Social media technologies allow individuals to create and share information using public websites and also to create and exchange information using private websites or mobile apps. Several social media websites are available via Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6), either directly or using one of the services or products described in the Content and Applications Delivery over IPv6 article in the FAQ section that provides dual stack (IPv6 as well as legacy IPv4) access to IPv4-only websites. Several social media apps can communicate using either IPv6 or IPv4. Unfortunately, many of those individuals appear to be social bots rather than actual people, according to this article.
Dual Stack Websites and Apps
A partial list includes: BeBo, BizSugar, Dropbox, Facebook and Facebook Messenger, Google+, Instagram, Kik, LinkedIn, Medium, Netflix, Skype mobile clients, Snapchat, Telegram, WhatsApp Messenger, Wikipedia and YouTube.
In 2009 it was even proposed that all Social Networking platforms be transformed into IPv6 networks. See Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Request for Comments (RFC) 5514 IPv6 over Social Networks. A working prototype for Facebook was even implemented but it is no longer available. (Caution: Published on April Fools' Day, 2009!)
IPv6-only Websites
A short list: Earthite.com, Facebook IPv6, and Google IPv6.
Websites and Apps Available via a service or product described in the Content and Applications Delivery over IPv6 article in the FAQ section
A partial list includes: GitHub, Meetup, Pinterest, Reddit, Spotify, Swarm, and wikiHow via Content Delivery Network (CDN) Provider Fastly; Gab.ai, Viber, and Wayfair via CDN Provider Akamai; Flickr via CDN Provider Amazon CloudFront; and Byte.co (successor to the Vine app), MySpace, StumbleUpon and Tumblr via CDN Provider Google Cloud CDN.
Mobile Apps on Apple's App Store
Beginning in 2016, apps written for Apple iOS 9 (or later) on Apple's App Store Social Networking web page, including Digg, Facebook, Stitcher, Twitter, and WeChat are compatible with IPv6 DNS64/NAT64 networks and also support IPv6-only networking.
Websites listing Social Media Websites and Apps
Ipv6.watch and cybernode list social media websites and apps that are (or are not) available via IPv6.
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IPv6 Cell Phones
Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) is supported on cell phones running the following mobile operating systems:
Android 5.0 or later,
Apple iOS 4.1 or later,
and some older (now obsolete) mobile operating systems such as:
Blackberry 10 or later,
Microsoft Windows Phone 7, 8, 8.1, 10 Mobile, and
Symbian v7 or later.
Cell phones not listed above that support an Long Term Evolution (LTE) communications protocol are also capable of supporting IPv6. Whether IPv6 on a particular cell phone is enabled and which network interface(s) support IPv6 (Wi-Fi or cellular or both) is determined by the individual wireless carrier.
Cell phones running Android 4.3 or later come with the 464xlat (a widely supported IPv6 transition mechanism) built-in, although support for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol for IPv6 (DHCPv6) is still missing. Cell phones running Microsoft Windows Phone 8.1 or Microsoft Windows 10 Mobile even came with both 464xlat and DHCPv6 built-in.
As part of a broad industry effort to support IPv6 on cell phones (as described in this article), beginning in 2016 apps on Apple iOS 9 (or later) on Apple's App Store Social Networking web page had to be compatible with IPv6 DNS64/NAT64 networks and also had to support IPv6-only networking. In 2021 with the release of iOS 15 and later, Apple supports IPv6-only-preferred (IPv4-only and dual-stack nodes on a local area network both continue to be supported but all new and updated nodes on the network are IPv6-only, sometimes referred to as IPv6-mostly access).
IPv6 Support by Nationwide US Wireless Carriers
All nationwide United States (US) wireless carriers have deployed IPv6 across their wireless networks:
T-Mobile US, Inc. and their subsidiary Metro by T-Mobile (formerly MetroPCS),
Cellco Partnership d/b/a Verizon Wireless (a subsidiary of Verizon Communications, Inc.) and
their subsidiary Visible,
Sprint Corp. (previously known as Sprint Nextel Corp.) and their subsidiaries Virgin Mobile and
Boost Mobile), and
AT&T Wireless (also known as AT&T Mobility LLC and AT&T U.S. Mobility, previously known as
Cingular Wireless and BellSouth) and their subsidiary Cricket Wireless.
