IP Apocalypse - RIPE confirms available IPv4 addresses will run out in November

[rcmaehl]

Source:
RIPE NCC

ISPreview UK (Quote/media source)
 

Summary:
The UK, Europe, Middle East, and Asia are quickly running out of IPv4 addresses with other regions to soon follow.

Media:

 

Quotes/Excerpts:

Quote

The RIPE Network Coordination Centre (RIPE NCC), which manages regional distribution of internet addresses for the UK, Europe, Middle East and parts of Central Asia, has confirmed that their final reserve pool of Internet Protocol v4 (IPv4) addresses will completely run out in November 2019. Regional Internet Registry (RIR) started running out of address space in 2012 and began rationing the little they had left. The start of October 2019 it was confirmed that they only had 1 million IPv4 addresses left in their available pool. At present the IPv4 standard is still important for a lot of internet-capable hardware and software. Thankfully many ISPs, devices and services have now introduced “newer” IPv6 addresses, although some still have a lot of work to do (e.g. TalkTalk). Admittedly providers will be using both IPv6 and IPv4’s side-by-side for many years to come because if they were to go completely IPv6 today then a lot of sites, services and devices would run into connectivity problems; many still cannot understand the longer v6 standard. Indeed when RIPE NCC surveyed 4,161 network operators and other stakeholders earlier this year, a third ranked IPv4 run-out as among the top-three challenges facing their organisation (54% also said they will need more IPv4 addresses within the next 2-3 years.. oh dear). Some big ISPs still have a large stockpile of IPv4s but others that haven’t deployed IPv6 may have to stretch that out by adopting awkward solutions like internet address sharing. In other cases we have seen some commercial trading of retired IPv4 address space and this is likely to become more common.

 

My Thoughts:

It's happening. IPv4 is being fully used. It's migrate or die. Or well, not really die, just have a lot of hardship ahead as you're forced to buy and sell IPv4 addresses. Thankfully, DNS servers and hostnames were adjusted for the internet backbone a LONG time ago, it's just up to ISPs to get on board like they should have long ago.

[Electronics Wizardy]

8 minutes ago, rcmaehl said:

it's just up to ISPs to get on board like they should have long ago.

I don't think isps are the big issue here, they mostly wan to use ipv6, and most are running dual stack. Many ISP's for home users also have to use cgnat aswell. Its mostly bigger companies that have large blocks of ipv4 addresses. Companies like apply have their own /8, so they have plenty of addresses to use, and use public address for all their systems. Same with many schools and businesses and governments. 

[2FA]

20 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

I don't think isps are the big issue here, they mostly wan to use ipv6, and most are running dual stack. Many ISP's for home users also have to use cgnat aswell. Its mostly bigger companies that have large blocks of ipv4 addresses. Companies like apply have their own /8, so they have plenty of addresses to use, and use public address for all their systems. Same with many schools and businesses and governments. 

Yep, the college I went to had two /16 blocks with only a couple thousand students. They used one of them for all devices at one point but have since gone to private addressing.

[WereCatf]

20 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

I don't think isps are the big issue here, they mostly wan to use ipv6, and most are running dual stack.

My ISP, certainly, has no interest in ever deploying IPV6 for home-users. No idea why, they've never bothered to explain it, but people have been yelling at them about it for at least 5 years already -- the response is always the same: either no response at all or "We have no plans of deploying IPV6 at the moment."

 

Though, personally, I don't give a shit. I have 5 public IPV4-addresses and I stand to gain nothing from IPV6. IPV6 is a shitshow and just makes things worse.

[2FA]

Just now, VegetableStu said:

wonder who would get 255.255.255.255

 

...

 

i'm thinking of it wrong, aren't i ,_,

Addresses from 240.0.0.0 onward aren't even used, but that would be a broadcast address regardless.

[vanished]

At this point it's just crying wolf, this has been claimed more times than "Moore's law is dead"

[Catsrules]

Just out of curiosity has anyone here been required to use IPv6 yet? I mostly manage internal network stuff that I haven't really seen a need for IPv6 yet. And in fact I have had a few issues with so I usually just turn IPv6 off. 

 

What I think will happen is the countries like US, UK, etc.. that have had internet basically since it was created will be using IPv4 for years and years to come. But the newer internet countries like India that have just started getting online within a last 10ish years might be move over to IPv6 sooner. By sooner I am still thinking 15+ years away.

[rcmaehl]

4 minutes ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

At this point it's just crying wolf, this has been claimed more times than "Moore's law is dead"

I'm sure the providers will claw back unused IPs from big hoarders just like they have the last few times. I kinda want them to not and just to let ISPs and hoarders suffer.

[Touch My Hamm]

Sooner we start to accept our IPv6 overlords the sooner we can get over IPv4. 

[2FA]

10 minutes ago, rcmaehl said:

I'm sure the providers will claw back unused IPs from big hoarders just like they have the last few times. I kinda want them to not and just to let ISPs and hoarders suffer.

