Forced separation
The compulsory disconnection is the separation of Internet access on the part of the Internet service provider (provider). It usually takes place when an existing connection is not used (no data traffic over a specified period of time) or at a specified time.
A forced separation can occur for several reasons. On the one hand, the provider only has a limited contingent of IP addresses and is therefore interested in ensuring that no addresses are wasted on unused connections.
If the provider wants to make the private operation of a server more difficult, this is done by assigning a new IP address to the connection when it is re-dialed after the forced disconnection. This means that the connection cannot always be reached under the same IP address, making it more difficult to operate your own server that can always be reached. Services such as dynamic DNS can assign at least a static name to the connection, but the problem of connections being lost and being temporarily unavailable remains.
Furthermore, the compulsory disconnection may be necessary for billing the Internet provider. If a tariff is billed according to the amount of data, many systems determine the amount of data traffic between the start of the connection and the end. Modern billing systems, on the other hand, do not require a forced separation to record the data traffic. In addition, volume-based tariffs are rarely found in the fixed network today.
It is not possible to prevent the forced disconnection, but routers and software solutions can automatically recognize the disconnection and dial in again immediately.
The reassignment of the IP address or the IP prefix (IPv4 as well as IPv6) offers private users limited privacy protection and - as long as there are no official investigations against them - also a certain anonymity. With IPv6 there are also the "Privacy Extensions" defined in RFC 4941 . All popular operating systems implement these extensions as standard.
(Depending on the technology used to the provider network, new address assignments can, however, also be made without forced separation, e.g. if DHCP or IPv6 RA / SLAAC is used.)
Situation in Germany
In Germany, almost all DSL providers in the SOHO area only use this measure for analog and ISDN connections . There the separation usually takes place every 24 hours. With modern data connections - also known as "All-IP connections" - many providers generally do without them, as this would also affect the connection's telephony services. Likewise, there is no compulsory disconnection for broadband connections via the TV cable network, as static IP addresses are usually assigned and a disconnection does not result in any benefit for the provider.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ DSL forced disconnection in the 1 & 1 help center. Retrieved November 18, 2015 .
- ↑ Dynamic IP addresses also with IPv6? ( Memento from February 8, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )
- ↑ What does it mean if there is a forced separation? Retrieved March 17, 2011 .
- ↑ Thomas Cloer: Telekom: No more daily forced disconnection with DSL. In: Teezeh.de. January 6, 2014, accessed May 10, 2019 .