rtcvb32: I've wondered for a while if an internet2 will be coming, if this happens, that might be the tipping point to start it all over again. Using IP6 instead of IP4 among other things. Or completely redone.
In some ways it could be a good thing, but as things stand good ideas are corrupted by corporations to the worst possible outcome.
The public IPv6 Internet went live several years ago officially, so it's already here (Source:
). It's not called "Internet2" however, that is something else entirely - [url=https://www.internet2.edu]https://www.internet2.edu/
ISPs and other service providers/websites/ASNs etc. will all individually decide for themselves when they're ready to adopt IPv6 networking technologies and become part of the public IPv6 network but they're unlikely to do it simultaneously all of a sudden and more likely to adopt and use it based on their own perception of the need and other criterion unique to the individual company. Some areas of the world such as a few individual countries in Europe, and the US have adopted IPv6 much more quickly, while a lot of the rest of the world has been dragging its feet.
Currently the IPv6 Internet has approximately 13% global adoption and almost 30% adoption in the USA ( Source:
Google IPv6 Stats ).
I've been online over the public IPv6 Internet since 2008 on a continuous basis using a tunnel from Hurricane Electric (
http://www.tunnelbroker.net) and using other transitional IPv6 technologies on an as-needed basis prior to that (6to4 primarily). Sadly, we only have about 10% coverage in Canada at the moment and it is not yet available to residential customers of Shaw Cable nor Bell Canada so I do not have native IPv6 available to my home here yet, which is why I use the HE.net tunnel.
A large number of the most popular websites and services have been online over IPv6 on or before the official
a few years ago, and tonnes more have stepped up to the plate since then as well. There's [url=http://www.worldipv6launch.org/major-mobile-us-networks-pass-50-ipv6-threshold/]over 50% mobile adoption of IPv6 in the US as well, and nowadays it seems most people own a mobile phone or device.
Using Google's statistics which are likely fairly reliable as an overview of global adoption (because who doesn't use Google for at least something every day, whether it is their website, youtube, one of their other zillion sites, or even just other websites using googleapis.com or other embedded stuff, it's impossible to escape TEH GOOGEL! :) ). Their stats I linked to above show global adoption doubling reliably every single year for the last several years since the official launch, so if that rate holds up, next year at this time approx 26% of the planet will have adopted the IPv6 Internet, and 52% in 2018, and by 2019 the majority of the planet should have transitioned over and we'll probably see stragglers that form little islands here and there for years to come.
So even though the IPv6 enabled Internet is not particularly visible to the average joe out there per se, it is very much there and working fine for several years now for those who have reliable connectivity through their service providers, or people such as myself that are using transitional technologies at the present until native support is available directly. Hurricane Electric also has some more in depth statistics pages on the DNS system's usage of IPv6, and top 100 websites and other stuff although I don't have the link handy ATM.
On the residential side of things though, most people don't even know what IPv4 is let alone IPv6 and they're more likely to end up using IPv6 Internet before they ever realize it is a thing. Using Google's stats for example we could assume that almost 30% of GOG customers have IPv6 connectivity, but probably the majority of them don't even know what that means or that they're already using it, as it is intentionally intended to be transparent as possible. :) Likewise, a huge number of cell phone users have been using IPv6 unknowingly for years now as well.