"Real Sonic" fiber customers: How often does your IP address change?

[rcoaster]

Hi all-

I am trying to learn what my options will be if/when I get kicked off my Sonic Fusion service. I have a fixed IP address now, one of the biggest selling points for that service for me in 2011-12 when I signed up.

I have been told that Sonic fiber service --does not-- offer --any-- fixed/static IP option, with apparently one reason being that they think it might encourage people to use their "consumer-level" but ostensibly 10-gigabit service for high-data-rate commercial purposes.

So my question to existing customers that pay attention to their IP addresses on Sonic fiber (real Sonic, not any of the re-sold AT&T services) is, how often does your IP address actually change? And, do or can events such as rebooting your Sonic fiber adapter box/modem ("ONT") or any associated router, cause you to get a new/different IP address, or does the same one always come back again?

For comparison/reference, many (or most/all?) cable-Internet or traditional ADSL Internet customers would definitely get a different IP address each time they rebooted their DSL modem/router/gateway box, but AT&T U-verse lines (including the re-sold Sonic ones) typically keep the same IP until/if their AT&T box itself is replaced with a new one. (And that is indeed how my AT&T U-verse worked in 2009-11.)

Thank you!

[tarzxf]

I'm a week into 10GbE service and have used 4 different pfSense routers with the same (spoofed) MAC address on the WAN interface and received the same IP each time, plus my IPsec tunnels recovered quite soon after each swap.

[rcoaster]

Thank you for the quick reply, tarzxf. If my IP address was "stable, but subject to change in the future", that would be a whole lot easier to live with compared to "it will be random each day".

[msiegen]

In about a year I think my IPv4 address changed just once. IPv6 definitely changed only once, during the overnight maintenance window when Sonic switched from /64 delegated prefixes to /56.

One thing to watch out for is that some DHCP clients send a RELEASE on shutdown. The ISC DHCP client in Debian behaves this way, and it means you'll get a new IP on every reboot. You can prevent this by configuring systemd to skip downing the public network interface on shutdown. Then as long as you send a new DHCP request before the previous lease expires, you'll get the same IP.

[rcoaster]

In about a year I think my IPv4 address changed just once. IPv6 definitely changed only once, during the overnight maintenance window when Sonic switched from /64 delegated prefixes to /56.

Thank you for the detailed notes, msiegen. This is much better than I thought it might be.

Regarding DHCP release, I would expect that the Sonic-provided hardware would control the DHCP settings, and my router would not affect that. But if/when I do get to that point, I will look at how it works and get it set for ongoing lease renewals as appropriate. I appreciate your comments.

[tarzxf]

In about a year I think my IPv4 address changed just once. IPv6 definitely changed only once, during the overnight maintenance window when Sonic switched from /64 delegated prefixes to /56.

Thank you for the detailed notes, msiegen. This is much better than I thought it might be.

Regarding DHCP release, I would expect that the Sonic-provided hardware would control the DHCP settings, and my router would not affect that. But if/when I do get to that point, I will look at how it works and get it set for ongoing lease renewals as appropriate. I appreciate your comments.

There's no modem involved, you get an ethernet connection (1/2.5/5/10gigabit capable) from the ONT (converts fiber to ethernet) to plug into a router of your choosing, or an eero router rented from Sonic. DHCP is handled on the far end within Sonic, like at an office where you plug into a port and carry on.

I personally use a small PC with 2.5GbE ports running pfSense software for a router, and will replace it with something that handles 10GbE speeds in the future as pricing aligns with budget.

[rcoaster]

Thanks, tarxzf. The ONT has "intelligence" and does the DHCP client function itself likely, so I may have no choice or control over it.

[tarzxf]

Thanks, tarxzf. The ONT has "intelligence" and does the DHCP client function itself likely, so I may have no choice or control over it.

The ONT is just a media converter, the DHCP client is what you connect to it: router, desktop, etc.

[rcoaster]

The ONT is just a media converter, the DHCP client is what you connect to it: router, desktop, etc.

A comment in another discussion I started in the Voice forum said the ONT has a built-in RJ-11 jack for Sonic's phone service. That is why I anticipated that it was also a DHCP client. Another comment said it was possible to change your Sonic service to include or omit the telephone line option, so I took that to mean that they do not use different ONT models for those options.

Unless perhaps the ONT uses a DHCP client -only- for the phone line while passing through an Ethernet signal that still needs a client of its own (and that will get a different IP address)? Some parts of TCP/IP are still beyond my full comprehension/skill set.

[tarzxf]

The ONT is just a media converter, the DHCP client is what you connect to it: router, desktop, etc.

A comment in another discussion I started in the Voice forum said the ONT has a built-in RJ-11 jack for Sonic's phone service. That is why I anticipated that it was also a DHCP client. Another comment said it was possible to change your Sonic service to include or omit the telephone line option, so I took that to mean that they do not use different ONT models for those options.

Unless perhaps the ONT uses a DHCP client -only- for the phone line while passing through an Ethernet signal that still needs a client of its own (and that will get a different IP address)? Some parts of TCP/IP are still beyond my full comprehension/skill set.

I'd have to defer to Sonic themselves for how that's handled, as I didn't get phone service.