I’m trying to get IPv6 addressing working on my Time Warner Cable (TWC) WAN connection. On my Balance 20 I have the IPv6 setting enabled, and have selected the proper WAN port. Yet when the connection is made it always picks up an IPv4 address. If I plug my laptop directly into the cable modem (eliminating the Peplink) it will immediately get an IPv6 (and IPv4) address from TWC. The IPv4 address is dramatically different than what the Peplink has always shown for that WAN connection so apparently TWC puts me into a different IPv4 network for their IPv6 support.
As quoted a few times by Peplink staff members:
When enabling IPv6 support on a WAN, the WAN router must respond to Stateless Address Autoconfiguration advertisements and DHCPv6 requests.
I think the fact that my laptop running OS X 10.10.1 can get an IPv6 address automatically assigned is proof that the WAN router itself is fully capable.
I’m guessing that perhaps the Balance 20 is doing a DHCP request first (versus DHCPv6) when it attempts to make the WAN connection, and that’s why TWC gives it an IPv4 address in the range where IPv6 isn’t needed/supported.
What further debugging can I do, or what setting(s) can I change to make this WAN connection come alive for IPv6? In case it matters, my cable modem is a brand new Motorola/Arris SB6141 (which has ZERO settings available to change).
Please take note we only support IPv6 passthrough. Which mean IPv6 will be assign to LAN client from ISP router instead of Balance’s WAN interface. Please find the screen shot below for better understanding once you enable IPv6 on Balance router.
The part about being only a passthrough explains to me why my clients never get IPv6 addresses from the Balance! I thought the Balance would be answering LAN-based DHCPv6 requests and provide routing just like it does for DHCP clients. I bet a lot of other customers would instinctively think the same thing given the web interface (as seen by your screen shot).
Is this part of the IPv6 “phased implementation” for the firmware, IE do you plan to have the Balance itself optionally request an IPv6 address for the WAN via DHCPv6 vs DHCP/Static IP/PPPoE? Without any change it sounds like I’ll never be able to use the TWC IPv6 addresses since they aren’t provided to a device that asks (first) for an IPv4 address via DHCP.
Does this passthrough-only support have implications for how the Balance’s Firewall, Inbound Access, etc. are (or are not) applied if I were in an ISP’s IPv6 network?
After enabled IPv6 passthrough, Balance router will be transparent to any IPv6 related request, settings and etc. Of course the rest of the WANs and settings in Balance router which using IPv4 are not affected.
I will move this post to feature request for product team to take consideration.
To me initially at least, the most important IPv6 change I’d like to see sooner rather than later is the inclusion of DHCPv6 as a WAN port connection method. Once my Balance is part of the TWC IPv6 network then other IPv6 feature needs may show up.
Given the feedback I’ve read in cable modem forums, Comcast, at least in some regions, is the same as Time Warner Cable in this regard: if the “PC” (the Peplink unit in this case) directly connected to the cable modem doesn’t initially ask for an IPv6 address using DHCPv6 then it simply will not be a part of the provider’s IPv6 network—ever. Which means that the Peplink’s IPv6 passthrough support will never get realized by any LAN device in this situation.
Since I’m currently down to only one WAN connection, in a moment of madness I’ve thought about physically moving my long ago shut down Windows XP system to sit between the cable modem and my Peplink. XP can make a DHCPv6 request and get me on TWC’s IPv6 network. But my XP system doesn’t have two Ethernet interfaces so I can’t do that, and I don’t even want to spend the few dollars it would take for an Ethernet interface to make this happen because I shouldn’t have to—it completely would defeat the idea of a gateway device like Peplink.
I think the Peplink roadmap for IPv6 needs some additional work crews (resources) assigned to it sooner rather than later. The construction delays for this project are starting to really limit the quality of the Peplink experience.
I’m confused about your question “Can you share what prefix you are getting for your IPv6?” I’m not getting an IPv6 address from Comcast so I do not know the prefix.
