
Sunsetting SixXS - knorrie
https://www.sixxs.net/sunset/
======
IgorPartola
I used SixXS in the past. I liked that they were a community-driven IPv6
tunnel provider. They also provided access types that were much more flexible
than others, such as AYIYA (brilliant protocol that solved a crapload of
problems around IPv4 NAT and firewalls).

In a way, SixXS succeeded: more people now do IPv6 than before. But they had
issues that ultimately made it really difficult to actually adopt. First, it
was for personal use. I actually used alternatives for commercial use, it is a
real world needs.

Second, their signup process involved being manually approved by someone from
the community. I understand the need for something like this, but given that
it took a week or so to sign up made it really difficult.

Third, some tunnel types required you to keep them up, or they'd be shut down.

I have been and still do use Tunnel Broker tunnels from Hurricane Electric.
While they have their limits, they are vastly more easy going, and given that
it's a free product given to the community, I am amazed that HE has same day
email support for this thing. I'd really love to move to my ISP's (Charter
Business) IPv6, but (a) they currently only offer 6rd and (b) for some reason
performance with their offering really sucks: 60-120ms ping to even the
closest servers, poor bandwidth. They have been in that state literally since
2012. Also, no static address allocation option, which makes me just
infuriated.

------
hs86
I used my cable provider's SixXS PoP for years without any issues. With the
handy integration into my home router it felt like a native IPv6 connection
and I never noticed a performance drawback caused by the tunneling.

Now, SixXS is sunsetting and the same provider still has no native IPv6 for
their DOCSIS customers. Why is DOCSIS a special case here? Is it harder to
roll out IPv6 for us because of some technical reasons?

~~~
citrin_ru
Comcast uses DOCSIS and provides native IPv6. I think reasons are not
technical - ISP needs to invest money to deploy IPv6 and ROI is not always > 1
for now.

~~~
hs86
What about the shared medium nature of DOCSIS? Do they share some
infrastructure with the other cable ISPs or are these usually separate?

Usually this provider is very progressive [1][2][3] and because of these
positive impressions I did not suspect them to hold back the cable IPv6
rollout due to financial reasons. According to [4] they even provide OpenWRT
instructions for their native IPv6 and only their cable users are left without
native IPv6. :(

[1] [https://mirror.netcologne.de/](https://mirror.netcologne.de/)

[2]
[https://www.sixxs.net/pops/netcologne/](https://www.sixxs.net/pops/netcologne/)

[3] [https://www.netaachen.de/ueber-
uns/breitbandausbau](https://www.netaachen.de/ueber-uns/breitbandausbau)

[4]
[https://www.netaachen.de/privatkunden/ipv6](https://www.netaachen.de/privatkunden/ipv6)

------
clan
Local ISPs still (stupidly) claim that there is no demand for IPv6 so I will
surely miss them. I really appreciate the stable service they have provided
over the years.

~~~
krylon
In a way that is true - the majority of end users has no clue what IPv6 even
is.

Years ago (~2005-2006) I called my ISP's hotline to ask if there was a way to
get native IPv6 - the support person did not even know what it was.

It is baffling, though, how stubborn some ISPs are. All the hoops they have to
jump through to keep IPv4 working must cost something, too.

~~~
mnd999
There is demand - gamers want it for lower pings. They've been told all that
NAT slows them down.

------
lop
Running since years SixXS tunnels in Germany I wonder now, what are the
alternatives besides
[https://www.tunnelbroker.net](https://www.tunnelbroker.net) (Hurricane
Electric Free IPv6 Tunnel Broker)?

Shutting down the most important IPv6 tunnel provider at the international
IPv6-Day is not a good sign at all...

------
krylon
I still remember the first time I saw the turtle dance. Wouldn't have happened
without SixXS. Thanks for the good work!

------
nickik
Who needs IPv6? Swisscom in Switzerland releases new products that give you
IPv4 behind a carrier grad NAT. Its real awesome.

