Re: Where to buy Internet IP addresses

[Jack Bates <jbates () brightok net>]

Charles () thewybles com wrote:
> Anyone care to field my question? 
I think many of your questions have been answered in past threads this 
month a couple of times.

>  how do existing providers hand out space? 
> I know that Hurricane electric (via its tunnel service) hands out a /64 by default and a /48 is a click away. 

First, I hate to compare HE's tunnel service to anything other than a 
tunnel service. Second, I don't think I've seen any last mile providers 
offering IPv6 without a tunnel setup of some type. The primary reasons 
being, there are service issues with deployed IPv6 and the CPE market is 
limited. Business class services hand out IPv6 like anything else. 
Here's your circuit, here's your static/BGP setup, do you need use to 
assign you some or did you bring your own?

> How do other providers handle it? I'm in the us and only have native v4 connectivity :(

Tunneling is probably your only option for v6. Some small/medium 
providers have v6 deployed at the edge, but I suspect it's a limited 
deployment due to the QOS issues and lack of CPE support issues. 
Deploying to the mass residential market it doesn't make much sense 
right now.

> Do the various traditional last mile providers (sprint/Verizon/att/patch etc ) offer it for t1 and better? If they do then what do they hand out by default, what's available, at what price point and what's the upgrade path? Is it one click like he? 

Sprint I believe will give you tunnel service if you're a transit 
customer, and I'll keep my personal viewpoint on their IPv6 connectivity 
to myself. I believe Verizon business offers it, but I think they 
specialize in colo??? NTT and Global Crossing offer dual stack and are 
the only NSPs I know to do so (If HE qualifies, forgive me, as I don't 
know their network topology, but I do believe they offer dual stack in 
their POPs as well). So if you can get a circuit to any of those, you 
could probably get native v6 on that circuit.

> No provider I have talked to offers it for residential connectivity in the united states. 

I do, but I'm not in your area, and I only offer it on a customer 
requested basis and with a billion and one disclaimers. After all, 
there's a lot missing on the home network side of things.

> What does free.fr do? 

Provides services to France? Just guessing.

> If there is this level of confusion and disagreement around addressing schemes then will it ever be offered to residences over traditional last mile loops? 

It will be offered, and it will probably be bumpy. If the IETF doesn't 
narrow down and standardize some home network protocols to make home 
networking as plug and play as the current NAT double/triple NAT layouts 
that currently exist, then customers will be restricted on what they can 
use. Providers will deploy as they can or as they have to, but there 
will be restrictions to keep support costs down.

Some of the addressing scheme arguments have valid issues, while others 
are a matter of local preference. The preference arguments can be safely 
ignored, as even in IPv4 world there are a variety of layouts. Some 
ISP's only allow a single IPv4 address, while others allow multiple. 
Some require PPP sessions, while others do not. Some require mandated 
equipment do MAC locking, etc. These types of preferences and 
differences between ISPs will not change with IPv6. The CPEs will have 
to cope.

Example, an ISP may require DHCPv6 IA_TA addressing to CPE's with 
DHCPv6-PD. Another may require auto-config with DHCPv6-PD. Some will 
still use PPP while others will not. I'm sure there will be at least one 
ISP that won't support DHCPv6-PD at all.


Jack