[arin-ppml] IPv6 Backbone Anecdotes

[Dan White]

Ron Cleven wrote:
> We have two backbone providers, Cogent and Level3.  In response to our 
> recent inquiries, Cogent indicated they planned to begin routing IPv6 
> "later this year" and Level3 indicated they were able to route it now.
>
> What I found more interesting was Level3's reaction to our inquiry. 
> Level3 has one of the largest IP networks on our continent and across 
> the pond.  They were modestly surprised to get an inquiry of this type. 
>   Specifically, the engineer assigned to our account said he hasn't 
> deployed a single IPv6 connection in 5 years of being with the company. 
>   He personally knew of no one other than a few government entities even 
> doing any testing.
>   

I wouldn't look too much in to that response. I've also pressed both of 
those vendors for IPv6 transit.

Level 3 will take your request seriously, and give you a tunnel which is 
pretty good latency wise (much better than my Sprint tunnel). You should 
get a form to fill out to submit to their IPv6 group. I've been very 
pleased with the Level 3 response, except for the fact that it's not native.

The fact that you got a blank stare from an engineer is probably because 
what he engineers doesn't have much to do with the IPv6 tunnels that get 
provisioned - he won't be provisioning them on the router that directly 
faces you.

Cogent gave me a "No we don't support it" blanket response. If you've 
got a contact at Cogent that has a different response, I'd appreciate if 
you could pass me their contact information.

- Dan