IPv6 Trial Tests and Feedback

[#1]

I'm not sure there is an inconsistency. Both Bob and HarryB have said there is no timescale for ipv6 news. All Bob said further is that the changes to the underlying network will render this trial somewhat moot. I don't see that he's implying anything ipv6 related was going to happen soon, just that they wouldn't be able to use this trial (or it's results) on the new network.

[#2]

@krazeh
Perhaps it is just the "new" Plusnet where openness has vanished and things like a new network infrastructure is just rolled out without warning, that is making me more cynical and trying to read more into what little Plusnet staff say.
I'm still at a lose that somebody high up at Plusnet thought it was a good idea just to roll out the new network without warning. Would have made good press to announce this in advance even if only by a day or two of the first switches.
The company is becoming more secretive than GCHQ.

[#3]

any news about ipv6 yet ?

[#4]

any news about ipv6 yet ?

During the First World War they learnt to say "no news is good news". I'm not sure that with IPv6 that its quite the same.

Of course its up to PlusNet to choose their own roll out and messaging. Although owned by BT they have a degree of separation and it would be a smaller project which could happen quicker once started. We have no way of knowing what they don't tell us.

In the end ISPs are migrating to IPv6 to protect their future business. There is no guarantee that they will all survive. We can choose where and what to buy. PlusNet can't stop IPv6. Its out there.

[#5]

There's an interesting step in this graph:

http://6lab.cisco.com/stats/cible.php?country=GB&option=users

2.5% to 8.5% in 6 weeks. Has one of the providers just flipped the switch? Sky perhaps?

Akamai makes the UK figure a bit lower (5.9%)

[#6]

My personal connection in my house is Sky (Business connection is plusnet) and I can confirm my sky connection is ipv6 enabled.

Quite embarrassing that sky can get ipv6 to residential customers, and plusnet can't even offer it to business customers.

[#7]

Cool. Do Sky do static IPv6 addresses, or do you get a new one each time you reconnect? Do they give you a routable block, e.g. /56 ?

[#8]

I was at an IPv6 brief last year from Sky which stated that customers get a /56 prefix. It don't recall it being mentioned whether this was dynamic or not (like the Plusnet delegation is, annoyingly, at present).

Edit: It would appear that the prefix is indeed dynamic albeit somewhat 'sticky'.

[#9]

Given that Sky are one of the ISPs that won't allow a static IPv4 address* (at least on their residential products), I'd be really surprised if they allowed a static IPv6 assignment.

* for the usual reason that they can fleece businesses more cash for the same product as a business connection if the user wants a static IP

[#10]

To be fair: static IP of any sort is more expensive to provide at scale.

The same user may land on one of several BRASes: so either you have to build your network so that it can cope with a zillion flapping routes, or you tunnel the static IP customers to a separate BRAS farm. In the latter case each user's session is going through two BRASes so you have double the equipment cost.

If you give each BRAS a fixed pool then the customer gets whatever IP is available from whatever BRAS they connect to, and each BRAS just announces the aggregate route for its pool.

[#11]

Well clearly you know more about it than me, but some providers don't seem to have any problem. For example, the PlusNet package I was on before upgrading to FTTC didn't even allow a dynamic address !

[#12]

Plusnet already have an infrastructure for managing static IPv4 addresses. Surely it wouldn't be hard to adapt it for IPv6 subnets!

[#13]

Of course. It's all the same PPPoE/L2TP session, so if a Plusnet customer has a static IPv4 (as I do), then they could easily provide a static IPv6 block too.

But Plusnet don't offer IPv6. Sky do, but they don't offer static addresses (v4 or v6).

[#14]

just a quick one, IPv6 has been up for 12 days and just disconnected, on renewal it says it the IPv6 address is on valid for 86360 seconds (just less than 24 hours) anyone know why?

[#15]

That might just be the default lease time. When it expires, or rather prior to that point, your router will likely request a renewal to retain the same prefix (if still available).