T-Mobile US, Inc. and Sprint Corp. began the process of merging in early 2018 and completed it in early 2020. The merged company is now called T-Mobile US, Inc. As part of their merger, Virgin Mobile ceased operation and its customers were transferred to Boost Mobile, and Boost Mobile was subsequently sold to Dish Network, LLC, which is now another nationwide US wireless carrier. After a corporate rebranding in 2012 Dish Network, LLC has referred to itself as simply “Dish”. Dish entered into a master network services agreement (Master NSA) in 2020 with T-Mobile and an NSA in 2021 with AT&T Mobility, giving Dish customers IPv6 access while it builds out its own IPv6 network.
For nationwide US wireless carriers, a statement of IPv6 support is usually available -- click on the name of any nationwide US wireless carrier (other than Dish). All nationwide US wireless carriers are facilities-based carriers. That is, they own and manage the network equipment used to provide wireless communications services.
IPv6 support by Regional US Wireless Carriers
The approximately 70 regional US wireless carriers are also facilities-based carriers. None of these carriers have released public statements about IPv6 support on their networks except for Silver Star Communications. Since all cell phones that support an LTE communications protocol support IPv6, and all regional US wireless carriers (except for those in American Samoa) support an LTE protocol, all regional US wireless carriers may support IPv6 in the future.
When a regional US wireless carrier that appears on this list of Autonomous System Numbers (ASN) maintained by Hurricane Electric displays a non-zero number in the Routes v6 column for any entry for that carrier (there may be more than one entry for a given carrier), it can be inferred that the company supports IPv6 or is working toward supporting IPv6. For example, United States Cellular Corporation d/b/a U.S. Cellular (also known as US Cellular or United States Cellular Telephone Company), a regional US wireless carrier that is larger than any of the other regional US wireless carriers, displays a zero in the Routes v6 column for each of its entries in the list and consequently does not support IPv6.
The following regional US wireless carriers display at least one non-zero number in the Routes v6 column, so it can be inferred that they either already support IPv6 but have not (yet) released a public statement about IPv6 support on their network or are working toward supporting IPv6: Bluegrass Cellular. Bug Tussel Wireless, C Spire Fiber, Chariton Valley Telephone Corporation, Evolve Broadband, Inland Cellular, Limitless Mobile, Nemont, Pine Belt Wireless, Pioneer Cellular, Rimrock Wireless, RTC Communications, Union Wireless, and West Central Wireless.
IPv6 support by US Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs)
There are over 100 US MVNOs that are not facilities-based. Instead, they resell wireless services (including IPv6 support) provided by the above nationwide US wireless carriers. Some US MVNOs are owned by nationwide US wireless carriers or by Internet Service Providers such as Charter Communications, Comcast Corp or Lumen Technologies, LLC (formerly CenturyLink Business Inc.).
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The World Report maintained by the Hurricane Electric corporation provides a detailed list of networks, including Internet Service Providers (ISPs), that support Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) in countries around the world. For a country of interest, click on the "Report" button in the Report column to view a report. Networks and ISPs that show non-zero entries in their "Routes v6" column offer IPv6 services.
A less detailed list of ISPs in countries and regions around the world is available here. In the left-hand column, under Deployment by country and region, scroll down to and click on a country or region to view a report.
The ipv6 test website provides listings for several categories of IPv6 utilization. Scroll down and click on the “Select country” button to view a country of interest.
Some ISPs, research networks and government networks which began providing or planning to provide dual stack (IPv6 in addition to legacy IPv4) early in the deployment of IPv6 are listed below. A statement of IPv6 support was often available. Click on an ISP or network name to view the statement.
