The past few decades have opened the way for many impressive telecommunication inventions. One of these inventions is Wi-Fi, and we all love to use this amazing product in our homes.
Wi-Fi is crucial for streaming movies and making video calls, but how should you set it up? Most people don’t pay much attention to their Wi-Fi router settings.
This negligence might cause issues with the connectivity. You need to understand everything about your router to use it correctly. Let’s get into the details and see what IPv6 is all about;
Should I Enable IPv6 On My Router?
Yes, it would be best to leave your IPv6 on since it might cause major issues with your networks. Some devices might not work without IPv6.
Therefore, it’s necessary to leave IPv4 and IPv6 on so all devices are compatible. This setting is especially important for Windows users since some components won’t work without IPv6.
Understanding IPv6 And IPv4
The IP is the main set of guidelines that manage how devices across networks exchange data. IP does two jobs; the 1st is addressing hosts.
Imagine if everyone created their way of sending packages, and each is different from the other. This idea might work, but it will create a lot of overhead which will cause inefficiency.
The Internet Protocol will determine the data packet format and how the data payload stays in the packet to increase efficiency.
The 2nd is choosing the best transmission path in a network, and this is what happens in routers. This job requires IP to know and use the most efficient routes to get you the data you need from the internet.
IPv4 was the first working version of the Internet Protocol. It became a pillar of the internet as we know it, but it has received only minor updates since its launch in the 70s.
There is a massive difference between what we have now and what was present in the 70s.
This change means that IPv4 has some limitations, so scientists came up with IPv6 to deal with these limitations.
The first issue is that IPv4 has only 4 billion unique device addresses. 4 billion isn’t enough for every device to have an IP address, so data delivery has a problem.
IPv4 forced manufacturers to reuse IP addresses from older devices since there were a limited number of potential addresses.
IPv6 has a 128-Bit address which allows for about 340 trillion addresses. These are enough for all devices on earth to have a unique address.
Another way IPv4 users alleviated the need for more addresses is through Network Address Translation. A good example of this is apartment numbers, two separate buildings with the same apartment number but different building numbers.
This system means two computers could have the same IP addresses, but their data would not get mixed up since they were on separate networks.
All the private IPs are behind the public IPs from which the traffic originates. Therefore, the IP is unique to a device in any network.
You can keep using this system with IPv6 if you want to. It would have some benefits in control and convenience, for instance, if you were to switch IPs. The main issue with this system is its security which is a mix of good and bad.
It messes with IP security features like IPsec, which can be risky. On top of that, NAT increases performance overhead and makes peer-to-peer connections more complex.
This complexity affects data movement and device communication, making the system inefficient.
IPv6 allows each device to address every other device in the network. This feature directly improves performance.
On top of this, it allows devices to auto-configure rather than relying on DHCP to get an address. This feature makes everything faster.
The reduced complexity and increased speed make IPv6 a better choice for most people. Most devices use it by default.
It would be best to leave it on in your router unless you have an older device that only works with IPv4.
Advantages Of IPv6
Many people don’t like IPv6, mostly because they are afraid of the change from IPv4, and they have some concerns about it.
This debate means that we need to see some advantages you get from IPv6. Maybe they will be enough to change some people’s minds.
1. Larger address space
This feature scares some people from IPv6. A scarier fact is that manufacturers have used all IPv4 addresses.
Without IPv6, they would need to reuse addresses which might get complicated and cause confusion.
Even if we can avoid this and retain IPv4’s limited addresses, many online devices will increase.
Soon we will not have enough addresses for devices. The trillions of addresses we get from IPv6 will solve this problem.
- Simpler header. This part is a big advantage for IPv6 since it allows for more efficient data transmission between devices in a network.
The more efficient the network, the faster the data can flow. Therefore you can attain higher upload and download speeds.
Simpler headers allow the network to route data packets more efficiently since the movement is smoother.
This efficiency means your hardware does less processing. This difference will make your system more efficient in the long run and get better results.
2. Security
IPv6 allows peer-to-peer connections between devices on the internet. This link makes communication faster, but most people worry about compromising security. This connection, along with the higher number of devices, could mean increased risks.
IPv6 is safer than IPv4. It has inbuilt protocols to help boost the security of all the data it moves.
IPsec is a security protocol within IPv6. It is compulsory since it is vital in preventing cyber-attacks in IPv6 systems.
3. Quality of Services support
This feature helps the network configure and prioritize the data transmitting to give you the best services. The internet has a lot of data, and they need different bandwidths for proper transmission.
IPv6 manages technical issues, which are important in managing the bandwidth for most applications, videos, and voices.
An IPv6 router can allocate adequate bandwidth for each data packet using QoS. This will depend on what is available to ensure smooth operations.
4. Autoconfiguration
IPv6 allows devices within a network to communicate directly with each other and configure the data in the best state.
This feature ensures that one device works well with several devices without messing with the network.
This adaptability makes the network faster, more stable, and it will be much cheaper for the users.
It also limits the ISP’s control over data flow. Most ISPs were unwilling to accept the technology in its early years.
5. NAT barrier elimination
NAT has its benefits, but one problem it brought up with sharing IP addresses was homeless internet users. This is a term for users that don’t have their IP addresses.
This means they can use the internet, but the internet can’t access them directly. It also has to break the end-to-end connection to reach them.
Tampering with this connection weakens security and authentication. It would be hard to operate servers with NAT, but IPv6 is direct.
Disadvantages Of IPv6
IPv6 has a lot of positives to offer, but it has had some substantial backlash over the years. This opposition means there are things about it you might not like. Let us take a closer look and see some issues that come with IPv6;
- The world is slow in adopting it. Switching your systems to IPv6 might be horrible since most people depend on IPv4. Accounting for the compatibility problems, you will lose all users with IPv4 devices.
- It needs a lot of transition time. If you have a device that uses IPv6, you can use it in an IPv4 network, working just fine. The issue is that most people have IPv4 devices, and you can’t use them with IPv6 networks.
If you transition, you have to upgrade your hardware to IPv6, which can be expensive for large companies. It will also take time to transition and change all the devices, costing you a lot of money.
- Compatibility issues. IPv6 and IPv4 devices can’t communicate directly with each other. You will have serious compatibility issues. These issues mean that you have to overhaul all the devices in your network for it to work.
Conclusion
IPv6 is coming up rather fast, and most new devices support it, so if you have a router, it is best to leave the setting on. This setting is crucial for Windows users since some components won’t work on an IPv4 network. They might cause a system shutdown and data loss.
IPv6 is an amazing idea, and it offers potential solutions to most networking problems. It, however, has some issues of its own. One of the biggest concerns is the security threat since it offers direct communication between devices. It has protocols to prevent any damage.
