It’s a tunnel broker server device (and not a pure service like HE or sixxs) hosted at the SP and terminated at the consumer, so it uses the SP resources like v6 addr block, etc. The tunnel broker server is a commercial product, while the Soft v6CPE is free. Both run on TSP protocol, RFC 5572, so it can traverse NATs easily. DS-Lite is also supported on both ends. For a demo of the above checkout the Freenet6 service, it uses the same gear and soft CPE. -Ahmed -----Original Message----- From: Tim Chown Sent: Wednesday, October 17, 2012 10:27 PM To: Tony Hain Cc: 'Ahmed Abu-Abed' ; ipv6-wg@ripe.net Subject: Re: [ipv6-wg] Soft v6CPE Well, I think what Ahmed is describing is essentially a tunnel broker. There aren't a lot of broker providers out there still, beyond sixxs and HE, or are there? Tim On 17 Oct 2012, at 18:36, "Tony Hain" <alh-ietf@tndh.net> wrote:
Arguably this is the same deployment model as PPP over voice tunneling used 15+ years ago. The fact that the customer edge moves faster than the access network is independent of the actual technologies in use. The definition of "cpe" has always been fluid, and encompasses just about anything that could be at the consumer end of the access link.
Tony
-----Original Message----- From: ipv6-wg-bounces@ripe.net [mailto:ipv6-wg-bounces@ripe.net] On Behalf Of Ahmed Abu-Abed Sent: Tuesday, October 16, 2012 4:17 AM To: ipv6-wg@ripe.net Subject: [ipv6-wg] Soft v6CPE
Hello everyone,
Should RIPE include Soft v6CPE in their IPv6 CPE survey ?
These are basically low-cost software solutions that enable an end user to get IPv6 global connectivity from their SP's own IPv6 address block and service, but works over existing IPv4 access infrastructure and existing v4 only CPEs.
Soft v6CPEs use a 'short distance' tunneling solution which is terminated at the SP premise. Similar to 6RD but doesn't require a hardware CPE, and helps in rapidly spreading v6 connectivity.
The Soft v6CPE solution I have seen on PCs has a simple plug and play installation and free cost. Note that the SP has to be IPv6 ready at the core with global connectivity and install an v6 tunnel server for the solution to work; then they can issue global v6 address blocks from their allocation to customers.
Regards, -Ahmed