I've been using IPv6 on a consumer-grade cable modem connection with a Cisco DPC3008 modem and a previous-generation Apple Airport extreme since 2012. There weren't even any difficulties getting it working.
There are quite a few providers in the world that run Dual-Stack Lite (native IPv6, IPv4 is tunneled to provider-run NAT gateways) and they all hand out consumer-grade gear.
Since the OnHub only comes with Ethernet you'd have to put something between it and the wire anyways of course, but it then has to be more than a dumb modem, and you'd be forcing all traffic through the tunnel.
IPv6 isn't without problems, but many people use it without noticing, through consumer devices way cheaper than this. The ones complaining the most are the enthusiasts which suddenly can't reach their home server via IPv4 anymore.
Besides acquired products (Nest) and Android phones, Google has a pretty poor track record of long term hardware support. I can still get firmware updates for my 4 year old Linksys router.
I've been burned, and I refuse to purchase yet another Google device for a market they're just testing the waters in. I'd rather spend my money with someone who needs it to support their product, and that product is their business.
To be clear, you're saying they're just testing the waters with Chromium? Or with Fiber, which makes its own hardware STB/routers, or with this whole internet performance thing in general?
Chrome devices have 5 years of updates guaranteed. I have a cr-48 from 2010 which still gets updates (currently on -dev 56). How many times has there been a story on HN about RCEs unpatched for months or years in consumer routing gear? The fact that you purchased that hardware doesn't seem to be sufficient incentive based on the record. But when you have an incentive of a secure and performant internet, and also have the talent, infrastructure, and existing codebase to make something work and work well, you have economies of scope that make supporting it much easier and cheaper.
Maybe you haven't checked lately but we live in a world where IPv6 adoption is over 10% (over 25% in the US) after doubling each year for the past 6 years. https://www.google.com/intl/en/ipv6/statistics.html
I disagree. Directly, yes, the average user doesn't care. But application developers care; peer-to-peer protocols become a lot trickier with IPv4 due to the pervasive deployment of NAT; two machines ostensibly on the Internet can't connect to each other, requiring instead the use of STUN servers, which then requires infrastructure somewhere, or just doing it client-server, or some mix like having "supernodes" (like Skype, prior to MS tearing it out) that route traffic for NAT'd devices.
The ability to actually connect arbitrary devices, I hope, will be something that people will take advantage of. I know for many game servers I set up with siblings, the ability to not need to mess with a router's crappy "port forwarding" would be a welcome change. (Even if I had to mess w/ some local firewall, but that can perhaps be much more tightly integrated or at least, a better UX.)
Yes, but until you have the percentage of overall IPv4 usage down to less than 5%, 10%, or even being generous say 15%, developers will still have to deal with those things (NATs, STUN, TURN, etc) anyway.
IPv6 has been around for almost 20 years now, and is only recently cracking 10% (and I wonder how much of that 10+% is also dual stack). IPv4 sure as hell isn't going away in my lifetime. Who knows, maybe the lifetime of my kids too. What a mess!
The shittiest of routers support it so when you get one from a major internet company you should expect that it has support for an internet protocol which has been out for 18 years.
IPv6 is important, but it's not like your ISP will lower your bill if you forego IPv4, and it's not like there are IPv6-only sites. If I recall correctly, I have to pay _extra_ for an IPv6 address.
IPv4 addresses have been more expensive than IPv6 subnets on every dedicated uplink I've gotten prices for over the last two years. In fact, an IPv6 /56 is usually free, or cheap enough to be effectively free since the fee is mainly a NRC for the time to set up the route, if you ask for it and the provider supports IPv6. In contrast, IPv4 addresses often incur a MRC based on the number of usable addresses you request.
> If I recall correctly, I have to pay _extra_ for an IPv6 address.
That's weird, here we get a /48 v6 block by default and one /32 v4 address. You'll never need more v6 addresses, but each v4 address comes at a monthly fee.
If this doesn't support ipv6 then it can only connect to legacy sites. Yes that's pretty much all sites today but this is inexcusable in a new product.