Questions from another potential customer

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MrTomato

149 posts

Master Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#175306 24-Jun-2015 17:09

I'm considering moving to Bigpipe's Turbo VDSL service (for two accounts). I have a few questions, so thought I'd ask them here in case the answers are useful to anyone else too:

Both accounts need voice service and absolutely must keep their existing numbers. I'm currently with Orcon for their Internet and Genius VoIP service. Signing up to a third party VoIP provider (such as 2talk) and having my number ported is absolutely fine, but according to 2talk "You should note that when a number is ported any associated service with the number could be disconnected, so you may need to check with the current service provider if you are unsure of the affect porting will have on any service you still require". What do you recommend new customers do in this situation? Downtime for the phone is fine, but losing the number isn't.
If I sign up for a static IP, can I have a PTR record set up like SirHumphreyAppleby, please?
What are Bigpipe's plans for rolling out IPv6?

Cheers!

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1647 posts

Uber Geek

#1330865 24-Jun-2015 17:21

Port the numbers first, then port the broadband. You may lose broadband for a few days, but this way your numbers will be safe.

corksta

2397 posts

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Subscriber

#1330956 24-Jun-2015 20:39

I ported the home number to 2talk before joining Bigpipe, no dramas at all.

ubergeeknz

3344 posts

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Vocus

#1330965 24-Jun-2015 20:44

Yep, just note porting the number out will trigger termination of service with us. But it can be defined as finely as AM/PM on a particular day, so it's just a matter of timing. Porting to 2talk is very easy once you've created an account. After the number ports in, just cancel the temporary number they give you at signup.

MrTomato

149 posts

Master Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1331443 25-Jun-2015 15:23

So it seems the solution would be to shift the phone number first, and then get the broadband connection changed as soon as possible afterwards.

Thanks to everyone for your responses! (Thought someone from Bigpipe might have liked to have chimed with their official recommendations - and answers to my other questions too - but it appears not.)

BigPipeNZ

1170 posts

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BigPipe

#1331450 25-Jun-2015 15:39

MrTomato: So it seems the solution would be to shift the phone number first, and then get the broadband connection changed as soon as possible afterwards.

Thanks to everyone for your responses! (Thought someone from Bigpipe might have liked to have chimed with their official recommendations - and answers to my other questions too - but it appears not.)

missed the thread :)

We've had no issues so far when customers port the phone to 2talk or WxC on the same day as the broadband - we've done it for quite a few Orcon customers.

But there is always potential for something to go wrong, so to be absolutely safe port the phone a day before the broadband is due to go.

Bear in mind it typically takes 4-6 working days to change the broadband, so make your timing of the voice port based on that.

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MrTomato

149 posts

Master Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1331553 25-Jun-2015 17:06

Great! Arranging for the phone to be ported a day before the broadband sounds like the way to go, then.

Before I place the order, there's still:

If I sign up for a static IP, can I have a PTR record set up like SirHumphreyAppleby, please?
What are Bigpipe's plans for rolling out IPv6?

Thanks for your response.

BigPipeNZ

1170 posts

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Trusted

BigPipe

#1331955 26-Jun-2015 10:58

MrTomato: Great! Arranging for the phone to be ported a day before the broadband sounds like the way to go, then.

Before I place the order, there's still:

If I sign up for a static IP, can I have a PTR record set up like SirHumphreyAppleby, please?
What are Bigpipe's plans for rolling out IPv6?

Thanks for your response.

Hi,

1) maybe, will have to talk to the network team. Can't promise it. As per the other thread, it isn't something we want to make a habit of doing. Interested to know why you want one and what you want to use it for.

2) it's in our plan, but is not a priority. It's too soon to put any sort of timeframe on it, but probably within the next 12-18 months if I had to guess.

bigpipe.co.nz
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BlackHand

131 posts

Master Geek

#1331979 26-Jun-2015 11:28

corksta: I ported the home number to 2talk before joining Bigpipe, no dramas at all.

same here, although still waiting patiently for my PTR record

MrTomato

149 posts

Master Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1332092 26-Jun-2015 13:44

BigPipeNZ: 1) maybe, will have to talk to the network team. Can't promise it. As per the other thread, it isn't something we want to make a habit of doing. Interested to know why you want one and what you want to use it for.

