Image: This is an IPv6 address. Gaze upon its glory, mortal.

The Glacial Creep of IPv6 Adoption Creeps Into My Stuff

I was having problems with random wifi dropouts.

WeatherPi, DoorPi and LilWeatherPi all suffered from a tendancy to just randomly lose their wifi connection for no apparent reason. Video from the two weatherpi's would glitch and tear. I felt sure something was interfering with the signal, but none of the tests I have at my disposal would reveal any culprit.

I started digging deep into /var/log/syslog looking for clues. After a few days, I started noticing entries related to IPv6 addresses, which was odd.

It was odd because I've done everything I can to turn IPv6 off here inside my network. The router does not get an IPv6 address from my ISP, and does not serve up any IPv6 DHCP.

According to Google, IPv6 is still under 45% adoption in the US. That means that it will work in some instances, and will fail in others. That just doesn't sound like fun to me. So I keep it turned off, knowing full well that at some point I'm going to have to get on that bus. Kinda like Windows 11.

Armed with my new suspicions, I duckduckgoed the internet for related verbiage. What I wanted was a way to ensure my Pi's were not going to waste their time trying to have IPv6 relations with my router. Because that just wasn't going to happen. The router is not interested.

I finally found what I was looking for, and I share it here with you, dear reader.

To disable ipv6, you have to open /etc/sysctl.conf using any text editor and insert the following lines at the end:

net.ipv6.conf.all.disable_ipv6 = 1
net.ipv6.conf.default.disable_ipv6 = 1
net.ipv6.conf.lo.disable_ipv6 = 1

and reboot. If IPv6 is still not disabled, then the problem is that sysctl.conf is still not activated. To solve this, type the command:

sudo sysctl -p

From: https://www.howtoraspberry.com/2020/04/disable-ipv6-on-raspberry-pi/

I'm pleased to report that after doing this to all my wifi Pi's, my problem was solved. The streaming camera video is uninterrupted, and the Pi's lose their wifi connection far less often. I would estimate like 85% better consistent connection time between failures.

I know the day is coming when I'm going to have to let IPv6 have its way with my stuff, but I'm hoping that's still a while off into the future.

Maybe IPv6 is a thing that works, but you can't prove it by me. Yet.