IPv6 trial ending / no more IPoE

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › IPv6 trial ending / no more IPoE

skewt

705 posts

Ultimate Geek

#236018 14-May-2018 09:57

Just received this email, are they going backwards? Time to try a new provider?

As with all things technology, things can change. So, we wanted to get in touch with a couple of updates.

Our IPv6 trial is coming to an end.

Thanks for taking part in our IPv6 trial that we announced on Geekzone. We’ve had a heap of really useful feedback to keep in mind for our future developments in this space.

From 12th of June 2018 the trial will be ending and you may notice a short 5-10 minute outage while we withdraw it. We’ll be making the change overnight at a time that has as little impact as possible. There’s nothing further you need to do, however as with any outage if you find you haven’t automatically connected again, simply restart your modem or router.

We are no longer offering IPoE.

After a recent review, we’ll no longer be offering IPoE on our network. It looks like your connection is running over IPoE at the moment, so from 12th of June 2018 you’ll no longer be able to connect with Bigpipe via IPoE.

To get ready for the change, you’ll need you to update your modem/router to our recommended settings. You can find them here:
https://www.bigpipe.co.nz/faq/faq-getting-connected/what-modem-settings-are-best-for-bigpipe

If you have any questions or want to chat these changes through, you can get in touch via https://ww.bigpipe.co.nz/contact-us

Thanks
The Bigpipe People

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519 posts

Ultimate Geek

ID Verified

#2015551 14-May-2018 10:05

I just received the same email and came here to post it. It appears as though they are in fact going backwards here. They seem to be scaling everything back in terms of support as well (removing support people from here, reddit and I assume elsewhere). I'm hoping my fibre install actually happens soon, I don't want to switch providers in the middle of it.

ZL2TOY/ZL1DMP

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michaelmurfy

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#2015554 14-May-2018 10:06

This sounds like they're just bringing their services over to Spark so they're no-longer 2 separate networks. It is sad to hear they've gone this route but does make sense.

It also means I've got a bunch of routers to now reconfigure :(

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allio

864 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2015573 14-May-2018 10:20

So what is the status of IPv6 support at Bigpipe as of the trial's end date?

Taubin

519 posts

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#2015574 14-May-2018 10:21

According to the email, they are removing IPV6 from all of the connections on the trial, so they shouldn't need any support for IPV6 at that point.

ZL2TOY/ZL1DMP

Linux

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#2015576 14-May-2018 10:23

Spark took Bigpipe back in-house months and months ago like they did with Skinny

John

IPv6pipe

98 posts

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BigPipe

#2015577 14-May-2018 10:23

Well then, looks like I was beaten to the punch. Well done @skewt :)

There have been some developments in the world of Bigpipe that we want to give you a heads up on.

From the 12th of June 2018 our IPv6 trial will be coming to an end. After this date, you may notice a short 5-10 minute outage on your connection as we withdraw IPv6 support from our network. We’ll be making the changes in the early hours of the morning in order to reduce the impact as much as possible.

You shouldn’t need to make any changes to your setup if you’ve got IPv6 enabled. If you like, you can disable IPv6 on your modem/router after we’ve withdrawn support, but it shouldn’t hurt to leave it enabled on your end.

As with any drop in connectivity, if you find you haven’t automatically connected again the morning after, try restarting your modem or router, and ONT if you’re on UFB.

We will also be withdrawing support for IPoE/DHCP authentication at the same time IPv6 support is withdrawn. If you have had IPoE enabled for testing purposes on your line, you will need to change your modem/router’s settings back to PPPoE or PPPoA, depending on which type of connection you have. We’d recommend swapping your settings back ASAP, so that you do not lose service when we make the changes on our end.

You can find the recommended settings for all of our plans here: https://www.bigpipe.co.nz/faq/faq-getting-connected/what-modem-settings-are-best-for-bigpipe

Thank you so much to everyone who got stuck into it and helped us with testing and troubleshooting IPv6 on Bigpipe. It has been amazing to see the community getting involved and assisting one another getting it working. :)

FAQs:

Why is IPv6 support being withdrawn?

