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by otterley 2067 days ago
IPv6 is not backwards compatible - it is a completely separate networking stack for all devices. And routers that speak only IPv4 have no idea what to do with IPv6 traffic. Similarly, IPv6-only endpoints cannot communicate with IPv4 endpoints without some sort of 6-to-4 gateway between them.
1 comments

There shouldn't be any IPv4 only routers in the wild anymore. That isn't to say they aren't out there, only that anyone who has one is negligent in not updated/replacing it within the last 15 years or so. IPv6 is not a new thing, it was already live in 1996 (my memory might be a little off, but not much). Maybe you have turned off IPv6, but it should be supported and any competent IT should have a plan to turn it on (it might be a 5 year plan without any budget, but the plan should exist). Likewise you should have a plan to turn off IPv4 (if this plan has a budget it should be paid for entirely by the sale of your existing IPv4 block - this is mostly the business costs of IPv4 only customers being unable to reach you NOT the technical cost of updating all your servers)