Assigning IPv6 /48's to CPE's?

michael.dillon at bt.com michael.dillon at bt.com
Mon Jan 7 22:05:12 UTC 2008


> Asking for practical advice on choosing /48 vs. /56 on a 
> residential broadband CPE is largely unanswerable.
> Because I don't know of any residential broadband CPEs that 
> support IPv6.

If you go to
http://www.getipv6.info/index.php/IPv6_Presentations_and_Documents
there is at least one presentation from Comcast, a residential
broadband provider who explained that they simply cannot continue
in business without IPv6. They started IPv6 deployment planning
in 2005. If you don't know of CPE that supports IPv6, maybe you
should ask a broadband ISP that is serious about surviving in business
past the crunch of 2010.

> I want to be wrong about that. Seriously. Send me a link to 
> one. I want to be wrong. (And by residential, I mean a 
> CPE/router/firewall that costs less than $150US.)

http://wiki.openwrt.org/IPv6_howto
Clearly, this CPE is based on Linux which has had full IPv6 support
for many years, including things like firewalling, transition mechanisms
like 6to4, DNS and so on. Given the realities of today's low-end network
device manufacturing (centered in China where IPv6 is already being
deployed, and based on standard hardware designs that are differentiated
by software, plastic case design, and packaging) it should take about
two months from time of order for mass quantities of CPE devices to 
appear on the market. The software is already done, the standard
hardware
designs are fully capable of IPv6. All they are waiting for is customers
like Linksys to place an order.

> IMO, the only answers so far:
>   businesses get /48
>   dialup gets /64

Wrong!
The answer so far is that EVERYBODY gets a /48, but if you think that
there is a risk that you won't be able to get additional /32s when you
outgrow your first allocation, then give a /56 to RESIDENTIAL SITES. 
This is not the same as dialup, i.e. residential sites could be
connected
with DSL, T1s, wireless, or whatever. In fact, if a business is
connected 
via dialup, you should give them a /48, because businesses have a habit
of
continuous growth, unlike residences which tend to top out at 5 or 6
residents.

--Michael Dillon



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