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Iran Goes Into IPv6 Blackout

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Re: Iran Goes Into IPv6 Blackout

#41

Post by coffeemug »

ronsor wrote: post #7

No competent network engineer wants to work in Iran, so government doesn't know how to block v6 properly. End result: just get rid of it entirely!

Two counterintuitive/surprising lessons I've come to appreciate:

1.Talent pools in nation states are extraordinarily deep-- much deeper than they appear. Countries can suffer from brain drain for decades (or centuries!) but when conditions call for it, superbly talented people somehow manifest.

2. The correlation between talent and conscience is weak. Nation states always manage to find superbly talented people to work on problems many of us would recoil from.

Re: Iran Goes Into IPv6 Blackout

#42

Post by thaack »

cimi_ wrote: post #17

Not specific to this IPv6 event, but I was wondering what happens to public services during these Internet shutdowns? Does everything stop or it's mostly business as usual minus some things? I would imagine hospitals, tax offices etc need the internet to work?

Matt Lakeman's recent "Notes on Afghanistan" actually covers this as he first-hand experienced a similar situation in Afghanistan where the Taliban had shut off the internet:

"The internet was out. Everywhere. Across the entire country. No cell data, no wifi, no phone service, and as far as I could tell, there are no landlines in Afghanistan [...] But now the blackout was total. Our waiter was complaining to my guide that he couldn’t contact his mother in a western province. I saw other people in the crowded restaurant fiddling with their phones and looking annoyed. I asked my guide what he thought was going on. He shrugged."

"Without internet and phones, people can’t talk to loved ones, businesses can’t function, trade can’t function, and even government offices can’t function. Only the Taliban with their well-established network of short-wave radios can function. But still, if the internet remains off long enough in Afghanistan, the country’s economy and society may very well collapse. Afghans couldn’t get money from banks. Soon enough, would food stop being delivered to cities?"

https://mattlakeman.org/2026/01/05/notes-on-afghanistan/#

Re: Iran Goes Into IPv6 Blackout

#43

Post by thesdev »

immibis wrote: post #34
TechSquidTV wrote: post #32

Government enacted shut down due to protests. I'd like to hear more about how they actually do this. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/iran-cutting-internet-amid-dead...

Most likely they just go to the head of the ISP (I bet there's only one) and say turn the internet off or else.

Yep, everything connecting to the Internet goes through the TIC.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommunication_Infrastructu...

Re: Iran Goes Into IPv6 Blackout

#45

Post by tuhgdetzhh »

falaki wrote: post #30

Fortunately, the government cannot enforce complete blackout because thousands of startlink terminals are active inside the country. They have been complaining about it [1] to no avail. Using these terminals activists and journalists continue to upload videos of demonstrations to social media which has enabled analyses that show demonstrations are very wide spread [2] and continue to grow. [1] https://www.itu.int/en/…

Isn't it possible to jam the starlink receiver?

Re: Iran Goes Into IPv6 Blackout

#46

Post by adrianpike »

tuhgdetzhh wrote: post #45
falaki wrote: post #30

Fortunately, the government cannot enforce complete blackout because thousands of startlink terminals are active inside the country. They have been complaining about it [1] to no avail. Using these terminals activists and journalists continue to upload videos of demonstrations to social media which has enabled analyses that show demonstrations are very wide spread [2] and continue to grow. [1] https://www.itu.int/en/…

Isn't it possible to jam the starlink receiver?

Yes, with the caveat that you'll need decent line of sight to it.

Re: Iran Goes Into IPv6 Blackout

#47

Post by falaki »

tuhgdetzhh wrote: post #45
falaki wrote: post #30

Fortunately, the government cannot enforce complete blackout because thousands of startlink terminals are active inside the country. They have been complaining about it [1] to no avail. Using these terminals activists and journalists continue to upload videos of demonstrations to social media which has enabled analyses that show demonstrations are very wide spread [2] and continue to grow. [1] https://www.itu.int/en/…

Isn't it possible to jam the starlink receiver?

I hear after the Ukraine war, Starlink became very good at thwarting jamming. I am confident the Iranians are not as sophisticated as the Russians in than front.

Re: Iran Goes Into IPv6 Blackout

#48

Post by School-Cotton »

observationist wrote: post #35
School-Cotton wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That doesn't explain why they would want to block IPv6 specifically , and not also block IPv4.

A lot of the Starlink and other contraband uplinks are using ipv6, allowing connectivity for people the regime doesn't want to have contact with the rest of the world. They don't want the revolution broadcast or popularized.

I wouldn't think blocking terrestrial IPv6 links would have anything to do with blocking Starlink.

Re: Iran Goes Into IPv6 Blackout

#49

Post by deepriverfish »

immibis wrote: post #34
TechSquidTV wrote: post #32

Government enacted shut down due to protests. I'd like to hear more about how they actually do this. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/iran-cutting-internet-amid-dead...

Most likely they just go to the head of the ISP (I bet there's only one) and say turn the internet off or else.

they don't need to say the or else part since they control the whole country including the ISP.

Re: Iran Goes Into IPv6 Blackout

#50

Post by breppp »

thesdev wrote: post #43
immibis wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most likely they just go to the head of the ISP (I bet there's only one) and say turn the internet off or else.

Yep, everything connecting to the Internet goes through the TIC. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommunication_Infrastructu...

Ministry of Information is a name with a certain feel
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