IPv6

[johnwhelan]

It seems a little odd to raise it but we use IP in Trainz quite a bit, CMP, the DLS, skype the forums etc.

What do we need to know about it?

It appears Asia and China are have run out of IPv4 addresses and so are moving more rapidly to IPv6. I'm under the impression that most organisations are firewalled and use just one IPv4 address externally the firewall sorts out the rest, the internal IPv4 address from the DHCP servers.

There appear to be ways that someone with an IPv4 configuration can reach an IPv6 web site. http://ipv6test.google.com/ but that is dependent on their ISP as far as I can gather and then we get into Win 7 supports IPv6 but for XP you need to install something from Microsoft. Apparently Nexus 7s and similar devices are quite happy with IPv6.

There seems to be some confusion about home routers and how or even if they work with IPv6 especially with a particular ISP and little standardisation on the terms used.

http://test-ipv6.com/

So can two skype users one on IPv4 and the other on IPV6 talk to each other?

Can the DLS be reached on IPv6?

Can downloads be done using IPv6?

Can the forums be reached on IPv6?

Can CMP use IPv6, or does it even care?

Thoughts?

Thanks John

 

[clam1952]

That it isn't being adopted by ISP's anytime soon and from this link, well, draw your own conclusions http://cr.yp.to/djbdns/ipv6mess.html

Test to see if your PC and ISP supports ipv6 here http://test-ipv6.com/

 

[shaneturner12]

I've just done some testing, and N3V's main site, the forums, as well as the DLS do not appear to support IPV6.

Shane

 

[johnwhelan]

Well strangely enough my ISP does support it, I'm running Win 7 so yes that supports it and I had the test-ipv6.com link in the original post.

Cheerio John

 

[clam1952]

Well strangely enough my ISP does support it, I'm running Win 7 so yes that supports it and I had the test-ipv6.com link in the original post.

Cheerio John

Oops! never noticed the link, my ISP doesn't support ipv6 in fact most UK Isp's as far as I can tell don't.

 

[johnwhelan]

I'm now running both IPv4 and IPv6. It appears at the moment you need both from your ISP, IPv6 users cannot talk to IPv4 sites but there are some kludges that allow IPv4 users to talk to IPv6 sites.

So according to Shane it sounds like N3V is currently unreachable from IPv6 only users which doesn't make a lot of commercial sense to me unless they are happy to just reach UK users. For the UK existing ISPs probably have enough IPv4 addresses and can hide their users from the problems unless of course they want to Skype or peer to peer to someone who only has an IPv6 address.

Cheerio John

 

[shaneturner12]

That's based on the information I'm getting, although I do not know if the ISP I'm using supports IPV6 or not.

Meanwhile, my tutorial site supports both IPV4 and IPV6, so that can be used to test if needed using ping trainz.shaneturner.co.uk -6 from an elevated command prompt in Windows Vista or 7 (Windows XP may not support the -6 switch)

Shane

EDIT: Just checked - looks like my Internet Service Provider does not currently support IPV6.

 

[johnwhelan]

That's based on the information I'm getting, although I do not know if the ISP I'm using supports IPV6 or not.

Meanwhile, my tutorial site supports both IPV4 and IPV6, so that can be used to test if needed using ping trainz.shaneturner.co.uk -6 from an elevated command prompt in Windows Vista or 7 (Windows XP may not support the -6 switch)

Shane

EDIT: Just checked - looks like my Internet Service Provider does not currently support IPV6.

You can always move to Canada, Teksavvy certainly does.

Cheerio John

 

[clam1952]

According to this N3V doesn't need to worry about it just yet, I'm certainly not bothered. http://www.ipv6now.com.au/primers/IPv6Myths.php

[h=3]Myth: IPv6 will replace IPv4[/h] This may be true in the longer term - decades or more - but is certainly not true in the foreseeable future.

There is simply too much IPv4 infrastructure, with too much money and know-how invested in it, and with too many nooks, crannies and edge cases for IPv6 to simply replace IPv4. Natural (and appropriate!) caution will see IPv6 implemented alongside IPv4, with IPv6 taking over more and more of the network. While IPv4 and IPv6 cannot communicate directly, there are very good solutions for communicating from IPv6 to legacy IPv4 networks.

This is a very important point - an organisation wishing to take advantage of IPv6 does not need to discard its IPv4 infrastructure.

 

[johnwhelan]

The major problem areas are China, Japan, Korea, India and mobile networks. N3V are moving into things like Android devices which work much better with IPv6. Do you want to sell to China, Japan, Korea, and India? Well their average income isn't that wonderful, but it is improving all the time and we are starting to see interest in Trainz certainly coming from China.

With IPv4 and NAT (Network Address Translators) its sort of possible but adds cost.

If you use Internet banking IPSec adds an awful lot of security, you both know who is actually there and if you're selling on line then the more reassurance you can give your customers you're legitimate the better.

Peer to Peer runs better over IPv6 than IPv4 with multiple NAT translators, I have an idea that Tainz multiplayer is peer to peer?

I think at the end of the day its a business decision for N3V to implement IPv6 does it think it will sell in Asia, have more customers in China? Sell more on mobiles, are customers mothered about security when they make purchases on line. Mobile phone e-commerce is substantially more secure on IPv6.

A bit more information is here: www.ipv6.com

Cheerio John