World IPv6 Launch – June 6th 2012   Permanent Link to World IPv6 Launch – June 6th 2012

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What is IPv6? What’s happening? Do I need to do anything?

IPv6 is the new generation of the Internet. On June 6th 2012, many web services including Google, Facebook, YouTube, Yahoo, Bing and many others will permanently enable IPv6 functionality on their systems.

As an Internet user, you don’t have to do anything. You shouldn’t notice the change. However, if you do find that e.g. facebook stops working for you on the 6th June, you might need to adjust some settings on your computer – search the web to find out what to do, or visit the Bristol Uni Laptop Clinic if you need further help.

How are Bristol Uni involved?

It’s important that the University ensures it’s services are ready for the new generation Internet. Unfortunately, the first week in June is right in the middle of the annual examinations period. This is a really bad time to change any of the University’s systems because if anything goes wrong it could be very problematic and stressful for staff and students. So instead we are doing the following:

  • April 2012: The authentication magic that lets Bristol staff and students connect at other eduroam organisations and visitors connect at Bristol now uses IPv6. IPv6 is enabled for visitors from other organisations connecting to eduroam at Bristol.
  • May 2012: We have enabled IPv6 on this website – www.wireless.bris.ac.uk
  • July 17th 2012: We will enable IPv6 network access for all Bristol eduroam users – check out this IPv6 FAQ article for more information.

Where can I find more information about IPv6?

World IPv6 Launch has it’s own web pages, and there are regional sites as well: 台灣IPv6全面升級, 日本でのWorld IPv6 Launch, Всемирный запуск IPv6, 中国世界IPv6启动, Netherlands IPv6 Launch.

There are tons of web pages about IPv6 in general, and technical information, on the web. A good place to start for more information is the IPv6 wikipedia article. There are also sites that allow you to test if your computer and Internet connection will be ok with IPv6:

If you wish to comment on this article, email service-desk@bristol.ac.uk.
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IPv6 ready!
64.124.8.82 at 06:11, 20 Nov 23