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Is IPv6 faster than IPv4?

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Re: Is IPv6 faster than IPv4?

#2
In many ways, IPv6 stacks are simpler than their IPv4 counterparts. The fixed packet headers are simpler and faster to parse, ICMPv6 includes both router and neighbour solicitation (as opposed to being separate protocols like ARP in IPv4), routers generally won’t fragment large packets in transit (instead giving way to Path MTU Discovery) and NAT is not so widely needed as it is in IPv4.

That said, the fixed packet headers being slightly longer means there’s actually slightly less room for the payload in an IPv6 packet compared to IPv4 on an otherwise equivalent link MTU.

I’m not entirely sure what to make of the results in the article though and the title really should be leading with asking why in order to be less sensational. The only explanation I can think of right now is that many routers have historically deprioritised ICMP traffic or even dropped it when under heavy load, but given that ICMPv6 is much more core to the functioning of IPv6 in general, it is perhaps not as feasible to do so for ICMPv6.

Re: Is IPv6 faster than IPv4?

#4
It seems that this article is missing the forest for the trees. The biggest improvement will come not from the raw speed but from the entire IPv6 eco-system. For example, the new segment routing for IPv6 or SRv6 should improve the Quality of Service (QoS) for examples bandwidth, delay and jitter by having control at the edge. This is unlike MPLS where the control is done in the core itself and that's why MPLS is called layer 2.5 because it's not truly native IP layer or layer 3. This new approach of networking is considered as IP 2.0 [1].

[1]SRv6 Network Programming: Ushering in a New Era of IP Network:

https://www.routledge.com/SRv6-Network-Programming-Ushering-...

Re: Is IPv6 faster than IPv4?

#5
I still can't get away from this sensation that no matter how good IPv6 is, the ship has sailed. The inferior but indisputably cheaper technology won out over the technically superior one. VHS vs Betamax. Ethernet over Token Ring.

Re: Is IPv6 faster than IPv4?

#6

It seems that this article is missing the forest for the trees. The biggest improvement will come not from the raw speed but from the entire IPv6 eco-system. For example, the new segment routing for IPv6 or SRv6 should improve the Quality of Service (QoS) for examples bandwidth, delay and jitter by having control at the edge. This is unlike MPLS where the control is done in the core itself and that's why MPLS is call…

Sadly not much stuff supports SRv6, and I'm not aware of many deployments.

Re: Is IPv6 faster than IPv4?

#8

I still can't get away from this sensation that no matter how good IPv6 is, the ship has sailed. The inferior but indisputably cheaper technology won out over the technically superior one. VHS vs Betamax. Ethernet over Token Ring.

I get that feeling sometimes too. I think though it's not going to be so clear a winner as with your examples. We'll be living with both probably forever.

Maybe an example for comparison is iPhone vs Android, or Windows vs Mac? We'll be living with both for a long time too.

Re: Is IPv6 faster than IPv4?

#9

At Netflix, we found in quite a few networks IPv6 had much better QoE than IPv4. In a limited number of cases, IPv6 was very broken. It was almost always equal or better.

Did you have a sense of whether QoE diverged due to differences in the networking equipment or differences in the protocol itself?

Re: Is IPv6 faster than IPv4?

#10

At Netflix, we found in quite a few networks IPv6 had much better QoE than IPv4. In a limited number of cases, IPv6 was very broken. It was almost always equal or better.

Much smaller POV, but when I was dealing with ISP things in past I've found that on many networks v4 might have a nice, redundant blend while frequently v6 is some mix of HE+something or singlehomed HE, which disappoints me. But then the fact that their ports are basically unused other than for the usual G/YT/FB traffic makes the v6 pretty uncontended.
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