this post was submitted on 08 Jun 2024
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It's amazing how many internet providers still won't enable IPv6, even though it is hugely beneficial to their own networks (more efficient routing = less router overhead = more bandwidth and less power usage = SAVE MONEY).
IPv6 was pernanently turned on for the Internet in 2011. That's THIRTEEN YEARS AGO.
All consumer and enterprise equipment made in the last 10+ years natively support IPv6. There is no excuse anymore. You can enable dual stack and setup / get your v6 block and go for it. The v6 routing tables are much simpler than the v4 routing tables, as it only has to point to the prefix network for any address, and prefixes are handed out so the ISP gets a contigious prefix block. The routers sort the rest out.
IPv6 has the 2000::/3 range for internet traffic. That's 2^125 ip addresses possible. We're not running out of those even if we have an internet on every planet in the solar system.
IPv6 Prefix Delegation works like DHCP but for IPv6. It's not indecipherable magic runes.
Router asks for a v6 range -> ISP router gives the range -> Router then either further subdivides into subnets, or uses DHCPv6 to give out v6 addresses. Simple.
But of course, nobody wants to do it the simple way... AT&T and your strange subnetting spec-breaking routers.
Odd that Comcast/Xfinity, the company that somehow manages to have even worse service than AT&T, implements IPv6 near perfectly. They give prefixes when your router asks. Their own gateways give prefixes to routers behind when requested. It works. If the arguably worst internet company can deploy IPv6 this well, any company can.
In addition, every device also has its own link-local ipv6 (fe80::/16) that is not routed, but can be called directly and it normally doesn't change, as it is based partly on the network card's MAC address. Need to connect your printer by ip address? Use the link local v6 and stop having to play the DHCP or static IP charade.
I've seen a few isps here in the UK doing some weird pointless stuff with ipv6. Like dynamic prefixes. Why? What's the point?
But you can get good ones. I've had the same /48 prefix for 10 years now.
I am 50/50 between incompetence. Or so they can keep on charging extra for a static ip.
I'm fairly sure it must take extra work to make dynamic prefixes. I've heard some weird justifications about localised routing. But modern ISPs generally don't work that way at all. For example, my ISP has endpoints in multiple cities, and can fail over to another city if need be. All my static IPv4 and IPv6 instantly move with me in that event.
Yes it does take extra work. Problem is often that that work was done in the past when isp implemented their ipv4 metodology. And instead of using the ipv6 rollout as a chance to improve their design and operations. They just add ipv6 into their ipv4 design and methodology. They encumber their ipv6 rollout with their decades of technical debt and cruft they have normalized in their ipv4 world. And it will makes things harder for themselfs when trying to turn off ipv4 in the core.
Oh my God disgusting. My ISP uses dynamic prefixes also, which reflects a lack of understanding of the most basic IPv6 fundamentals.
I get a free /64 and /48 directly from Hurricane Electric using their TunnelBroker and use PFSense to deploy that v6 locally on my LAN. Everything in the house has a v6 and is protected by the necessary firewalling too.