Internet Protocol version 6

Why do I need IPv6?

You do need IPv6 but you won't see how it changes things - unless you don't use it! The reason that you need it is so that the Internet does not quickly fall apart because of a lack of IPv4 addresses, which are close to being exhausted. The blocks of new ones have run out and now people are trying to re-use them or share them in order to avoid fixing the problem for as long as possible, which creates new problems. These addresses are how computers and other devices like mobile phones find each other, which are translated into human-readable strings that we know as URLs. You could compare IP addresses to phone numbers and URLs to the words in a street address or the name of a house or business.

The New Internet

There are a number of technical problems associated with IPv4 that will be removed as well. Although you won't immediately see this, it will make devices more directly accessible and provide some additional security and other advances that software developers will use to make technology more efficient and more secure.

Not having IPv6 for your servers and web sites is essentially fiddling while Rome burns. Soon there will be no choice but to use IPv6 so that everybody can use the Internet. When this happens, the long-avoided transition will have to happen fast. Anyone still on IPv4 only will start to be unable to see large parts of the Internet. You ought to be prepared now, which is industry best practice. IPv6 addresses are so numerous that we should never run out of them.

What will we do about it?

We simply provide IPv6 with all our services already. We don't charge anything extra for this. We always use the best and most up-to-date technology and standards, which work well and fast. We just do it because everybody should, so we can keep the Internet working and growing. We won't wait until, one day soon, the Internet starts to get badly broken and people have to panic in order to get it sorted out. We won't be panicking and neither will our customers.

Further Information

Article: "BT runs trial of IPv6 addressing system"
Information by Andrews and Arnold Ltd