers, they charge more for that service in their business level offering. It appears they give customers a static IP, that's why I called it apparent. Because of the nature of their technology, those providers do not change a customer's IP frequently. However, if you reboot the provider's modem, there is a very good chance you will receive a new IP.  

You will find niche providers out there who will sell you a static IP service, for a price. Connecting to them will require technical knowledge. 

I hope that clarifies what you are seeing and what you might look for to continue your server service. 

[Lubcubs]

Tell me you and Welsh didn't read my post without telling me you didn't read my post. I specifically said I was with Cogeco and my IP never changed for over a year, Prior to Cogeco, I was with Rogers, and had my server setup for 10 months without any issues to the IP changing. Ever since switching to Bell, I found out that ISP aren't providing static IP's but to have it change 3 times in 2 weeks is completely ridiculous. As other members had stated, if the IP lease ended monthly, it wouldn't be that big of a deal. And I specifically said I wouldn't be paying hundreds of dollars extra to get a static IP. Its not just "$30.00", its the cost of the "business" internet. Its 2024. A huge percentage of the population run small business' out of their home now, and expecting them to pay same costs as multi billion dollar corporations for internet is insanity. Stating its been this way since 1980 whatever is a horrible excuse to keep things that way. Times change, and Bell should be changing with them. There 100% should be an option for residential consumers to get a static IP, and upon researching it, 3 providers in my city offer a static IP for residential users 

I did read someone's comment about DDNS earlier though and will be looking into that. If its easy enough to setup with my TCP shield then maybe I will go that route. 

[ZaneP]

Before I switched to Bell I was a Cogeco customer for years. My public IP address rarely changed. The public IP from Bell has changed once, over the years since I've been a customer. I have no idea why you're seeing these apparently frequent public IP address changes.

Did you look at the event log on the modem to see what was happening just prior to the change of IP?

If you're running mission-critical services behind the modem, you may want to consider switching to a cloud-based model, or getting DDNS from a service provider (as I suggested to another person back in 2023)

[Vanadiel]

Unfortunately, Bell residential services are not intended to be used for business purposes.

I would suggest looking into business services for your residential address, as for example in my case the price difference is $34.95/month for the 3 gigabit symmetrical service. The business service comes with an additional feature called total protect which consists of internet protect, data protect and 24/7 IT support directly by Bell.

For an additional $30/month you could add the optional static IP address, which would make the difference $64.95/month compared to residential service. 

Another option is to look into DDNS. But I would still recommend a business service for the extra features that are geared towards business use.

On a site note, the main reason why IP's for residential use are typically not static is because there's only a limited block of IP4 addresses available. It's also not a good idea to ban by IP as most IP's are dynamic and rebooting a modem often causes it to grab a new IP, bypassing any server bans. There's also VPN services that will bypass IP based bans. 

[dks]

Thank you, yes, I read your post thoroughly. I completely understand every issue you raised. Bell is not your previous provider. Bell uses different technology and protocols, as do all service providers. I make no judgement on that. You also have numerous alternatives, as has been pointed out. 

[belmi]

Hi @Vanadiel 

I am paying 51$ a month for 3 gigabit symmetrical service. When I called to have a dedicated public IP, they confirmed that I needed a business service.
But the 3 gigabit was not possible, only 1.5 gigabit. And with the static public IP (v4), it would cost me 121$ a month.

So just for a static IP, and for a significantly slower bandwidth, I would have to pay more than the double of the current cost.

Regarding the IP4 block, I get it, they are limited. But why is there no IPv6 option? Having only a public IPv6 would be okay to me.
It's 2024, it's been more than 10 years that all IT equipment are compatible with it (wikipedia) and according to google, Canada is only at 38% of adoption, versus US and Brazil around 50%, or France and Germany that are around 74%!

To finish with, I have seen some redditor paying the extra 30$ every month to rent a VPS that has an IPv4 with the same bandwidth, and establishing a VPN to their homes as a workaround. This is a loss of money for Bell here. Those people, including me, could pay a little for a static IPv4, or a very little for an IPv6 (let's say 5$ a month).

I am currently considering Dynamic DNS as another workaround, but this will have an impact on my uptime and prevent me to run some services that needs an static IP.

Thanks for reading! I hope this message among others can help Bell evolving.

[dks]

Commercial grade internet services are priced accordingly. They have different service conditions and failure response, in my experience. Bell will move to IPv6 when it chooses to do so, no matter what people may say. Bell residential internet is not configured for commercial service provision. 

[belmi]

When I asked on the phone what comes with the business subscription except for a static IP, the person was unable to answer with new elements. Even when I asked for things like better SLA in case of problems or better service support.

Whatever, to me it's a shame not being able to provide a dedicated public IP (v4 or v6) to customers that ask for, in 2024. Other internet access provider are able to assign one for free, so this is doable for everyone asking.

[Vanadiel]

The short answer is that residential services do not benefit from a static IP.

I would actually advice against a static IP unless you own a business that needs it, because without proper mitigation you can be subject to continuous scans for software and hardware vulnerabilities with no way to "escape" due to your IP being static.

The offers for small business services is available here. Static IP is an add-on that is $30/month.

[belmi]

I self host services, alternatives to Google Drive, Google Photo, Instagram, etc. All are web applications. Of course I need a static IP like every server on hearth that wants to be available online.
Yes, selfhosting public services can be a risk, but they are simple actions that can mitigate almost all attacks. Like scans, the integrated firewall in the bell router will do the job, except for the ports that will be opened.
Exposing a 443 port with a reverse proxy behind and few web services is not (that) risky, if configuration is well done and software kept up-to-date. We best practices they are very few risks.

Even with a non static IP, someone at home can be hacked. Rotating it does not bring any more security.

Thanks for the link, but there is no way I pay 121$ a month for a fiber with static IP instead of currently 50$.

DynamicDNS will do the trick, until I found a better offer within the same price and a static IP.

[deymon]

Hi, was wondering if there was any way for me to purshace the static ip bundle as a residential customer? I know I could get around with a DDNS, but its always easier to just get a static ip and use it to link your domain.

[dks]

Thank you for your question. Static IP’s are not available to residential customers from Bell.