I’ve switched to the Peplink One router for dual WAN reliability, I was using a (less expensive) single WAN router and had IPv6 connectivity at the clients.
**Peplink’s failure to provide IPv6 connectivity to the clients is an EPIC FAIL **
Unless I get a resolution to providing IPv6 to my clients I will not be recommending your products.
Please take note we only support IPv6 passthrough. We expect LAN hosts grab IPv6 directly from WAN router. So the WAN router must respond to Stateless Address Autoconfiguration advertisements and DHCPv6 requests. IPv6 clients on the LAN will acquire their IPv6, gateway, and DNS server addresses from it.
My equipment meets all those requirements. Yet with TWC I can never realize any of it unless the Balance can be set to (obviously optional—not everyone needs this) initiate a DHCPv6 request before its DHCP request during the WAN connection startup phase. What are the thoughts from engineering and/or marketing on allowing that to happen for the 2nd or 3rd largest cable network provider in the US?
I just purchased a Balance 20 and am having the same issue as Marty with Comcast as the primary ISP. IPv6 pass through was working perfectly with my Apple Airport set for native / pass through. This is pretty shocking that a enterprise / soho device won’t support what even the most basic ISP provided routers now can. Are we doing something wrong here? Or does Peplink really need to get their act together with their IPv6 stack?
Marty, were you able to gain any traction on this issue? I just opened a ticket with support, but this seems like a gaping hole to me. Unless they can confirm it is on the firmware roadmap (and soon, for a beta at least), I am going to be forced to return all the units I purchased for my company’s remote users.
I am no closer to a working setup than I was before. I have looked at packet traces of when I connect my laptop directly to the cable modem (and it works) and those when the Balance 20 is in place (and it does not work) and I have gotten nowhere. I have gotten assistance from both Peplink and a TWC tier 3 technician but no one has an answer that makes it work the way I would expect. I have uncovered something new this morning that had not previously been obvious to me and maybe when I share it with Peplink they will be able to say if it’s part of an issue or not.
One thing is evident for my TWC situation: in almost every case IPv6 packets are making it OUT through the Balance 20 but TWC’s CMTS servers either aren’t sending responses to those packets, or they aren’t making it to the Balance’s WAN port to be forwarded into the LAN. The odd-ball case is that on extremely rare cases, if my laptop is hardwired to the Balance LAN then it will be able to get an IPv6 address. Since laptops don’t make for great hardwired clients I cannot depend on that and I haven’t been able to figure out what makes that case even happen.
Hopefully Peplink will work with you quickly on your ticket and maybe by having your specifics and mine they can find something in common that they can do something about.
I noticed that my WAN IP changed significantly when I dropped in the Peplink. I think you are 100% in that the device must “initiate a DHCPv6 request before its DHCP request during the WAN connection startup phase.” When the Peplink doesn’t make a DHCPv6 request, Comcast (and apparently TWC too) drops the modem onto a subnet with no IPv6 connectivity and any devices further downstream are out of luck. Simple fix for Peplink would be to build some basic IPv6 support into the WAN interface and pull an IPv6 address at startup, even if there was no functionality… Quite frankly, I’m a little shocked and dismayed at the level of IPv6 support for supposedly an enterprise grade product. No IPv6 firewall, either? I mean this is stuff that is baked into $40 Walmart routers.
We hear everyone loud and clear. Our IPv6 support will be enhanced as our firmware builds mature in due time. I cannot provide an exact timeline but please stay tuned…
Thanks for your continued support of our brand and products, we appreciate your business and take your feedback to heart!
Thanks Tim, I definitely understand that something like IPv6 needs to be implemented iteratively. That being said anything you guys could do to push forward some basic changes to make the pass-through work as advertised with a huge chunck of US cable internet users (#1 provider Comcast #2 provider TWC), even if via a beta / patch release would be huge.
Just an update to say that I have been very pleased with Peplink’s recent efforts to research and try different things to help in this matter with the TWC network. Things are now looking much brighter.
