What works, and what doesn't work, with IPv6

As you may know, a lot of SOHO/consumer network gear doesn't support IPv6 yet. At the same time, some vendors claims that their Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) works with IPv6, but it's compatibility is, shall we say, a little questionable. Now, the RIPE Network Coordination Centre, the technical arm of RIPE, the Internet's Regional Internet Registry (RIR) for Europe, is conducting a global survey to see what's what with the devices people are using today and IPv6 compatibility.

They've done this survey before--IPv6 CPE Survey - Updated (January 2011)--but they'd like to make it more complete and useful.

Specifically, RIPE say that "we would like to receive more feedback on the IPv6 capabilities of currently available CPE. This will make the evaluations of the CPEs and the information we publish in the IPv6 CPE matrix more useful."

The new RIPE IPv6 survey, which RIPE describes as a "proper" will provide them "with some more statistical background on the techniques which are supported and more importantly we hope this will also provide some insight which [equipment] are the most used.

You don't have to be a Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) to take this survey. They've "tried to make it not too technical or require information that can only be retrieved from the service provider side of the connection. A knowledgeable end user should be able to complete the survey. That way we are hoping to extend the target audience and the number of replies."

I've taken it, and while it certainly helps if you know your way around networking, I think anyone who manages even a home network shouldn't have much trouble with it. The survey focuses on 3 basic questions: What does the system claim to be capable of? Which of these options are you using at the moment? How good or easy to use are those features? That's it.

RIPE does ask that "If you are running lab tests with different protocols, we kindly ask you to fill in the survey multiple times. This allows us to tie the user experience to the feature set that is in use."

The plan is they'll update the survey's results over time and update the survey to improve it as time goes on. RIPE also asks that if you change your network equipment--with say a new router firmware update--that you retake the survey.

If you're interested in IPv6 and you're already fiddling with it, I highly recommend you take this survey and keep an eye on the results. I will be.

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