Last updated 4 May 2016

InSPire Net IPv6 Information

InSPire Net has been implementing and testing IPv6 on a range of its services.

At this stage, whilst we deem that our IPv6 network is not a production service, we are happy to test various IPv6 services with customers who are interested in IPv6. If you take part in this test it is important that you accept the following conditions of this test service:

The service will work when it works; it may be broken from time to time
We can only give limited support to IPv6 configuration and various problems that pop up, and this support will be given by email
The majority of our helpdesk staff will not be able to assist with any problems caused by IPv6 and may request that you completely turn off IPv6 when diagnosing an IPv4 problem
Responses to IPv6 queries may take some time and there is no guarantee on how soon we will respond to queries
We reserve the right to shape IPv6 traffic and we may turn the service off at anytime and without warning
Above all, this is not a production service

To test our IPv6 service you will likely need some limited knowledge regarding IPv4 and IPv6 routing and networking. Examples would be:

Knowing what an IPv4 subnet means and knowing what a default route is used for
Understanding what NAT is and what limitations it causes.
Knowing what an IPv6 fe80:: address is used for
Understanding that IPv6 addresses can be displayed in a compressed form and an uncompressed form
Understanding that we will most likely delegate a /56 to your connection and understanding what you can do with that /56

If you have some experience with IPv4 networking, then you will probably be able to pick up most of the IPv6 methodology as you experiment with it.

To use IPv6 you will likely need a computer that runs one of the following operating systems:

Windows XP SP2+, Vista, Windows 7/8/10 (some IPv6 options are missing from Windows XP)
A recent copy of Mac OSX
A linux distribution from the past few years that either has IPv6 support in its kernel, or IPv6 is able to be enabled as a kernel module

If you want to use native IPv6 you will need a CPE that supports it and will need to use a connection method to Inspire Net that supports native IPv6.

If you want to be part of our IPv6 trial then please contact ipv6@inspire.net.nz.

PPPoE over xDSL/UFB/wirelss/Inspire fibre

We have tested native IPv6 over our PPPoE connections and it appears to work well. The majority of our customers now use PPPoE on our modern Juniper BNGs. We have tested this service with a Mikrotik CPE but believe other CPEs may support this service.

Colocation

Our colocation service supports IPv6.

Webhosting

We used to offer IPv6 webhosting but due to a firewall hardware failure we withdrew this service. Once a key firewall is replaced in our core network we can offer IPv6 on our webhosting again.

DNS servers

Whilst we have tested IPv6 on both our authoriative and recursive DNS servers in the past for now we're awaiting the firewall replacement mentioned above before we fully offer this. All of our DNS servers can either offer or resolve AAAA records.

Inspire Net IPv6 connectivity

We currently have native IPv6 transit to Vocus and Vibe Communications, to the Auckland IX and various other peers.

Services with no current IPv6 support

None of our prepaid services (Student City, Inspire PrePay, InspireFreeWiFi) currently offer IPv6.

We do not currently operate any IPv6 enabled mail servers but can publish IPv6 MX/AAAA records if you operate your own IPv6 enabled mail server.

We do not publish DNS AAAA records for any production Inspire Net hostnames, e.g. www, pop3, or mail.