Re: [tlug] Recommendations for ISP and router upgrades

["Stefan Angrick" <stefan.a@example.com>]

On Thu, 20 May 2021 01:57:44 +0900 Edward Middleton wrote:

> On 14/5/21 5:19 pm, Stefan A. wrote:
> > [...]
> 
> I have been using Asahi Net over b-flets 1-Gbps without any major 
> issues.  You will get rate limited if you use up all available
> bandwidth but I haven't had major issues with everyone on netflix.  I
> use a Linux server as a router.  I would be interested to hear what
> you end up doing and how it performs.  I looked at setting up IPv6
> IPoE a while ago but couldn't afford to break my network while I was
> working out how to configure it.
> 
> Edward

Sorry for being late to follow up on this. I ended up switching providers to Asahi Net and immediately saw an improvement in speed and reliability. This made the most significant difference, even more than the upgrade to 1 Gbps Hikari.

Asahi Net automatically sort out all the IPv6 stuff with NTT for new customers. So after a couple of weeks users can just activate 'IPv4 over IPv6' on their 'My page' portal. Actually using IPv4 over IPv6 requires a router that supports DS-Lite. Asahi Net officially support a few routers by Buffalo, Elecom, i-o data, and NEC[1]. But in principle any DS-Lite-capable router should work. Among international brands, TP-Link[2] sell routers that support DS-Lite and similar standards (these vary by provider).

I've been using IPv4 over IPv6 for about a week now and haven't had any issues. It's solid and speeds are good, but this was true on Asahi Net's standard IPv4 connection as well, so it's not a very noticeable difference. Actually changing to IPv4 over IPv6 was painless, just a simple configuration change on the router. I had to reconnect and my IP changed, but other than that there was no interruption. Users can also change back to standard IPv4 (PPPoE) any time[3].

[1]https://asahi-net.jp/en/service/ftth/ipv6/4over6.html#router
[2]https://www.tp-link.com/jp/support/faq/2383/
[3]https://asahi-net.jp/en/support/qa/item.html?sheetName=c28&questionNo=c28228#top