IPv4/IPv6

Did you know?

The internet communicates through a set of protocols called TCP/IP. Each node (or device) has its own IP address so that information can be sent to it when requested.

Specifically, devices and organizations have been assigned IP addresses using IPv4 (Internet Protocol version 4). The problem with IPv4 is that it supports up to 4 billion addresses (or devices). With the recent explosion in the number of devices (think IPad, Samsung Galaxy, etc), this creates a problem.

Unfortunately the address assigning authority, Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) has run out of addresses (back in January of 2011). This is where the next version of IP comes to the rescue.

IPv6. IPv6 does not use the dotted decimal (172.194.37.52). Instead, it uses hexadecimal numbers (2001:0:5ef5:79fd:18f4:23ea:3f57:fe94). This allows for internet addresses (or devices) of up to 340 undecillion. That’s enough addresses for “every piece of sand on the planet”!

And the good news is that newer operating systems such as Windows XP and higher support both IPv4 and IPv6. So, no need to worry your little head over running out of IP addresses. Your device will be able to “connect”, as long as you have an ISP of course.