| ISP or Network Name | Commencing in |
|---|---|
| Commercial ISPs | |
| American Telephone and Telegraph Corporation (AT&T) An IPv6 FAQ is available. | 2009 |
| Charter Communications (including Charter Spectrum, formerly Time Warner Cable/Road Runner and Bright House Networks) An IPv6 FAQ is available. | 2010 |
| Cogent Communications, Inc. | 2009 |
| Comcast Corp. doing business as Xfinity. An IPv6 FAQ is available. | 2009 |
| Cox Communications, Inc. (residential services) An IPv6 FAQ is available. | 2016 |
| Cox Communications, Inc. (business services and GIGABLAST) An IPv6 FAQ is available. | 2017 |
| Hurricane Electric, LLC An IPv6 FAQ is available. | 2001 |
| Lumen Technologies, LLC, formerly CenturyLink, Inc. (which in turn was formerly Qwest Government Services Inc.) | 2010 |
| MediaCom Communications | 2016 |
| NTT America, Inc./Verio | 2003 |
| Sprint Corp. (formerly Sprint Nextel Corp.) (See Note 1 below.) | 2007 |
| Starlink, a division of Space Exploration Technologies (commonly referred to as SpaceX) An IPv6 FAQ is available. | 2022 |
| T-Mobile US, Inc. (See Note 1 below.) An IPv6 FAQ is available. | 2019 |
| Verizon Wireless (Cellco Partnership d/b/a Verizon Wireless), a subsidiary of Verizon Communications, Inc. (formerly MCI Communications Services, Inc.) An IPv6 FAQ is available. | 2005 |
| Verizon Fios [Note: Verizon Wireless is in the process of upgrading its regional fiber-optic Fios network on a limited basis and has been ever since 2010.] A statement of IPv6 support is available – search the IPv6 FAQ in the above Verizon Wireless entry for "Fios" to view it. | Still not widely supported |
| Research Networks | |
| Australian Academic and Research Network (AARNET) | 2014 |
| CANARIE, Canada’s Advanced Research and innovation Network | 2010 |
| China Education and Research Network 2 (CERNET2) (an IPv6-only network) | 2016 |
| India Research & Education Network (ERNET) An IPv6 FAQ is available. | 2004 |
| JANET (originally known as Joint Academic NETwork) | 1999 |
| Grand European Academic NeTwork (Géant) and 13 other European national research networks | 2003 |
| Internet2 Network (formerly known as Abilene, also known as University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development or UCAID) | 2002 |
| Victorian Industry Collaborative IPv6 (VIC6) Testbed Network | 2009 |
| Government Networks | |
| Defense Research and Engineering Network (DREN) operated by the Department of Defense (DoD) High Performance Computing Modernization Program (HPCMP) (See Note 2 below.) | 2003 |
| Energy Sciences Network (ESNET) operated by the Department of Energy (DoE) | 2002 |
| NASA Research and Engineering Network (NREN) operated by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) | 2003 |
| National Lambda Rail (NLR) PacketNet operated by NASA | 2005 (Ceased operation in 2014) |
| Sensitive but Unclassified IP Data (SBU IP Data formerly known as NIPRNet) operated by DoD Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) | 2016 |
Note 1: Sprint Corp. and T-Mobile US, Inc. began the process of merging in early 2018 and completed it in early 2020. The company is now called T-Mobile US, Inc.
Note 2: The HPCMP DREN also serves as an ISP for the DoD research and engineering community, and (on a case-by-case basis) for other government organizations. This IPv6 Knowledge Base is an outgrowth of work done by DREN.
A listing of ISPs, research networks and government networks that were providing dual stack services as of June, 2012, is available on the (now archived) World IPv6 Launch website.
Outside the US, a partial listing of commercial ISPs that provided dual stack services as of June, 2017 may be found here. (It is no longer possible to filter the list for a specific country.)
