Forum Discussion

rlees85's avatar
rlees85
SMARTY Maverick
17-02-2025

IPv6 (2025)

Well we are now into 2025 and I am just curious about the state of IPv6 on Smarty (or Three, I guess).

  • Sporadic posts suggest a "mast by mast" roll-out is taking place. I've travelled quite a lot around the UK and I have never once been given an IPv6 address on Smarty, ever.
  • I've contacted "support" (lol) to confirm its not an account issue and was told "IPv6 addresses are assigned dynamically" in other words they did not understand my question.

I have made sure my APN settings are all good, etc.

Just wondered if anyone knows what is actually happening with this or what experiences others on Smarty have had around IPv6 now we are into 2025.

Anyone working for Smarty/Three who reads this: Amazon (AWS, largest cloud hosting provider) started charging more for people using IPv4 addresses for their hosting. Most mainstream ISPs have rolled out IPv6. I hope the stragglers can start to take it seriously soon - and yes I would consider changing network if literally any other network covered where I live 😅

Thank you all!

6 Replies

  • SmartyTrousers's avatar
    SmartyTrousers
    SMARTY Centurion
    17-02-2025

    rlees85 I use Three for my home broadband and haven't yet seen an IPv6 address, although obviously I'm always in the same location.

    I've contacted "support" (lol) to confirm its not an account issue and was told "IPv6 addresses are assigned dynamically" in other words they did not understand my question.

    Would you really expect customer service agents working for a consumer mobile offering to be trained up in networking protocols?

    • rlees85's avatar
      rlees85
      SMARTY Maverick
      18-02-2025

      Thanks SmartyTrousers . Good to know that others are (or are not) getting IPv6 addresses. Not sure how much I believe the "mast by mast" thing.

      ... and yes, I could expect support to know about projects that are ongoing (or not) on their network. Well at least 10 years ago. I really don't have any expectations from "support" nowadays.

  • AndrewP_1422753's avatar
    AndrewP_1422753
    SMARTY Maverick
    20-02-2025

    Interestingly, if you have an iPhone and have Private Relay turned on (works only for Safari and Mail) - you get an IPv6 address. You have to subscribe to iCloud+ to get Private Relay.

    • rlees85's avatar
      rlees85
      SMARTY Maverick
      26-02-2025

      I guess that must be part of the private relay feature, sounds like a VPN.

  • rlees85's avatar
    rlees85
    SMARTY Maverick
    26-02-2025

    Might go off to the Three forums and see if they are getting IPv6 addresses, wonder if its a 3 problem or a Smarty one at this point

  • alledgedly's avatar
    alledgedly
    SMARTY Pioneer
    29-05-2025

    It's pretty pathetic that in 2025, Smarty doesn't provide IPv6 connectivity by default, to all users. I mean, I understand, it's pretty new stuff, it was only introduced in 1995.

    Ok, being less tongue-in-cheek, it's been in supposed to be the default since the 3GPP Release 8 Specifications (March 2009).

    Between that and home ISPs aggressively moving towards CGNAT, the Internet is in pretty rough state.