Nah, they'll just start double NATing everyone and everything possible whilst pretending they fixed the issue.

[jasonvp]

3 minutes ago, GodSeph said:

Sooner we start to accept our IPv6 overlords the sooner we can get over IPv4. 

My imbecilic ISP won't deploy v6 for business class users for some oddball reason.  Verizon has had the same IPv6 status page up for years, "It's coming... soon!" etc, etc, etc.  Any time I call them, I'm given the same response, "Um.... IPv... wha?"

 

If I could get on native v6 without tunneling to HE, I'd be on it like white on rice.  During busier times of the day (eg: late afternoon), HE's tunnel servers get walloped and I end up buffering way too much.  I appreciate what they've done (for free!) but they're not the proper solution.  Native v6 is.

 

 

[Nowak]

50 minutes ago, 2FA said:

Yep, the college I went to had two /16 blocks with only a couple thousand students. They used one of them for all devices at one point but have since gone to private addressing.

How many end devices did it have? Because I could see /16 working out just fine for a couple thousand devices.

 

Although, if it were, like... less than 4094 students, it'd probably be more efficient to go for /20 instead.

[2FA]

4 minutes ago, Nowak said:

How many end devices did it have? Because I could see /16 working out just fine for a couple thousand devices.

 

Although, if it were, like... less than 4094 students, it'd probably be more efficient to go for /20 instead.

I do mean couple as in two. It was and still is a very small school. Now all student devices are on a 192.168.0.0/16 supernet, not sure what the core infrastructure is on.

[Nowak]

1 minute ago, 2FA said:

I do mean couple as in two. It was and still is a very small school. Now all student devices are on a 192.168.0.0/16 supernet, not sure what the core infrastructure is on.

tbf I don't remember what my college's core infrastructure is on either

[2FA]

1 minute ago, Nowak said:

tbf I don't remember what my college's core infrastructure is on either

True, but I just straight don't know at all because I never bothered to look on anything that wasn't either my own or the CompSci network which itself was the 10.0.0.0 space.

[Nowak]

Just now, 2FA said:

True, but I just straight don't know at all because I never bothered to look on anything that wasn't either my own or the CompSci network which itself was the 10.0.0.0 space.

Usually for my Cisco courses we used the 192.168.0.0 or 172.16.0.0 spaces. I think the actual computers on the network were 10.0.0.0.

[vanished]

2 hours ago, Catsrules said:

Just out of curiosity has anyone here been required to use IPv6 yet? I mostly manage internal network stuff that I haven't really seen a need for IPv6 yet. And in fact I have had a few issues with so I usually just turn IPv6 off.

Nope.  I have Ipv6 disabled at an OS level and never come across a site that wouldn't load or other odd issues that I'm aware of.

[mr moose]

I've often wondered how many IP addressed are assigned to dead websites (like many of those free ones that no one seems to find on search engines) or old websites that were setup years ago but haven;t been updated in decades and the info is pointless.

 

 

2 hours ago, rcmaehl said:

I'm sure the providers will claw back unused IPs from big hoarders just like they have the last few times. I kinda want them to not and just to let ISPs and hoarders suffer.

 

I can think of a few websites/companies that I would like to lose their IP address.

 

[Dabombinable]

How long has IPv6 been around for now? Considering my Windows 98 machine works with them.

[JoostinOnline]

4 hours ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

At this point it's just crying wolf, this has been claimed more times than "Moore's law is dead"

Moore's Law has been dead for like two years now, so I don't really see your point.

[Donut417]

6 minutes ago, Dabombinable said:

How long has IPv6 been around for now? Considering my Windows 98 machine works with them.

20+ years. Windows 2000 Pro was the first OS that I remembered IPv6 being aviliable on. 

 

2 hours ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

Nope.  I have Ipv6 disabled at an OS level and never come across a site that wouldn't load or other odd issues that I'm aware of.

Thats because most of those sites are probably dual stacked. Seeing how that seems to be the current trend. Eventually someone will flick the swtich and IPv4 will die. 

[vanished]

17 minutes ago, JoostinOnline said:

Moore's Law has been dead for like two years now, so I don't really see your point.

My point is it's something people have been saying over and over for a long time so it's lost its impact, even though I know at some point it will eventually happen

[Donut417]

On top of all of this. I thought all the IPv4 addresses were already handed out. So effectivly we had no more. Didnt this all happen like years ago. What was held by companies was all that was left and some companies were selling off IP's. Some ISP's started with IPv6 dual stack and others decieded to do carrier grade NAT. 

[bcredeur97]

I kinda wish they had just added another Octet or 2 to IPv4.

 

i.e. 0.0.0.0.0 or even 0.0.0.0.0.0

IPv6 is great, but I find the addresses are so much harder to remember because they aren't just numbers...

[vanished]

12 minutes ago, Donut417 said:

On top of all of this. I thought all the IPv4 addresses were already handed out. So effectivly we had no more. Didnt this all happen like years ago. [...]

Exactly what I was talking about