Comment 33 for bug 24828

On 17/3/07 Trent Lloyd wrote:
> Please remember this has *nothing* to do with whether your modem/router
> *supports* IPv6, but whether its inherrently broken and doesn't handle DNS
> queries properly.

I agree with you 100% on this. I hate to have to find workarounds for poorly developed software and hardware (do it right the first time). I went searching for and found a firmware upgrade to my Actiontec GT701-wg DSL modem and re-enabled IPv6. No more issues with connectivity and speed.

However, I am a technically inclined person who wouldn't think twice about diving head first into a new piece of hardware or software. I have 20+ years of IT experience which I can draw on to resolve issues. A typical user (my wife) would not even know where to start. If Linux (pick your flavor) doesn't work right the first time and isn't easy to troubleshoot the novice user will drop it and run screaming back to 98, XP or Vista (hopefully not WinME).

I really believe the best solution is to limit the possible problems up front. Give the user time to get comfortable with an OS which actually works better and is more stable than anything they have used in the past and then give them options to make it better. Do a check on boot-up for a Live CD and during the installation process for IPv6 timeout. If it exists then place the blacklist-ipv6 file in the modprobe.d directory and let the user enjoy the OS. Secondly place a configuration option in network tools to remove/add the blacklist file at their option. If IPv6 is disabled when the network manager is opened then place a help button which will lead the user to a good descriptive page of how IPv6 can help or limit their Internet experience.

On 17/3/07 Trent Lloyd wrote:
> I'm not saying this makes it any less of a problem but you must understand its
> a bug in the devices, they should just pass the DNS requests on properly, I
> highly expect you'll have exactly the same problem with Vista.

Again, I agree with you 100% on this. You must ask yourself if the normal user would even know how to go look for firmware updates for their hardware. I just about guarantee that if I called my ISP for assistance they would have said something along the lines of "We don't support Linux and can't help you with your problem" and would have never even gotten to the point of identifying a firmware issue as the problem.

Every patch listed for my modem had a disclaimer beside it stating not to use it for Vista. Then after looking a a compatibility chart it appeared that IPv6 would probably be the least of my worries if I wanted to run this modem with Vista.

Ubuntu and Linux have an opportunity and it would be a shame if a small issue such as this limited that opportunity.

Disable IPv6 now and work towards getting a compatibility check in place with clear and simple procedures for the users.

Thanks,
Dfincher