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In a previous post I noted that my laptops internet connection was still solidly “old style” IPv4. To be able to experiment with the features of IPv6 I needed to setup a link.

For many ISP’s the roll-out to their end consumers is still a low priority project so if you are interested in deploying IPv6 in your organization (or simply want to get your feet wet) you will need to establish a tunnel to IPv6 over your existing Internet up link.

What is a tunnel? And what is a tunnel broker ?

To reach an IPv6 access point all your connections will have to travel over the existing IPv4 network to a tunnel broker. You IPv6 TCP/IP connections are wrapped in IPv4 packets until they reach the tunnel broker. On arrival they are then set free on the IPv6 internet.  A tunnel broker is thus a provider of IPv6 tunneling services.

Several brokers around the world offer free access to anyone who signs up.  For this article I looked at Hurricane Electric and Go6.  Both provide easy sign up and universal access (you can sign up anywhere in the world). You own ISP might also be running its own IPv6 trial programs which you can investigate. My ISP in Holland for example is XS4All which has its own experimental IPv6 service. If possible you should always try your local service first as the the universal tunnel brokers might not have an access point near enough to you (thus adding delays to your connection as it tunnels its way through the internet).

I liked Hurricane Electric’s tunnelbroker service as it requires no software beyond that offered by the operating system itself.  Several short commands later a tunnel was created. But one of its usage restrictions is a direct internet connection for the computer setting up the tunnel as it does not work well with computers located behind most IPv4 NAT routers.

As my portable travels the world and has to access the internet from wireless internet access points which are invariable behind a NAT I had a look at the service offered by Go6 instead.

Installing Go6 IPv6 on my labtop

Go6 provides:

• Free access
• Supports clients behind NATs (my main reason for picking this service)
• Support for many different operating systems (Windows 32 & 64 bit, Linux, BSD)
• An internet support forum in which you can ask questions

The first step is to register at the Go6 website for their free IPv6 tunneling service:

The second step is to download and install their client software:

I successfully installed the software for Windows Seven, despite the installer complaining about a non-supported Windows version.  Setting up the link is done through the now installed Hexago Gateway6 Client Utility. For convenience I selected the “Connect Anonymously” as it does not require you to specify a username/password.

Click “Connect” and you should be connected to the geographically nearest Go6 uplink. To verify whether your IPv6 connection works properly you can now visit the Go6 Registration page which shows your IPv6 (or IPv4 address if things didn’t work out) at the top.

So whats next?

For a listing of some other public IPv6 brokers have a look at the tunnel broker page, which I am trying to keep up to date.  As we are solidly connected, it is time to discover what else can be found around the IPv6 internet. Do you have any experiences with tunnel brokers? Do you know of any I have missed, drop me a note!

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