[Myth] Disable IPv6 will speed Internet connections

Last update on August 3, 2009 03:57 PM by fahd_zboot
Published by netty5

Disable IPv6 will speed Internet connections




Myth


Disable IPv6 will speed Internet connections.

Reality


True, only under certain circumstances.

Explanation


Internet currently uses the IPv4. The next generation (Internet 2) are to use IPv6 (higher). IPv6 will solve many problems endemic to IPv4 (number of IP address, security, quality of service, etc.). The transition to IPv6 is inevitable, but it will take some time.

The good news are that most current operating systems (Windows Vista, Linux ...) are already perfectly capable of working in IPv6.

IPv6 is "better" than IPv4, as both are available, then logical step to take is to firstly use IPv6.

And that's what most software does: They will first try to use IPv6 (if present in the operating system), then back to IPv4 if their application fails to use IPv6.

E.g when using Firefox:
When you enter the address of a website, Firefox will first try to find the IP address (DNS name) via IPv6.if operation fails the procedure is repeated using IPv4.

In theory, it sounds good, as the day will be active IPv6, the software will work automatically with no need to be reconfigured.

In practice, waiting in vain for a response DNS IPv6 adds a small unnecessary delay (since currently almost no provider offers IPv6 access, except private networks or experimental).

Conclusion


This choice between IPv6 and IPv4 software is made by software.

This is not IPv6 problem is, the problem is due to software, choosing protocols poorly adapted to the situation.

In the case of software that supports both IPv4 and IPv6, or in cases where IPv6 routing tables are well configured, the presence of IPv6 does absolutely no slowdown.

Disabling the IPv6 support.


In Firefox, type in the address bar: about: config In the filter, type: ipv6
You will see the variable network.dns.disableIPv6
Change value to true to disable IPv6 support in Firefox.

Note that:
For software in where there is no option to disable IPv6, it will be necessary to disable IPv6 directly from the operating system.
Learn how disable IPv6 support in Ubuntu Debian: Disabling IPv6 support
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