Heading for last minute panic for IP addresses
19th May 2008 by David North
IPv4 has been around since 1981 and at the time who could have expected the online revolution that would follow? It’s been known for some time now that the range of unique internet addresses isn’t going to last forever. The number of people coming online is still growing and those that are already online are adding more and more Internet able devices. So the future is going to require a system with the capacity for many devices for every person.
The current estimate states that the IPv4 addresses will run out in 2011. That’s just 3 years from now. There is a possible intermediate step of using NAT - this effectively allows sub-networks running off a single IP address. However everyone agrees this is only a short term extension and in the long term IPv6 is the only solution.
IPv6 will effectively give enough addresses for billions of devices per person - they certainly aren’t taking any chances here (nanotechnology maybe might stretch this eventually but that’s a different post)! However with only 3 years to go there doesn’t seem to be the urgency to switch to 6 as maybe there should be.
Some ISPs do provide IPv6 but it seems that they aren’t pushing this as much as they could. The other issue is that at least for home routers IPv6 capabilities are in the minority - my favourite brand Netgear don’t seem to offer IPv6 support at all or at least I can find absolutely no mention on the website!
Some of the bigger players are trying to nudge along the others, for example Google has launched search for IPv6 - just a bit of a gimmick to raise the profile maybe but Google have a habit of making people notice.
My real concern is that the general underinvestment in networking in this country is going to lead to providers leaving the move to IPv6 as late as possible. The lack of affordable home kit is also a concern and I hope this isn’t a move by hardware companies to make a killing in the years to come when new purchases and upgrades alike will increase.
I don’t think IP addresses will actually run out but I do have a nasty feeling a last minute panic might ensue which is only going to cause problems for the man on the street. Just the person who won’t have a clue how to solve the issues. Cue ISP complaints to hit record numbers!
It’s quite possible for IPv4 and IPv6 to live happily alongside each other so ISPs should be making all new customers sign up for IPv6 now rather than upgrade later. This gradual transition should actually make things easier for the companies themselves as well.
IPv6 will never happen unless home users can connect to that network, so one of the first things to do is get some support for it from the home router manufacturers. Most commercial and edge routers already support IPv6, so once the end user can get it … it’ll be easy to switch over.
There’s no money to be made switching over (except for infrastructure providers) hence no incentive for companies to start hosting their web presence on IPv6.
-Everybody- can see them on IPv4, hardly anybody on IPv6. Beancounters don’t like that sort of scenario.
So yes, I agree with AndyB - get all the consumers on IPv6 and then incentive for business to switch over will (slowly) grow.
I agree: it’s all about the Benjamins. It’s sad but true, dollars win out over technology virtually all the time. I applaud Google’s effort in nudging the vast Internet masses in that direction.