Place your questions here ----

[dewey]

Questions for the May 2010 topic - How the Internet Works - can be placed in this category.  I will answer the questions here.  If you click the NOTIFY button on the topic or on your question, you will get an email when something new is posted.

[BillB]

Sometimes my email is very slow leaving my Outbox. Sometimes it's instant. Usually it's one account that is slow and others go fine.

Why?

[BillB]

What is IPv6? Do I have it? Do I need it? How do I get it?

[dewey]

The current IP (Internet Protocol) system is officially known as IPv4.  It is a 32-bit address system that gives a numerical address to every device connected to the Internet.  IPv4 provides 4.3 billion (4.3×10^9) addresses - large chunks of which are reserved for special purposes and not available for actual Internet addressing.  It has been determined that the usable IPv4 address space will be depleted by 2012.

IPv6 is an extension to the IP that is 128-bit and will provide about 3.4×10^38 (340 trillion  trillion trillion) addresses.  Although the protocol has been proposed for over 10 years it is not widely implemented.  Although support but has been built into all major operating systems, hardware vendors, ISPs, have yet to begin upgrading.

Your computer's network card may not need upgrading, but smart devices such as cable/DSL modems, which have embedded software, will have to be replaced or upgraded.  Compatibility is mostly a software/firmware upgrade issue - can the software be upgraded, will the manufacturer upgrade legacy equipment, can the software ROM hold the extend address space of IPv6.  This is much like the driver availability issues we now face with Windows 7.  However, if you do not upgrade/update once IPv6 is implemented across the Internet, your device will no longer work.  Various proposals have been made to provide an interim IPv4/IPv6 Internet access transition.

If you plan to buy a new router or other smart networking device, make certain it is from a reliable vendor with a history of firmware upgrades.  Even better is to buy a device that is already IPv6 compatible.  I recently bought a Netgear RangeMax Wireless Router that supports IPv6 for about $100.00.