Be has for a few years had a network that has served gamers and downloaders very well, but no network lasts forever, and from looking at user comments on our forums the news that network expansion is to take place in 2012 will be welcome news for users.
Rather than simply upgrading the existing network, a new network is to be created, with faster broadband services in mind, additionally it will provide a chance to create a network ready for the transition to IPv6. As the BE blog highlights, these changes relate to the core network that BE owns, rather than the links that are rented from BT.
The six or seven months work that will start in early 2012, will result in changes on a per exchange basis and users with a dynamic IP service should see little changes. Those with static IP addresses will need to plan for the switchover, due to the new network handling static IP addressing differently, and using different block ranges. There will be a window of time (30 days) when the old allocation and new IP allocation work, thus giving people time to reconfigure hardware and software. Customers on products sold via the BE Wholesale network are unaffected by the IP changes. There will also be firmware upgrades to BE supported hardware, and people with their own modems may need to reconfigure them, all BE members should get an email over the coming months covering what needs to be done.
staff member)
8 months ago
Too late?
People are already migrating, things like this should be done well in advance not when it starts to creak and groan.