IPv6 support

Just a few comments here... IPv6 may be far from everywhere, but there are lots of places where it is, and they're certainly frequently used. Some may not impact Sonos (like cell carrier networks; all four of the top-tier carriers in the US have had IPv6 implemented on their networks for years)... but others, like home ISPs, are significantly picking up in their IPv6 deployments. Here in the US, Comcast (the largest ISP by number of customers) has had it for a few years now, and saw over 30% of their network traffic using IPv6 within 2 years. Very quickly they started looking at plans to reduce reliance on IPv4, and make it something that operates over the IPv6 stack, rather than in conjunction with it. They haven't moved forward with those plans yet, at least to my knowledge... but there were conversations about it at least.

Yes, there are other US ISPs, like Verizon, that don't seem to have any intention of implementing it on their wireline networks... which is kind-of stunning considering their mobile network was the first of the big 4 to have IPv6 operational. But elsewhere in the world, there are ISPs and services that are only available via IPv6, or have severely limited IPv4 connectivity, since they aren't able to obtain many, if any, IPv4 addresses. I've made a few posts over time in this topic about IPv6's growth around the world.

Oh, and by the way... it's been discovered that a couple of Sonos models seem to now have IPv6 enabled in them. It's not being used to make connections to the internet (at least not yet), which likely means it's being used locally within the network (Airplay? future implementation of Google Cast?)... but it's a step in the right direction at least. 🙂

There's no technical argument around whether to implement support for IPv6 in a device which sends and receives packetised data today, not doing so is myopic and has been for at least a decade. The resistance comes from the fact business decisions veto all others.

For Sonos, and most other consumer device manufacturers, this is proven by the overwhelming decision to build equipment with anaemic hardware sufficient to provide enough functionality to balance their ability to print claims on boxes and invoice for as few lawyer hours as possible.

The appearance of IPv6 in newer devices is equally likely to be a coincidence from starting their development with a more modern codebase and not going to the effort of explicitly disabling it, as it is a requirement for implementing AirPlay 2.

Linux has had official IPv6 support for longer than Sonos has been a going concern. Conceding an initial conservative decision to keep complexity to a minimum, they and the entire industry has had a decade to _start_ testing.

Including IPv6 as a component of your product as early as possible allows your technical staff to become familiar with its use and terminology, helping them readily identify anomalies when troubleshooting. The later this process begins, the greater the lead you concede to competitors and the more it will cost to bring staff up to speed when it becomes increasingly urgent to do so.

Linking a request for IPv6 to the proliferation of ISP deployments will grow as those ISPs are required to castrate their IPv4 routing paths, introducing complexity and points of failure to their v4 path, promoting v6 as the preferred, more reliable path.

In the home, due to the core requirement and use of multicast in the stack, IPv6 provides a more robust implementation for use on cheap, unmanaged equipment you typically find in those environments, which the bean counters should appreciate with the reduction of support staff salaries. Another benefit is the ability to enforce security restrictions based on the scope of an address used to expose functionality.

The above is not exhaustive, but I've not seen many of these arguments raised outside of specialised communities. I appreciate much of the nuance will be lost in this lay-forum, but I also hope they help with understanding and appreciation of the subject.