What is the difference between IPv4 and IPv6?

Hi mates!

What is the difference between IPv4 and IPv6?

Admin note: this post was updated with image below.
What is the difference between IPv4 and IPv6

Hello @Ajit_Kumar,

IPv6 is the next generation Internet Protocol (IP) standard intended to eventually replace IPv4, the protocol many Internet services still use today. Every computer, mobile phone, and any other device connected to the Internet needs a numerical IP address in order to communicate with other devices. The original IP address scheme, called IPv4, is running out of addresses.

Here you can find more details, in a tutorial i wrote long time ago:

Hi All.

What is basic difference in using ipv4 vs ipv6 for PDN type?

What are advantages?

My view: So PDN can support either IPv4 or IPv6 or both.

Major difference both of them support of number of devices-connected mode.

As in 5G there are uses cases where high number of connected devices will be required hence IPv6 will more be in use.

Right now device penetration of IPV4 is high.

+1
Also PDU bit len has major difference.

Like ipv6 has large compare to ipv4.

As per my understanding: The main difference between IPv4 and IPv6 is the address size of IP addresses.

The IPv4 is a 32-bit address, whereas IPv6 is a 128-bit hexadecimal address. IPv6 provides a large address space.

Thanks! Is there any impact on KPI’s like user throughput, cell throughput etc.?

Thanks! You mean devices are more supported with ipv6…

Any idea for change required in parameter end at radio or at Core end?

No major impact on ip throughput.

IPv6 is faster than IPv4 in network devices because it lacks network-address translation (NAT).

Using IPv6 is a better choice for people that require high speed for their network processing.

Although IPv6 is designed to be more secure with its built-in encryption capabilities and packet integrity checking, IPv4 can also be made more secure so there is essentially no difference between them when it comes to Internet Protocol security (IPsec).

Thanks a lot for your inputs :+1:

So majorly new network launch and device ecosystem on ipv6.

I think Jio 5G SA network on ipv6 only…

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Also 1 more query: is there combination for ipv4 ipv6 as well any view over this?

It’s a combination of ipv4 & ipv6.

End device is on ipv4 but the core network is on ipv6.

Some extra information about IPv4 / IPv6 - and Dual Stack solution.

Launched in 2012, IPv6 is the latest version of the so-called Internet Protocol, the standard protocol used for communication between all computers connected to the Internet. In addition to allowing the continuous expansion of the Internet, IPv6 corrects security flaws in the previous version, IPv4, and allows new digital services to be developed.

However, since IPv6 was not designed to be an extension or a complement to IPv4 , but rather a replacement, it is necessary to implement a transition project between the two versions. And this is even more critical for service providers, who need to adjust demand to their current infrastructure, given that the stock of IPv4 addresses in Latin America has ended. Alternatives such as CGNAT have been employed to prolong the lifespan of IPv4, allowing assigning local (private) IPv4 addresses on the access network and using a device to manage the translation of these addresses to the global (public) Internet. However, CGNAT “breaks” the end-to-end principle of the network, harming applications such as peer-to-peer (P2P), VoIP or video transmission. What to do then?

Dual Stack, or double stack

The most suitable way for this transition is the Dual Stack (or “double stack”). This technology allows devices and routers to be equipped with stacks for both protocols, IPv6 and IPv4, being able to send and receive both types of data packets. Thus, a Dual Stack connection node will behave as an IPv6 node when communicating with another IPv6 node and as an IPv4 node when communicating with another IPv4 node, leaving the legacy system active as long as necessary.

Each Dual Stack node is configured with both addresses, using IPv4 mechanisms to acquire its IPv4 address and IPv6 mechanisms to acquire its IPv6 address. This transitional technology allows for a gradual deployment, with the configuration of small parts of the network at a time. And if IPv4 is no longer used in the future, just disable the IPv4 stack on each node.

Dual Stack Benefits

With Dual Stack it is possible to maintain everything that is already in IPv4, taking advantage of all the benefits of IPv6, more comprehensive than the previous version and with a much more robust address space to meet the demands of the internet. And for those providers that already use CGNAT, there is also no impediment: native IPv6 can be used together with shared IPv4.

Furthermore, the provider does not stop its operation due to IPv4 exhaustion and does not need to renew all offers overnight.

With the Dual Stack the change is gradual and, above all, definitive.

With Dual Stack the service doesn’t stop. As people like to say, it’s “changing a tire while the car is moving”, but in a safe way and without stopping equipment that has been working reliably for years.

You need to do IP management work at your company. You can only gain from implementing a secure and reliable transition project from IPv4 to IPv6.