IPv6 support on Virgin media
Does anyone know whether (and if so when) Virgin plan to implement IPv6 on its network?
Forum Discussion
Possibly unrelated, but I've recently noticed that doing a reverse DNS lookup on my WAN IP, the address now contains the phrase v4wan. Suggests they're gearing up for v6 addresses?
aztw-00-a1-v4wan-123456-cust987.vm11.cable.virginm.net
Interesting! I checked my rDNS but doesn't look like it's changed much since I last looked (couple of years probably!). Location and numbers masked for obvious reasons.
cpcxxxxxx-abcdxx-x-x-custxxx.xx-x.cable.virginm.net
abcd is the location area code and x in replacement of numbers.
That however looks like potentially more modern/different infrastructure given the naming structure difference.
It is known that their network has v6 enabled when you know where to look, as it's been possible to do some tcpdump packet sniffing, finding IPv6 prefixes and manually adding routes and an IPv6 address within the provided range (given no DHCPv6 or SLAAC for router advertisements) does work for some.
Based on known timelines I think their engineers did a lot of the IPv6 work a long time ago, it never got enabled, even after the public trial back in 2018/19. We don't know exactly why, we can only guess. We do know there's never been really any rush or priority.
Actually this is something I hadn't clarified: does the RDNS "stick" with you by area and account? And does it not therefore follow that the forward DNS on that hostname can be used to track your public IPv4 (using a CNAME, e.g.)?
I'm now on CommunityFibre but my own struggles aren't over: the MikroTik RB5009 I used and that was perfect for VM doesn't have v6 acceleration/hardware-offload. So my next project is to set Linux up on my old 2018 Mac Mini and do the routing there. I hope good things are happening on VM's network soon; they can't absorb the turnover of customers forever, despite Ofcom's best efforts.
I can easily pull 600Mbps (provider limit) over ipv6 with an RB5009 without it breaking a sweat.. I'm sure it'd hit gigabit if I needed it to. That router is a beast.. the kind of thing you need with connections getting faster. You may find the mac mini is actually slower.
My connection is 3 GB symmetrical (colour me a hypocrite, but paying top tier is how you get away from the otherwise-mandatory CGNAT) and although I don't get anywhere near it often, I certainly do hit the 2.5 GBE uplink's limit when doing regular downloading from CDNs. 😞 I love my MikroTik but I already hit its limitations. Even bonding isn't an option because of the limitations imposed by 802.1AD on packet reordering of flows, bottlenecking any one flow to the 1 GB available on all the other ports. It's a shame.
Yes, I am "v4wan" now too in Aylesbury HP21 9.
It's not something that I often do these days although I used to take a great interest in my varying reverse DNS entry from way back in the NTL days.
There's hope yet! Light at the end of the [fibre optic] tunnel (pun intended) after thirteen years!
The format beginning with cpc is the only one I know and it goes quite far back in terms of it's use, there's a post that breaks down the format: https://www.cableforum.uk/board/showpost.php?p=35514728&postcount=2 (goes back to 2012!), however it was in use in the NTL days for sure, just with a different sub and top level domain which I believe was broadband.ntl.com.
The rDNS example posted recently, seems like a newer and different format used. I've never seen it before, but my area is quite old HFC and dates back to the NTL days. The areas you both are in could be newer infrastructure/network equipment wise.
Regarding the question around the rDNS hostname being linked to account name/area. It's very much tied to the IP address allocated. I have seen my rDNS hostname change because of this. It has happened mainly when the network has had maintenance or segment changes happen and the DHCP lease is changed.
My rDNS used to be in the 'CPC' format, at least when I checked about 6 months ago. I used to have a separate phone line, but that was recently switched to VoIP via the SH. Perhaps both are changes resulting from a recent infra upgrade?
