Let me shed some light here..... (Being familiar with both
communities... Nanog and WISP's )
WISP's are a very special breed of folks. There are a few common
attributes that one has to recognize about them.
1. Most WISP's are not Technical Folks. (Most of them are Farmers or
from other totally non-technical fields).
2. Most of them became operators not because they wanted to or it made
business sense. but simply because there was not Service available in
that area.
3. They are very hardworking, innovative group, but at the same time
they are also a bit on the 'eccentric' side when comes to technology,
and understanding technology.
4. Most of them have outsourced folks managing their networks. (these
folks are very qualified and familiar with networking)
So, in contrast, while NANOG community is full of folks who develop /
write RFC's for Global networks, WISP community is mostly Rural folks
who were forced to 'piece a network' together because no-one would serve
them....
Don't be alarmed by the discussion on UBNT list or any other WISP
list.....Most WISP's are typically very small network operators (sub 500
subscribers, there are some large ones too but their opinions and
technical understanding is very different.) and tend to setup their
network the 'Easy way'.... You will find them to be about the very last
folks to adapt IPv6...(to make my case and point .... A lot of them are
still running Bridge Networks, and just starting to convert to Routed
Networks). They are not known for Leading Edge network operators with
the exception of when it comes to 'Wireless Radios'.
A lot of them are very comfortable with using Private IP's and NAT to
provide service to their customers.
Worry about them .... No need.
Need for Education on IPv6 ... Absolutely Yes.... We all can use as much
as we can get.
And, we all are also hampered by IPv6 support / or lack of it, from the
equipment mfg. that we are using in our networks.
Hope this makes sense.
Faisal Imtiaz
Snappy Internet & Telecom
On 9/16/2012 1:43 PM, Seth Mattinen wrote:
On 9/16/12 9:55 AM, Seth Mattinen wrote:
I came across these threads today; the blind ignorance towards IPv6 from
some of the posters is kind of shocking. It's also pretty disappointing
if these are the people providing internet access to end users. We focus
our worries on the big guys like AT&T going IPv6 (which I'm sure but
they're slow), but these small operators are a much bigger problem.
http://forum.ubnt.com/showthread.php?p=355722
http://forum.ubnt.com/showthread.php?t=53779
It was brought to my attention that the second link isn't open to the
public, sorry about that, I forgot to check them in a separate browser.
The attitudes are the same though.
~Seth
