[afripv6-discuss] The African IPv6 Task Force

[Mark Tinka]

On Monday, January 30, 2012 02:09:25 AM Graham Beneke wrote:

> I really don't think the CPE situation is quite as dire
> as that.

The reason CPE is a big issue is because:

	o There are various transition mechanisms out there,
	  and different ISP's will choose different options.
	  CPE must be able to support a decent number of
	  transition mechanisms, particularly if an ISP is
	  going to require much more intelligence than just
 	  "supporting native IPv6" in the CPE.

	o Broadband was wildly successful partly because CPE
	  were cheap enough for ISP's to give away for free,
	  or folk could just walk into a shop and get one,
	  take it home and DIY it. We don't want the barrier
	  to entry for v6 to be expensive or complicated
	  CPE. Remember, the one you have may not be the one
	  everybody likes.

	o ISP's need to start worrying about what they're
	  going to do for existing broadband customers that
	  have old CPE which may never be able to support
	  v6. Will they swap them out for free? Will they
	  force users to upgrade?


You and I are fairly power users, but Joe Smith and friends 
"just want their MTV".

> If your CPE is not IPv6 capable then perhaps you should
> think about changing vendor. The vendors won't change
> unless you stop buying their dated equipment. ;-)

Unfortunately, this is easier said than done. Most ISP's 
will only support CPE they provide. If Joe Smith goes out 
and buys CPE that is not on the ISP's supported list, he's 
on his own (and Joe Smith won't like that).

You and I can go and buy any CPE we want, and perhaps even 
make it run someone else's OS that has proper v6 support, 
broadband style. But we're the 1% of the bunch.

Mark.
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