Re: [gentoo-user] To all IPv6-slackers among the Gentoo community

[Mick]

On Tuesday, 26 November 2019 15:16:24 GMT Dale wrote:
> Adam Carter wrote:
> > On Tue, Nov 26, 2019 at 1:53 AM Ralph Seichter <abbot@×××××××××××.net
> >
> > <mailto:abbot@×××××××××××.net>> wrote:
> >     https://www.ripe.net/ripe/mail/archives/ripe-list/2019-November/001712
> >     .html
> >
> >     This does not come as a surprise, of course, but I consider it a good
> >     point in time to pause and ask oneself what each individual can do to
> >     move further towards IPv6. The end is neigh(ish).
> >
> > Turning on ipv6 has been on my agenda for a while, but I will need to
> > setup a firewall. Currently i have a single ipv4 NAT box with some
> > port forwards. However, when i enable v6, all my internal hosts become
> > directly routable from the Internet via the /56 my ISP assigns me.
>
> I have a question about this.  I've read about this for ages and sort of
> get the idea, running out of numbers basically.  There's two questions
> that I can't answer tho.  I have a old Linksys router, the old blue
> thing that is so common.  Would I have to buy a new router?

Yes.  You will need a router which has an IPv6 network stack on it, besides 
the legacy IPv4 network stack, to be able to route IPv6 addresses directly 
from your LAN.

Depending on how useful your ISP is, they may offer IPv6 tunneling over IPv4.  
You connect to their gateway/proxy over IPv4 as you do now with your existing 
router, but route through the IPv4 tunnel your IPv6 connections.  Their 
gateway will act as an endpoint for your IPv4 tunnel and forward your IPv6 
packets to the IPv6 interwebs.  It is likely they will only do this after they 
have a good sniff at them, but in this age of universal surveillance such an 
activity won't be something surprising.


> I also have
> a older DSL modem, it's a old Westell black box.  Would this require a
> newer modem as well?

If this is an ADSL modem only (i.e. no PPP negotiation or NAT'ing - a.k.a. 
'Fully Bridged Mode') then it is using ATM encapsulation.  IPv4 or IPv6 
packets from your LAN will be encapsulated into ATM frames by your modem and 
sent to the telephone exchange over copper wires.  There is no need to change 
your modem in this case.

However, if your modem is operating in a 'Half-Bridged mode' then it is 
essentially performing IP masquerading plus ATM encapsulation.  In this case 
it is routing ethernet - it will have to be able to manage IPv6 packets.  An 
old (legacy) router will only have IPv4 stack and the previous comments apply.  
You could always set the modem in fully bridged mode, after you connect to its 
management interface, and thereafter use your router to perform PPP 
authentication with your ISP.  In fully bridged mode you won't need to change 
your modem.


> I'm thinking those boxes would have to have
> software at least that would support the newer addresses but nothing
> I've read really answers those questions.  I don't know if they even
> update software on those old things.
>
> Thoughts??
>
> Dale
>
> :-)  :-)

You need to google for alternative linux based firmware/software for your 
router and modem make and model.  However, if these are really old devices, 
then their chipsets and RAM may not be adequate to allow them to run dual 
network stacks without grinding to a halt.  If the OEMs never provided IPv6 
capability, for these devices it could well be the case the hardware is not 
capable of carrying the processing load.  
-- 
Regards,

Mick