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Should I be using IPv6 on my router???

Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2012 6:52 pm
by woodchuck
So, I'm considering enabling IPv6 on my router primarily so I can disable UPNP (it causes my DDWRT router to overflow it's NVRAM and I'm sick of manually configuring port forwards on my router). As I understand it, IPv6 will expose every computer on my network to the internet, with only their own firewalls to protect themselves. Apparently with IPv6, my router will have no firewall. With a LAN of computers with DLNA, HomeGroup, and lots of other fairly open services, is it wise to make this choice???

Lots of articles on the web extol the benefits of IPv6, but if that means I no longer have a secure home network, how good can it really be???

Re: Should I be using IPv6 on my router???

Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2012 8:52 pm
by Venom51
All though the deployment of IPV6 is imminent by the ISP's the need for you to do so at home is not urgent. You would need to contact your ISP to see if it's even available to you yet.

Re: Should I be using IPv6 on my router???

Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 12:11 am
by barnabas1969
UPNP causes your router to overflow its NVRAM??? What kind of router do you have, and how much UPNP stuff do you have going on simultaneously? I have a Linksys WRT-54GL running DD-WRT (not a very recent router, by any standard) and I've never had a problem with UPNP causing any problems whatsoever.

Re: Should I be using IPv6 on my router???

Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 10:45 am
by Fleadh
None of what the OP said makes any sense to me whatsoever and I'm a network engineer.

Re: Should I be using IPv6 on my router???

Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 3:41 pm
by woodchuck
Fleadh wrote:None of what the OP said makes any sense to me whatsoever and I'm a network engineer.
That's exactly the problem. I can't find any clear information on the subject. Every article is written in techno-gibberish.

As for NVRAM, I use DDWRT on a WRT610N. The 610N is notorious for using most of it's NVRAM without doing anything special because of it's two radios. Add UPNP to that mix and you get whacky router behavior when the NVRAM gets used up.

Re: Should I be using IPv6 on my router???

Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 3:55 pm
by Scallica
I cannot think of any good reason to use IPv6 for your home network. If your router has issues when using uPNP, I would consider the following:

1. Contact the developers of DD-WRT and explain the issue you are having.
2. Revert back to the stock firmware.
3. Give Tomato Firmware a try...http://www.polarcloud.com/tomatofaq
4. Buy a new router.

Re: Should I be using IPv6 on my router???

Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 6:00 pm
by barnabas1969
Scallica wrote:I cannot think of any good reason to use IPv6 for your home network. If your router has issues when using uPNP, I would consider the following:

1. Contact the developers of DD-WRT and explain the issue you are having.
2. Revert back to the stock firmware.
3. Give Tomato Firmware a try...http://www.polarcloud.com/tomatofaq
4. Buy a new router.
I'll add:

5. Try a smaller build of DD-WRT.

Re: Should I be using IPv6 on my router???

Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 11:09 pm
by Fleadh
Open source firmware issues make electronic baby Jesus cry.

Buy a decent router.

Re: Should I be using IPv6 on my router???

Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2012 4:33 pm
by Venom51
Fleadh wrote:Open source firmware issues make electronic baby Jesus cry.

Buy a decent router.
+1

Re: Should I be using IPv6 on my router???

Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2012 9:10 pm
by woodchuck
barnabas1969 wrote:
Scallica wrote:I cannot think of any good reason to use IPv6 for your home network. If your router has issues when using uPNP, I would consider the following:

1. Contact the developers of DD-WRT and explain the issue you are having.
2. Revert back to the stock firmware.
3. Give Tomato Firmware a try...http://www.polarcloud.com/tomatofaq
4. Buy a new router.
I'll add:

5. Try a smaller build of DD-WRT.
Great idea!! I hadn't thought of that. There is a smaller build that works, and freed up a bunch of nvram.

Electronic baby Jesus can cry his heart out!!

Re: Should I be using IPv6 on my router???

Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2012 9:14 pm
by STC
DD-WRT rocks IMO :)

As long as you're careful and use the right image for the hardware you have, you should be absolutely fine. Don't necessarily go for the latest and greatest. Most images have issues but they are documented. Work around them.

I use DD in most installations, and either use the good old Linksys WRT (usually the Linux editions) or more recently Buffalo routers.

Re: Should I be using IPv6 on my router???

Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2012 12:34 am
by barnabas1969
woodchuck wrote:
barnabas1969 wrote:
Scallica wrote:I cannot think of any good reason to use IPv6 for your home network. If your router has issues when using uPNP, I would consider the following:

1. Contact the developers of DD-WRT and explain the issue you are having.
2. Revert back to the stock firmware.
3. Give Tomato Firmware a try...http://www.polarcloud.com/tomatofaq
4. Buy a new router.
I'll add:

5. Try a smaller build of DD-WRT.
Great idea!! I hadn't thought of that. There is a smaller build that works, and freed up a bunch of nvram.

Electronic baby Jesus can cry his heart out!!
Glad I could help. That's why they make different builds of DD-WRT. Use the one that will not take more NVRAM than your hardware has in it. I second what STC said... DD-WRT rocks!

Edit: I couldn't help myself...

Q: How much wood can a woodchuck chuck?

A: A woodchuck would chuck all the wood that a woodchuck could if a woodchuck could chuck wood.

Re: Should I be using IPv6 on my router???

Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 7:38 pm
by woodchuck
Just found out that DDWRT's UPNP daemon has problems with it locking up and not responding. I have since bailed on DDWRT and gone to Tomato. Tons of free NVRAM now!