V6 still not supported

Tim Howe tim.h at bendtel.com
Wed Mar 9 22:39:31 UTC 2022


On Wed, 9 Mar 2022 16:46:56 -0500
Josh Luthman <josh at imaginenetworksllc.com> wrote:

> ISP here.  Deploying gigabit FTTH.  No IPv6.
> 
> Customers have 0 complaints about IPv6.  0 Complaints since 2006.

Right.  And this view point (which I have /some/ sympathy for) is what
we're up against.  The average person doesn't know IPv6 is a thing, so
of course they aren't going to ask for it. But they don't know IPv4 is
a thing either, they just want to connect to the Internet.

	It seems to require an unusual, and difficult-to-justify, drive
to make IPv6 happen as part of a forward-looking strategy.

	ISPs don't deploy it because equipment vendors don't really
supply it (or barely).  Equipment vendors don't supply it because ISPs
don't ask for it (at least that's what my vendors tell me, and I don't
think they are lying).

	Our standard PON and Metro services are dual-stack by default -
commercial and residential.  Our supplied CPEs are dual stack by
default.  We offer IPv6 in a variety of configurations on every
connectivity product that will support it.

	However, I do not really blame those who don't, because in order
to get where we are I had to make it my personal mission in life to get
to a passive FTTP configuration that would work with functional parity
between v4 and v6...
	For over a year I had to test gear, which requires a lot of
time and effort and study and support and managerial latitude.  I had
to isolate bugs and spend the time reporting them, which often means
making a pain in the butt out of yourself and championing the issue
with the vendor (sometimes it means committing to buying things).  I
had to INSIST on support from vendors and refuse to buy things that
didn't work.  I had to buy new gear I would not have otherwise needed.
I also had to "fire" a couple of vendors and purge them from my
network; I even sent back an entire shipment of gear to a vendor due to
broken promises.

	Basically I had to be extremely unreasonable.  My position is
unique in that I was able to do these things and get away with it.  I
can't blame anyone for not going down that road.  I'm still waiting to
feel like it was worth it.

--TimH



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