Thanks for your message, and thanks for offering to talk to the network team.

My reason is the same as SirHumphreyAppleby's - there are still some touchy SMTP servers that reject messages where the hostname given in the relaying MTA's HELO command doesn't match the PTR record for its IP address. It's ineffective and silly, but they do it anyway.

Along with the other ISPs mentioned in the other thread, I believe WxC provide the ability to set a custom PTR record from within their user control panel. I've seen other ISPs overseas that do the same thing, and it would be very handy if you could too.

Being able to specify a PTR record for reverse lookups is part and parcel of managing IP addresses, and from your point of view surely it'd be best to hand over responsibility to customers who have been allocated a static IP? I'm 100% in support of your point of view about providing a 'bare bones' ISP where you concentrate on supplying quality access but don't provide mail servers, call centres, etc, but cases like this are the flip side of the coin.

MrTomato

149 posts

Master Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1354279 29-Jul-2015 11:35

Just updating this thread with details of the migration from Orcon to Bigpipe and 2talk in case it's useful to anyone in the future.

In the end I arranged for the phone and Internet service to be migrated on the same day - phone in the morning, Internet in the afternoon.

The phone number port from Orcon to 2talk's VoIP service in the morning was fuss-free and the Internet connection stayed live afterwards. Internet service was then successfully and smoothly migrated to Bigpipe in the afternoon.

All in all, nothing to worry about.

ubergeeknz

3344 posts

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Vocus

#1354852 29-Jul-2015 21:00

Glad to see your churn went smoothly (even if it wasn't in our favour) :)

MrTomato

149 posts

Master Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1355094 30-Jul-2015 09:57

ubergeeknz: Glad to see your churn went smoothly (even if it wasn't in our favour) :)

Orcon was excellent while I was a subscriber*, but that was especially thanks to you and all the other Orcon staff members who have been doing an outstanding job helping out customers here on Geekzone. I think I speak for everyone when I say it's very much appreciated.

* (dreadful overseas call centre, the slowdowns of a month or two ago and the Global Mode cave-in notwithstanding!)

timbosan

2159 posts

Uber Geek

#1355100 30-Jul-2015 10:03

MrTomato: Great! Arranging for the phone to be ported a day before the broadband sounds like the way to go, then.

Before I place the order, there's still:

If I sign up for a static IP, can I have a PTR record set up like SirHumphreyAppleby, please?
What are Bigpipe's plans for rolling out IPv6?

Thanks for your response.

Can someone explain to me why this needs to be done by BigPipe? I use GoDaddy for my domain name hosting and I have an MX record for my mail server, and I added a PTR record myself (for the same reasons given, plus the forwarding service I used complained about it being missing). I use BigPipe but wouldn't expect them to have to do this? Am I missing something?

MrTomato

149 posts

Master Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1355109 30-Jul-2015 10:19

timbosan: Can someone explain to me why this needs to be done by BigPipe? I use GoDaddy for my domain name hosting and I have an MX record for my mail server, and I added a PTR record myself (for the same reasons given, plus the forwarding service I used complained about it being missing). I use BigPipe but wouldn't expect them to have to do this? Am I missing something?

The PTR record provides a reverse lookup so that an IP address can be resolved to a hostname (eg 1.123.96.203.in-addr.arpa.), so needs to be handled by the owner of the IP address (Bigpipe in this case). They can either set one or more PTR records or delegate zones to external name servers.

Presumably your mail server is hosted by GoDaddy?

timbosan

2159 posts

Uber Geek

#1355116 30-Jul-2015 10:31

MrTomato:
timbosan: Can someone explain to me why this needs to be done by BigPipe? I use GoDaddy for my domain name hosting and I have an MX record for my mail server, and I added a PTR record myself (for the same reasons given, plus the forwarding service I used complained about it being missing). I use BigPipe but wouldn't expect them to have to do this? Am I missing something?

The PTR record provides a reverse lookup so that an IP address can be resolved to a hostname (eg 1.123.96.203.in-addr.arpa.), so needs to be handled by the owner of the IP address (Bigpipe in this case). They can either set one or more PTR records or delegate zones to external name servers.

Presumably your mail server is hosted by GoDaddy?

Nope - my mail server is a physical server I host (SBS2011) and I have a static IP from BigPipe.

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