Here's a list of devices that support IPv6, ways you can check, and the different types of IPv6 support vendors are touting.
We test a lot of networking devices, and quite a number of them still lack IPv6 support. Networking vendors, one would assume, would be the first to incorporate IPv6 compatibility into their products, and indeed, there are vendors in the networking space who are taking a proactive approach to IPv6. They have products on the market that either support IPv6 entirely or at least allow IPv6 traffic to pass into the network.
Why should you care? Most home users will have few issues with connecting to IPv6-enabled sites and content on the Internet. Traffic routing is largely handled by our ISPs; the entities most responsible for getting us connected to destination websites.
Additionally, most of us are using home devices with operating systems that have long supported IPv6 including Windows, Mac OS, and just about all of the major Linux distros.
Apple iOS 4 does support IPv6 although support is largely dual-stack; that is IPv4 is still required for IPv6 support. Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich has support for IPv6 but how extensive that support is could depend on the specific device on which the OS is installed. With mobile devices, you want to definitely check with the manufacturer to be sure.
IPv4 is predicted to run in tandem with IPv6 for several years. So even if a client device does not explicitly have support for IPv6, if your ISP and your networking devices, such as a router, support the IPv6 protocol, those client devices should have no problem accessing the Internet.
Home or small business users with more advanced needs such as hosting their own websites, or small business networks that need to control traffic with firewall rules and content filtering, will definitely want to know about the IPv6 capabilities of their devices or in any devices they may want to purchase in the future.
IPv6 Passthrough Versus Native Support
IPv6 is incorporated into networking devices in one of two ways. There's full, native IPv6 support and there's a feature called IPv6 passthrough.
More vendors are offering IPv6 passthrough, especially with consumer devices, as opposed to full IPv6 support. With IPv6 passthrough, IPv6 traffic is allowed by default into your network and passed to connected clients. Simply put, it's a bridging mode to connect devices. There's no actual IPv6 protocol built into the device.
The benefit of IPv6 passthrough is that it will allow your network clients to access websites that are IPv4 and IPv6 enabled. Routers and networking devices that only support IPv6 passthrough could conceivably have issues connecting to IPv6-only sites, but according to Leon Rishniw, senior vice president of engineering at Cloudmark, the likelihood of encountering Internet content that would only be viewable via IPv6 is unlikely. Cloudmark's DesktopOne spam service has full support for IPv6. Although the focus here is on hardware, small business owners dependent on cloud services, would be wise to check with those service providers about their IPv6 strategy.
One of the disadvantages of IPv6 passthrough is that you have little control over IPv6 traffic. That means you can't create content filtering or access rules to manage IPv6 traffic. Also, if you host your own website, for example, having a router with VPN passthrough alone does not ensure that IPv6-enabled external clients can access your content.
Keep in mind that because you have more control over your network with fully supported IPv6 devices deployed, you can tighten security with more than just IPv6 passthrough. There are some security implications with devices simply allowing IPv6 traffic to flow pretty unregulated throughout your network. Passthrough is more for convenience than security and management.
For full IPv6 capability for firewalls, as well as security and hosting purposes, networking devices - especially Wi-Fi routers with native IPv6 - are more desirous. These routers will allow for greater management over inbound and outbound IPv6 traffic.
Some vendors are providing firmware upgrades for older networking products that should at least provide IPv6 passthrough. For those users who want more control over the security and access on their networks, or who host their own sites and services; to truly future-proof those networks, their best investment is in devices that have full IPv6 support.
However, not all devices for consumers and smaller businesses have the same level of—if any— IPv6 support. Click through to the next page for a list of some top-rated networking devices we've tested that support IPv6 natively or have IPv6 passthrough capability:
Continue Reading: Top-Rated IPv6 Networking Devices>