We're removing IPv6 support as we're making some changes to our network and its topology, in order to expand our coverage and increase our overall capacity. As IPv6 was only ever available as a beta, supporting it after the upcoming network changes would not be possible within a reasonable time frame. Unfortunately we cannot delay the upcoming changes to our network, as we need to increase our overall network capacity to ensure our customers can continue to enjoy their connections to their full potential.

Will you make IPv6 available again in the future?

We don't have anything to announce at this stage regarding re-availability of IPv6, but watch this space!

Do I need to do anything on my end if I’m using IPv6?

No, you shouldn't need to. When we make the change, you will notice your PPP session drops. Your router should reconnect on its own within 5-10 minutes. If by 8am the morning after you can’t get online, just restart your modem/router and you should be good to go.

Why is IPoE support being withdrawn?

As with IPv6, we will not be able to support IPoE after our planned network changes within a reasonable time frame. IPoE has never been made available officially as an option, we've only enabled it for testing purposes.

Will you make IPoE available again in the future?

We don't have anything to announce at this stage regarding re-availability of IPoE.

What should I do if I can’t get back online after the change?

Try disabling IPv6 on your modem/router, and then restarting it. If you can’t get online after doing this, get in touch with our support team via https://www.bigpipe.co.nz/contact-us so we can investigate further on our end.

watsonash

91 posts

Master Geek

#2015579 14-May-2018 10:25

looks like my timing was both good and bad - I got on the trial late last week using IPoE and was battling with non ipv6 equipment on my network like the Disney Circle/Cisco ATA and a whole host of other stuff.

Ironically most ipv6 speed tests showed slower through-put on ipv6 than ipv4 but maybe that's because of the network merges as you say.

Hopefully @michaelmurphy will figure it all out first to save us considerable time!

I must say I have enjoyed being a bigpipe customer up to now - I hope the changes don't bring about too many changes (specifically in terms of international bandwidth quality).

I now see ipv6 is being withdrawn - which is disappointing..

IPv6pipe

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BigPipe

#2015582 14-May-2018 10:27

Nope, we don't have any changes planned regarding international connectivity.

sbiddle

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#2015590 14-May-2018 10:36

I assume they're moving the whole Bigpipe product over to the Spark stack? It was totally illogical in the first place that it never used this and obviously shows the limitations of running a low cost ISP unless you have scale.

Assuming this is the case it does offer the potential for Bigpipe to offer services nationwide.

Linux

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#2015597 14-May-2018 10:41

sbiddle:

I assume they're moving the whole Bigpipe product over to the Spark stack? It was totally illogical in the first place that it never used this and obviously shows the limitations of running a low cost ISP unless you have scale.

Assuming this is the case it does offer the potential for Bigpipe to offer services nationwide.

And here is the answer!

John

wilm

1 post

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Inactive user

#2015610 14-May-2018 11:02

What (if any) implications do these network changes have on those of us who paid the one-off fee for a static IPv4 address?

IPv6pipe

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BigPipe

#2015613 14-May-2018 11:03

wilm:

What (if any) implications do these network changes have on those of us who paid the one-off fee for a static IPv4 address?

None whatsoever. If you've got a static IP with us, you'll keep it as long as you're connected with us. :)

Linux

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#2015614 14-May-2018 11:03

wilm:

What (if any) implications do these network changes have on those of us who paid the one-off fee for a static IPv4 address?

@wilm Zero as I am sure they are not removing IPv4 and IPv6 that might cause a few issues with customers trying to connect to the interwebs

John

MrTomato

141 posts

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#2015623 14-May-2018 11:15

This is a real shame.

It's been a while since I looked at different ISPs' offerings because I was happy with BigPipe. What's the consensus at the moment as to other quality ISPs that support IPv6 and static IPv4?

michaelmurfy

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#2015628 14-May-2018 11:22

MrTomato: It's been a while since I looked at different ISPs' offerings because I was happy with BigPipe. What's the consensus at the moment as to other quality ISPs that support IPv6 and static IPv4?

2degrees or Voyager (if you ask them nicely). I personally left BigPipe a few months ago now to go with 2degrees. Not saying change, but if IPv6 is important to you then you have no real choice.

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