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IPv6 for the Linksys WRT54G
AndersBrownworth writes "Earthlink Research and Development has released a firmware load for the Linksys WRT54G wireless access point that supports end-to-end IPv6. They suggest features such as extremely large address space, stateless autoconfiguration and low cost restoration of end-to-end addressability will revolutionize IP communications. It would be interesting if releases like this significantly boost the IPv6 take-up rate but as far as I know, Earthlink doesn't supply end-to-end IPv6 yet."
Is IPv6 a tool looking for a job to do?
It's not a chicken-and-egg thing, where everyone would do it if there were only the infrastructure, but there's no infrastructure because no one's doing it yet. At least, it doesn't seem that way to me.
IPv6 came about when the Internet exploded in the early 90's. Folks looked at the address space and said "Hey, we're running out of room!"
The solution in IPv6 was to use 128-bit addresses instead of 32-bit ones, and to design the next gen of protocols using the lessons learned from the previous one. TCP/IPv4 was designed in an era when security was not in as much focus as it is now.
It seems like about two minutes after IPv6 began to be developed, the world discovered NAT and firewalls. We'd always had routers with private networks, but NAT made it possible for mortals to set up. A whole company with thousands or millions of IP addresses can be hidden behind a very small set of IPv4 addresses.
That solution has worked so well that few feel the need to use IPv6.
I wonder what will happen to force the issue?
Raise your children as if you were teaching them to raise your grandchildren, because you are.