TID: FMail-W32 2.1.3.7-B20170919   
   TZUTC: 0100   
   CHRS: CP850 2   
   MSGID: 2:280/5555 61d6ee57   
   As published in Fidonews...   
      
      
                   IPv6 in 2021   
                   By Michiel van der Vlist, 2:280/5555   
      
      
   Another year has passed. When we compare the statistics as published   
   by the end of 2020 with those of today, we see that IPv6 in Fidonet   
   has grown again. From 93 to 103 nodes.   
      
      
    110 -|   
        -|                                                              .   
    100 _|   
        _|                                                        .   
     90 _|   
        _|                                                  .   
     80 _|                                            .   
        _|   
     70 _|                                      .   
        _|   
     60 _|   
        _|                                .   
     50 _|   
        _|   
     40 _|                         .   
        _|   
     30 _|   
        _|                    .   
     20 _|   
        _|   
     10 _|              .   
        _|        .   
      0 _|__.____________________________________________________________   
            |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |   
         2012  2013  2014  2015  2016  2017  2018  2019  2020  2021  2022   
      
      
   2021 was the year that that we passed the 100 mark. In May Shelley   
   Petersen of 1:134/102 was listed as #100 in the list of Fidonet IPv6   
   nodes.   
      
   Shelley's system is listed with the INO4 flag. It can only accept   
   incoming calls via IPv6. It has this in common with the system of   
   Brandon Moore, also of net 134. Something else that is remarkable is   
   that these nodes have an IPv6 address in the same /64. They share   
   that same /64 also  with 1:134/100 1:134/101, 1:134/103, 1:134/301   
   and 1:134/302.   
      
   Frankly, I do not know what to think of that...   
      
   2021 was also the year that it was ten years ago that the first IPv6   
   connection in Fidonet was made. On 1 November 2011 Andre Grueneberg   
   of 2:2411/525 made an IPv6 binkp connection with Benny Pedersen of   
   2:230/0. It was Andre Gruenebrg that added the IPv6 code to binkd.   
      
   A trend we do not really see continue is the move towards native   
   IPv6. In 2021 34 of the 103 nodes used a tunnel. About 1/3. This   
   has been more or less constant over the past five years. In 2017   
   it was 22 out of 64. Over the years The ratio remains at about 2/3   
   native, 1/3 tunnel. This is not what I expected and goes against the   
   general trend on the InterNet that native IPv6 is slowly gaining   
   foot and replacing transition mechanisms such as tunnels. Maybe what   
   we are seeing is that the Fidonet Pioneer Spirit is still here and   
   that sysops do not want to wait for providers to support native IPv6   
   and take things in their own hands by setting up tunnels.   
      
   Now that tunnels have been mentioned: I also could not help noticing   
   that of these 34 tunnels, only one is not a he.net tunnel. Until   
   2017 there was SixXs as alternative free tunnel service, but the main   
   driving forces Jeroen Massar and Pim van Pelt got tired of it. And   
   now he.net is more or less the only game in town. I wonder how long   
   they will continue with this wonderful free service. If they stop it   
   will certainly have an impact on Fidonet.   
      
   The very fact that a third of the IPv6 sysops still uses a tunnel   
   shows that we still have a long way to go. I know of one sysop that   
   has native IPv6 from his provider but who uses a he.net tunnel because   
   that way he has a static IPv6 pefix, but that is the exception.   
   Normally when native IPv6 is available from the provider one does   
   not use tunnels any more. So there is still a substantial amount of   
   InterNet providers that do not offer native IPv6 to their customers.   
   As I write this, Delta Fiber, a relatively small company on a world   
   scale will start digging in my area. The planning is that I will have   
   FTTH third quarter 2022. The snag is that they do not offer native   
   IPv6. They say they will eventually, but they will not give a time   
   frame, so I do not know if/when I have functional FTTH if it will   
   offer me IPv6. Over ten years ago I told myself I would not buy new   
   network equipment that does not support IPv6. Now I have a problem.   
   There is no competition. It is Delta Fiber or no FTTH. If I go ahead   
   with them now, the installation is "free". If I want it later, there   
   is a EUR 650 installation fee. It makes sense, calling back the   
   digging crew is expensive. I want FTTH, but I also want a provider   
   that offers native IPv6. So I compromised. I took the cheapest   
   subscription for a year. It is cheaper than the EUR 650 installation   
   fee. If they still do not offer IPv6 at the end of the first year, I   
   say goodbye to them and stay with the cable company that has been   
   offering me native IPv6 for the last five years. Or... maybe I will   
   reconsider, go back to he.net, show my sage badge and ask for a   
   tunnel again. To be continued...   
      
