Questioning the Stability of Static IP Addresses from UK ISPs

When is a Static IP (Internet Protocol) address, not a Static IP address? The answer to this question should be simple (i.e. when it changes), but a recent consumer complaint against popular broadband ISP Hyperoptic has helped to highlight how the market appears to lack a common position on how to manage them.

First, a bit of background. Every internet connection needs to be assigned an IP address in order to function and communicate with other online servers, but most consumer broadband packages will typically supply you with a Dynamic IP address. A dynamic address is one that will change, such as when you reboot your router. Most people will only ever need a dynamic IP, and in all likelihood you won’t even notice when the address changes.

However, some broadband packages also come with a Static IP address (i.e. the IP address assigned to your internet connection doesn’t change / is permanent), and it’s often also possible to add one to those packages that don’t offer it – for an extra cost.

Static IPs tend to be more associated with premium / business packages, where customers are more likely to desire a fixed address because they’ll be hosting servers and domains, have specific security requirements (e.g. the need to whitelist a specific IP to various firewalls) or want to avoid problems with Carrier Grade NAT (CGN / IP address sharing) etc. Such IPs are leased to the customer (i.e. you don’t physically own the address they assign).

The Problem

In this case one of Hyperoptic’s customers, who wishes to remain anonymous (for the purposes of this article we’ll call him ‘Jim‘), had taken out a normal residential broadband package and was also paying an additional £5 per month on top of that in order to add a Static IP address to the plan.

However, Jim ran into a problem with the provider when, upon replacing his broadband router (this occurred less than a month after the static IP was first assigned), and without any prior notice, they also changed his fixed IP address. The change caused a significant problem as his old IP address was whitelisted on various secure systems which, due to the change, he could no longer access.

Hyperoptic initially responded to the complaint by pledging to resolve the issue (i.e. reinstating the old IP address), but their initial attempt failed as the customer had been moved to a different internal platform during maintenance. After several days, Jim was informed that it would not be possible to reinstate his previous IP.

Upon complaining, Jim was told that Hyperoptic’s “static” IP product is more akin to a “publicly addressable, rarely changed” IP. Arguably, dynamic IPs could also be described as addresses that “rarely change“, since they often stay the same until you disconnect the line (e.g. router reboot) for a period. At this point, Jim decided to raise the case with Hyperoptic’s alternative dispute resolution (ADR) provider – Ombudsman Services.

Extract from Jim’s Complaint

“It is my firm belief that, given that Hyperoptic still maintains ownership of the IP addresses, it is NOT impossible for Hyperoptic to assist me in my issue, only time consuming.

I believe that since they advertised the service as a “static” IP, it is their obligation to provide me with an IP address that does not change.

In my experience in the telecoms industry, it is not normal for a communications provider to change someone’s static IP without any advance notice, since of course this can lead to breaking changes.

I have called Hyperoptic on several occasions and had their sales team tell me how a static IP works. On multiple occasions, which I have recorded, their team assured me that static IPs never change. It is for this reason that I requested that the Ombudsman support my complaint by requesting that Hyperoptic reverts the changes which were made so that I may have my old static IP, even if temporarily.”

In its defence, Hyperoptic said their terms allow them to “change the state of the network you are connected on” and, had Jim been on one of their business packages (rather than residential), then they would have notified him of “any details of your network change” during the maintenance. Apparently, paying an extra £5 per month on a residential plan isn’t enough for such a basic customer courtesy to be afforded.

The ISP did initially offer to apply a credit to cover three months’ worth of the static IP service, but Jim declined this in the hope of getting his original IP back. The ombudsman reviewed the case and ultimately ended up siding with Jim, although they could only order the provider to apologise and apply a credit of £75 as a gesture of goodwill.

Statement from Ombudsman Service

Based on the evidence I have received, it is evident that Hyperoptic failed to give you any notice of planned changes with the maintenance in upgrading their services which caused a change to your static IP address. I understand you have requested for this to be placed back to allow you to complete your own personal changes however, due to this being moved to a new system within Hyperoptic it is unable to put your old IP address in place. I recognise that you have experienced shortfalls in service as steps should have been taken to ensure you were made aware of the planned changes to help prevent this impacting your work.

I understand that this has caused difficulty in you accessing websites for work and caused you a lot of inconvenience however, I’m unable to instruct the company to add your old IP address for you as its not feasible for the company to do so. Therefore, I have requested for Hyperoptic to provide you with an apology and to apply a credit of £75 as a gesture of goodwill.

A Hyperoptic spokesperson told ISPreview.co.uk:

“We apologise again to [our customer] for the inconvenience that was caused. It was necessary for us to make a network update that changed the customer’s IP address – we should have better communicated that to the customer, and helped him manage that change. It is not possible to guarantee that a static IP can be retained indefinitely, but network updates that necessitate changes are extremely rare.”

The case raises an issue that’s definitely worthy of some debate, not least since anybody paying extra for a static IP should at least have a reasonable expectation of receiving an address that doesn’t change and, at the very least, certainly NOT within the first month of service or without any prior notice.

On the other hand, major internet network and platform changes do happen from time to time, which can cause even static addresses to change, although such events are normally very rare and ISPs usually try to protect their assignments to customers when they occur. But at ISPreview.co.uk we’ve always approached the notion of IP addresses being “static” with a pinch of salt, precisely due to the changeable nature of such environments.

However, it’s also true to say that most ISPs do not appear to clearly define either what a Static IP address actually is (within the context of the product’s caveats) or how they may treat it going forward, which is a key point. All of this begs the question, how long does an IP address have to remain unchanged in order for it to truly be advertised as “static” and, if it is liable to change, then can it ever truly be sold as such? More clarity is required from the industry.

Finally, we did quietly ask several other providers how they approached the issue of static addresses. The majority agreed that a static IP address should remain in place for the lifetime of the customer’s service with the ISP, but some also said that it was reasonable to be able to change them, albeit with a long notice period, and they could not guarantee the retention of a specific address (major network shifts do sometimes occur).