[AusNOG] IPv6 -"Nope, we're not at the edge" - Cisco...

[Bob Purdon]

>> Certainly the mainline Cisco products I've come across in recent years supported IPv6.
> See the title "not at the edge".

I suspect we have a differing definition of what constitutes a Cisco edge device.

For me, a Cisco SMB edge device is something like a 1700 or 1800 series (yeah, it's been that long since I've done much Cisco).

The Linksys products (and those derived from them) are what I consider residential devices.

> It's about that retail chain with 10 stores around the city, all on domestic DSL connections, with an eftpos terminal, a couple of phone lines.

We used to do those on 1700 & 1800's.

> So if you have a device that doesn't do v6 then you know that you're going to need v4 so you just run everything at v4 and just don't worry about even thinking about your v6 configs, why would you, you just don't need to.

You could certainly look at it that way, but personally I'd sooner be getting up to speed so that when IPv6 becomes a necessity you're already mostly (if not entirely) there.

> Why should the SMB guys invest in learning protocols that they just can't use properly?

Because one day there will be content they want to look at that will only be available on IPv6, or a VPN endpoint that only has an IPv6 address.  ...and they'll want to talk to it today, not tomorrow, and not next week.

> If we want to turn this v6 thing around faster then we really do have to have buy in from the biggest providers all the way to the edge and we're just not getting that are we, no.

If your "biggest provider" doesn't do IPv6, and you want it, then look for one that does.  They exist, both at the large and small end of the ISP scale.  I expect they exist in NZ too.