LCA: IP address exhaustion and the end of the open net [LWN.net]

LCA: IP address exhaustion and the end of the open net

Posted Jan 26, 2011 18:53 UTC (Wed) by lutchann (subscriber, #8872)
In reply to: LCA: IP address exhaustion and the end of the open net by jem
Parent article: LCA: IP address exhaustion and the end of the open net

Really? You think provisioning residential customers with IPv6 only would be a seamless experience today?

Okay, here's an experiment to try. Grab my NAT64 daemon and install it on your edge router. It should take you about 15 minutes. Then disable IPv4 on your LAN and see what still works. Go ahead, I'll wait.

For the rest of you, here is a small list of the things that will NOT work out-of-the-box on an IPv6-only network:

Any version of Windows earlier than Vista
Any WiFi-capable cell phone (Android, iOS, etc, can use IPv6 over WiFi ONLY if IPv4 is available as well)
All game consoles
Virtually all PC and Mac games
Networked printers and scanners
Most VoIP phones
Your TV, receiver, or any other A/V equipment with an Ethernet jack
Etc...

It's possible to run IPv6-only to the edge today, but only if the CPE has a transition function like DS-Lite, 4rd or NAT46 to support legacy IPv4-only devices and software. Unfortunately, no existing home routers support these transition mechanisms, and it would take years for them to become commonplace at the rate most home users refresh their infrastructure.

It's looking increasingly likely that CGN will be the future for most residential customers, with only the lucky ones getting IPv6.

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