---
title: "What is IPv6?"  
description: "What is IPv6?"  
author: "Abhay Srivastava"  
published: 2017-11-14  
canonical: https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/30580/what-is-ipv6  
category: "technology"  
tags: ["computer networking"]  
reading_time: 2 minutes  

---

# What is IPv6?

What is IPv6?

## Answers

### Answer by Harshal Vispute

Your digital identity is determined by your **[IP address](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/35775/what-do-you-mean-by-ip-address)**. It's a network address for your computer that tells the Internet where to send **emails, files, and other information.** \
Your IP address identifies who you are and where you are in the **Internet's vast network** of billions of digital devices. \
**[IPv6](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/72349/what-is-the-difference-between-ipv4-and-ipv6)**, or **Internet Protocol Version 6**, **is a network layer protocol that enables communication over the internet.** Because of the exponentially rising number of **internet users worldwide, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) established IPv6 in December 1998 with the goal of succeeding IPv4.** \
**IPv6 Address Types:** Let's look at the different types of IPv6 addresses now that we know what they are.

- **Unicast addresses** are addresses that are only used once.
- It usually refers to **a single sender** or **recipient and identifies** a unique node on a network.
- **Addresses that are multicast**
- It represents a collection of **IP devices** and can only be used as a **datagram's destination**.
- **Addresses that can be used in anycast**
- It's associated with a group of interfaces that normally belong to **various nodes**.

## IPv6 Reliability's Benefits:

- **Faster Speeds**: In contrast to **IPv4, IPv6** offers multicast rather than broadcast.
- This feature allows **bandwidth-intensive packet flows** (such as **multimedia streams**) to be transmitted simultaneously to several destinations.
- **Stringer Security: IPv6 has IPSecurity**, which offers **secrecy and data integrity.**
- **Efficiency in routing**
- It is, above all, the definitive solution for **expanding nodes in the Global-network**.

## Disadvantages of IPv6 Conversion:

- Due to the widespread use of **IPv4**, c**onverting to IPv6** will take a **lengthy time**.
- **IPv4 and IPv6** machines are unable to connect directly with one another.
- To do so, they'll require some sort of **intermediary technology.**


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Original Source: https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/30580/what-is-ipv6

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