   I noticed something else. For the purpose of keeping the weekly   
   published list of IPv6 nodes up to date, Kees van Eeten and I   
   actively hunt for new IPv6 nodes. Kees runs a script that hunts for   
   AAAA records in host names in the nodelist. Whenever he finds new   
   AAAA records, he informs me and I try to make an IPv6 connect. If   
   successful, I add the node to the list. If the IPv6 connect fails,   
   I try to make contact and help the sysop to make the system reachable   
   over IPv6. Sometimes this is successful, sometimes it is not.   
   Remarkable is that ever so often the sysop has no idea how the AAAA   
   record got to be there in the first place. Someting else I do not   
   know what to think of.   
      
   Other than that, 2021 was not all that eventful regarding IPv6. Not   
   for Fidonet en not for the Internet in general. We saw steady growth   
   but we can't say that IPv6 is the dominant protocol yet.   
      
   Can we get rid of ipv4 yet? Obviously not, certainly when Fidonet is   
   concerned. But I ran across an article from SIDN (Stichting Internet   
   Domeinnamen Nederland) (Dutch registry for Internet Domain Names   
   Netherlands).   
      
   https://tinyurl.com/3xe4dc5a   
      
   It is about an experiment where IPv4 is switched off completely.   
      
      
   In order not to have to tell the same story over and over again, I   
   sometimes refer people to Fidonews articles I wrote in the past.   
   Since there seems to be no easely available searcheable archive, I   
   made a list of these articles. I hope I did not miss any.   
      
   My previous Fidonews articles about IPv6:   
      
      
   FN 26:31 Jul 2009   FidoNet and IPv6   
   FN 28:04 Jan 2011   FidoNet and IPv4 depletion   
   FN 28:07 Feb 2011   Fido and IPv6 Day   
   FN 28:16 Apr 2011   APNIC runs out   
   FN 28:20 May 2011   The IPv6 echo   
   FN 28:31 Aug 2011   A SECOND LIFE FOR THE LINKSYS  Part 1   
   FN 28:32 Aug 2011   A SECOND LIFE FOR THE LINKSYS PArt 2   
   FN 28:45 Nov 2011   A "first"   
   FN 29:04 Jan 2012   World IPv6 Launch Day, 6 June 2012   
   FN 29:09 Feb 2012   A SECOND LIFE FOR THE LINKSYS Part 3   
   FN 29:38 Sep 2012   RIPE is out of IPv4 addresses.   
   FN 32:17 Apr 2015   IPv6 penetration in the nodelist   
   FN 32:26 Jun 2015   ARIN is out of IPv4 addresses.   
   FN 3:252 Dec 2015   IPv6 in Fidonet by the end of 2015   
   FN 33:02 Jan 2016   IPv6 in two thousand SIX teen   
   FN 33:06 Feb 2016   Another barrier broken.   
   FN 34:01 Jan 2017   IPv6 in 2016   
   FN 34:13 Mar 2017   SixXs Sunset 06-06-2017   
   FN 34:30 Jul 2017   TV without IPv6   
   FN 34:31 Jul 2017   DS-Lite emulation experiment v2.0   
   FN 34:37 Sep 2017   DS-Lite emulation experiment 2.0, the results   
   FN 34:33 Aug 2017   DS-Lite: a solution   
   FN 34:38 Sep 2017   DS-Lite Emulation experiment v2.1   
   FN 35:01 Jan 2018   IPv6 in 2017   
   FN 35:53 Dec 2018   IPv6 in 2018   
   FN 36:52 Dec 2019   IPv6 in 2019   
   FN 38:01 Jan 2021   IPv6 in 2020   
   FN 38:20 May 2021   100 IPv6 nodes   
   FN 39:01 Jan 2022   IPv6 in 2021   
      
      
   Happy IPv6 in 2022.   
   --- GoldED+/W32-MSVC 1.1.5-b20170303   
    * Origin: he.net certified sage (2:280/5555)   
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