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Additional information about the Internet of Things (IoT) and Smart Cities are categorized as follows:
General Information
Deployment Information
Recent News
General Information
Here are some websites and publications with general information:
Internet SOCiety (ISOC) Internet of Things (IoT) (additional websites also offered by this website)
ICANN Articles related to IoT (listing of articles)
National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) website
Smart Cities World website
StateTech Magazine website
Deployment Information
Here are some knowledge base websites:
Cisco Systems, Inc IoT Knowledge Base
Groupe Spécial Mobile (GSM) Association (GSMA)
IT Chronicles IoT website
Here are some publications and websites with additional deployment information:
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Case Study: Best Practices of Smart Cities in the Digital Age, Jul, 2021
APEC Regulations, Policies, and Initiatives on E-Commerce and Digital Economy for APEC Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises’
(MSMEs’) Participation in the Region, Mar, 2021
APEC Telecommunications and Information Working Group (TEL)
Recommendations for Implementation of Smart Sustainable City Information and Communication Technology Infrastructures
in the APEC Region, Apr, 2020
Asia-Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC) Iot Articles website
American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN) IoT Blog website
Cisco Systems, Inc. The Internet of Everything for Cities, Sep, 2013
City of Colombus Final Report for the Smart Columbus Demonstration Program, June, 2021
City of Dallas Internet of Things (IoT) Best Practices Guidelines, Version 2.0, June, 2020
Continental Automated Buildings Association An overview of security and privacy in smart cities’ IoT communications, Jun, 2019
The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) IoT Technologies for Smart Cities, Jan, 2018
International Journal of Public Administration Developing Smart Cities: Regulatory and Policy Implications for the State of Qatar,
Dec, 2021
Interoperability Internet of Things (Inter-Iot-Project) website
IoT6: Universal Integration of the IoT through an IPv6-based Service Oriented Architecture
IoT-IPv6 Integration Handbook for Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs), Jun, 2014
Microsoft Windows for IoT documentation
National Library of Medicine (NLM) EDTD-SC: An IoT Sensor Deployment Strategy for Smart Cities, Dec, 2020
National Science and Technology Council (NSTC)
Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) Program
Federal Smart Cities and Communities Programs Resource Guide. A collection of more than 40 Federal initiatives, 2023
SI6 Networks IoT Toolkit website
Smart Cities Council Smart Cities Readiness Guide, Sept, 2015
ThingsBoard Open-source IoT Platform website
United Kingdom GOV.UK (Government Digital Service) Secure connected places (smart cities) guidance collection, Oct, 2021 and later
United States (U.S.) Government Accountability Office (GAO)
Communities Deploy Projects by Combining Federal Support with Other Funds and Expertise, GAO-17-570, July, 2017
Verizon The Evolution of Smart Cities: Delivering on the Promise, Dec, 2019
Recent News
These are just a few of many news websites:
CircleID IoT (blog)
Cities Today
ERNW Insinuator.net (IoT)
Future IoT
GovExec GCN IoT
Industrial IoT (IIoT)
Infoblox IoT
IoTNews
IoTNOW
IoT World Today
IoT for all
ipv6.net (blog)
Internet SOCiety (ISOC) blog
Microsoft Q&A (forum)
TechTarget IoTAgenda
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Additional Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) websites are categorized as:
General Information
Deployment information
Recent News.
General information
Here are some websites with general information:
Internet SOCiety (ISOC) Where do I start? (additional websites also offered by this site)
ISOC IPv6 FAQ
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) At-Large Community IPv6 FAQ
ICANN Articles related to IPv6 (listing of articles)
Internet Protocol Address Management (IPAM) Worldwide
National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) website
Netherlands Domain Registration Foundation (SIDN) comprehensive IPv6 FAQ
International Telecommunication Union (ITU) website
Each of the world’s five Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) has many articles about IPv6 on their website and most have an IPv6 FAQ.
African Network Information Center (AfriNIC) IPv6 articles and an IPv6 FAQ
Asia Pacific Network Information Center (APNIC) IPv6 articles and an IPv6 FAQ
American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN) IPv6 articles and an IPv6 FAQ
Latin American and Caribbean Internet Address Registry (LACNIC) IPv6 articles and an IPv6 FAQ
Réseaux IP Européens Network Coordination Centre (RIPE NCC) IPv6 articles but no IPv6 FAQ.
along with the RIR’s umbrella Number Resource Organization (NRO) which has many IPv6 articles and an IPv6 FAQ.
Deployment information
Here are some knowledge base websites:
Cisco Systems IPv6 Knowledge Base (The site is no longer active, but a copy was archived in 2017)
Google IPv6 Knowledge Base (narrow left-hand column and wide right-hand column scroll independently)
Infoblox IPv6 Center of Excellence (scroll down to view the four phases: IPv6, Planning, Connecting, and Internal Adoption. The site is no longer active, but a copy was archived in May 2021.)
Juniper Networks Knowledge Center
Linux IPv6 HOWTO
Here are some websites with additional deployment information:
APNIC IPv6 deployment site
ARIN IPv6 wiki
Hogg Networking by Scott Hogg (numerous documents, presentations, and a blog)
IPv6 Framework for European Governments
Microsoft IPv6 Survival Guide
SI6 Networks Publications and Presentations
Recent News
These are just a few of many websites with IPv6 news:
Number Research Organization (NRO)
CircleID IPv6 (blog)
Infoblox Blogs IPv6 Center of Excellence
ipv6.net (blog)
ISOC/blog
Microsoft Q&A (forum)
SDX Central Cloud Articles, Whitepapers, Videos, & More
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