IPV6 Activation

[ScottW]

I am having a problem activating IPv6.

The router is a N66U with RMerlin 3.0.0.4.374.33 firmware. (I had the same problem when using RMerlin 3.0.0.4.374.32. When I upgraded to the .33 release, I reset to factory defaults and setup from scratch.) Everything works perfectly when running in IPv4 mode.

Comcast says my CMTS supports IPv6. My modem is an Arris TM722G, supplied by Comcast, and it supports IPv6.

Here's what happens:
1. I change the N66u's IPv6 "connection type" to "Native", with "DHCP-PD" set to "Enable".
2. I click on "Apply".
4. The router shows a "Proceeding..." dialog, which progresses up to 100%, stalls for a few moments (spinner stops spinning), then says "Complete!".
4. The router becomes non-responsive at that point. I can no longer access the router web pages, and all traffic (even between LAN ports) ceases to flow.
5. I power cycle the N66u. Once it boots, I can again access the router web pages and it passes traffic between the LAN ports. But the network map page says "disconnected", and it never gets either a IPv4 or IPv6 address from Comcast. (It should get both, right? Or at least an IPv4, even if IPv6 isn't working?)

If I then disable IPv6 by changing the IPv6 connection type from "Native" to "Disabled" and clicking "Apply", the router again shows the progress dialog through 100%, then "Complete", then becomes completely non-responsive. After another power cycle, it boots up and functions completely normally again (with an IPv4 address, of course).

I have disconnected the 722G modem for 15 minutes and reconnected. NO difference.

What should I try next?

 

[ScottW]

Fixed?

Update... IT WORKS NOW.

But I don't understand why.

I have always used a custom MAC address on the WAN settings, and that has resulted in getting the same IPv4 address/gateway for at least a couple years now.

I removed that MAC address, letting Comcast just see the Router's actual MAC address. After I applied that, the router showed a very short-lived "Proceeding" dialog, then came up immediately with both IPv6 and IPv4 addresses.

So when using that old MAC, the router connects fine in IPv4 mode. But in IPv6 mode, it fails to get either IPv4 or IPv6 addresses.

Using the router's MAC, it works perfectly in IPv6 mode.

Why can't I use IPv6 with that old MAC? (I know that's probably a question for Comcast, but I'm hoping someone here already knows!)

 

[PrivateJoker]

@scottW, I also have an N66 (but running .32MW) and have Comcast/Kabletown/Shinehart Wig Company as my ISP and native IPV6 on a leased Arris.

First have you power cycled (and popped battery) on your Arris?

You can look at your modem (mine defaults to 192.168.100.1) and one of those tabs will tell you if it's pulling an IPV6 address. It lists them by enumerating the # of times it has gotten one, mine started off at 0 before they enabled it and now is up in the teens (after several months), I don't know what to make of it's IPV4 count of 0, that has worked fine to.

My router is set to native and only works properly if I say "yes" to get DNS (both v4&6) from ISP.

After power cycling (for 10 min or so) my modem, then my router, it has worked for months w/o any MAC address finessing. I'm assuming your neck of the woods & mine are rolled out similarly, this may not be the case, but if you'd like any screenshots I can post.

 

[ScottW]

Thanks for the reply, but I think you were typing it as I was typing my second message (see above).

Everything started working just fine as soon as I changed the MAC address being presented to Comcast.

My GUESS is that MAC was associated with an old gateway that didn't support IPV6, and changing it allowed a new gateway to be assigned.

I suppose if I had released the IP associated with that address, that might also have fixed the issue?

In any case, it is working fine now!