My upstream ISP does not support IPv6

Fri Feb 4 15:05:34 UTC 2011

We have been working diligently for more than 6 months to try and get a 
/56 routed to one of our offices in metro Atlanta.  The carrier in 
question is a Tier 1 as well as being one of the old telecom names.  I 
have the entire chain of emails documenting the carrier's struggles with 
internal process and technical issues.  We are currently waiting for a 
new edge router to be ready to transfer our existing circuits to.  Not 
that it matters but we were also told that we would be moved from a 
Cisco to a Juniper.  Once I realized how much of a struggle that was 
turning into I contacted some of our other providers (a mix of Tier 1 & 
2 ISPs and collocation providers) as of this moment none of them (though 
some seem close) are actually prepared to deliver IPv6 connectivity 
where we need it despite some of them already touting preparedness.

What I think is worth remembering is that there are a _lot_ of moving 
parts to get right to actually route an IPv6 block down a connection.  
Some of those parts are technical like making sure an edge router that 
may have been in place for years can handle IPv6 traffic _and_ that 
addition won't cause a CPU or other issue on the specific platform 
you're looking at.  Some of the others are simply business process 
pieces like making sure contracts, internal and external documentation, 
and work flow that need to be updated.

TLDR version, marketing often fails to reflect reality :)

On 2/3/2011 10:04 PM, Franck Martin wrote:
> The biggest complaint that I hear from ISPs, is that their upstream ISP does not support IPv6 or will not provide them with a native IPv6 circuit.
>
> Is that bull?
>
> I thought the whole backbone is IPv6 now, and it is only the residential ISPs that are still figuring it out because CPE are still not there yet.
>
> Where can I get more information? Any list of peering ISPs that have IPv6 as part of their products?
>
> It seems to me the typical answer sales people say when asked about IPv6: "Gosh, this is the first time I'm asked this one".
>

-- 
Scott Helms
Vice President of Technology
ISP Alliance, Inc. DBA ZCorum
(678) 507-5000
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http://twitter.com/kscotthelms
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