There are 5 things to consider when deploying Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) in the home or the SOHO:
1. An Internet Connection
2. The Computer
3. The Local Area Network (LAN)
4. Security
5. The Applications
The Available IPv6 Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and Networks article in the IPv6 and IoT Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section provides information about IPv6 connectivity offered by Internet Service Providers (ISPs).
It is easy to deploy IPv6 in the home or SOHO using a cable modem that supports the Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) 3.1 or later 4.0 or a digital subscriber line (DSL) modem that supports IPv6.
The table below lists sources of information about cable and DSL modems that support IPv6. Most modems manufactured since mid-2011 do support IPv6. Before buying a modem instead of renting or purchasing one from your ISP, verify that the modem is on your ISP’s list of approved modems. If it is not, compare the modem’s security features with the functional requirements (chapter 5) in this publication.
| Website or Retailer | Type of Modem | Type of Information Available | |
| cable | DSL | ||
| American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN) | √ | √ | Survey of commercially available modems (near the end of article on ARIN IPv6 wiki) |
| American Telephone & Telegraph (AT&T) | √ | √ | IPv6 and AT&T Internet services (scroll down to IPv6 and AT&T Internet equipment and click on Show more to see list of approved modems) |
| Charter Spectrum (part of Charter Communications) | √ | List of approved modems | |
| Comcast Xfinity Corp. | √ | List of approved modems | |
| Cox Communications Inc. | √ | List of approved modems. (DOCSIS 3.0 and later cable modems support IPv6.) | |
| On-line retailer of electronic equipment | √ | List of modems (search for “ipv6 DSL modem” with any web browser) | |
Instructions for enabling IPv6 on many operating systems (when not already enabled by default) are available in the IP Transport section.
If IPv6 support is not available from your ISP, you can still enable IPv6 access on just your computer, rather than all the devices on your LAN, using either:
- a tunneling mechanism such as the Hurricane Electric tunnel broker available here. It does not require any software to be installed locally but does require a stable public IPv4 address. It requires user registration. This article describes the installation process for a Fedora Linux system and this article describes the installation process for a Windows system.
or
- a Virtual Private Network (VPN). VPNs for individual use that tunnel IPv6 are listed in this article. The client software must be installed on your computer.
To enable IPv6 access for the devices on your LAN in addition to your computer takes more effort. Write-ups by individuals who have documented their home and SOHO efforts may be found in the Small Office/Home Office subtopic of the Overview of Lessons Learned Deploying IPv6 article in the General Information section.
If the networking infrastructure you aspire to deploy includes multiple computers, routers, and/or subnets, then one of the approaches offered in the IPv6 test lab setup topic of the IPv6 Test Techniques article in the IPv6 Testing section may be what you are looking for. In-depth technical recommendations and guidance for deploying your home networking infrastructure is provided by this Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Request For Comments (RFC) 7368 "IPv6 Home Networking Architecture Principles".
Security concerns are just as real at home as they are at work. Here are some articles offering security tips: Keeping Your Home Network Secure, Best Practices: Consumer IoT Information & Resources (a series of 9 checklists), Best Practices for Keeping Your Home Network Secure, Home Network Security, Securing your “Internet of Things” Devices, and Smart devices: using them safely in your home.
A free Cyber Security webinar with documentation and guidance for the SOHO operator is available from the federal Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).
Some Internet of Things (IoT) networking devices come with improved security already built-in, based on the Manufacturer Usage Description (MUD) standard.
Whether you use Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Google Chrome, Opera or any other web browser, simply direct your browser to the IPv6 literal address of the website you want to view. For example,
http://ipv6.test-ipv6.com
becomes
http://[2001:470:1:18::115].
For additional information, refer to RFC 3986 “Uniform Resource Identifier (URI):Generic Syntax".
(Caution: This substitution can sometimes fail. Explanations of possible reasons for this are available. If you encounter problems, review the Broken User FAQ article found on the above website for several possible explanations. For even more possible explanations, review this article on the ARIN IPv6 wiki.)
Many commercial applications already support IPv6. See the IPv6 Software article in the IPv6 Deployment section for further information. Your own custom applications can also be updated to support IPv6. See the Application Conversion Introduction article in the Applications section for further information.