I actually followed your advice and added the functionality you
suggested. Also moved the script to a VM with IPv6. Check out the new results below.
Analyzing IPv6 adoption from DNS records...
IPv6 Adoption Analysis (DNS Records):
Note: 100% accuracy based on actual DNS responses
Hostnames with A records only (IPv4): 503 (72.1%)
Hostnames with AAAA records only (IPv6): 4 (0.6%)
Hostnames with both A and AAAA (dual-stack): 143 (20.5%)
Total unique hostnames analyzed: 698
IPv6 readiness: 147/698 hostnames (21.1%)
The list of IPv6 nodes that I weekly publish in Fidonews presently
has 101 entries. Significantly less than the 147 mentioned above. I
should mention that my list only contains nodes with whom I have
managed to establish an IPv6 binkp connect.
Then, on older BBS softwares some kind of front-end needs to be ran
to answer incoming telnet connections.
Then, on older BBS softwares some kind of front-end needs to be ran
to answer incoming telnet connections.
Not sure why I said telnet, as we were discussing binkp. But the same scenarios apply.
Node 4:801/201 - Clube_da_Insonia_BBS
Sysop: Glauber_Rodrigues
Location: Santo_Andre_SP
Hostname: bbs.conf.eti.br -> 194.5.159.64
Country: The Netherlands (NL)
Region: Drenthe, City: Meppel
ISP: Hostinger International Limited
The list of IPv6 nodes that I weekly publish in Fidonews presently
has 101 entries. Significantly less than the 147 mentioned above. I
should mention that my list only contains nodes with whom I have
managed to establish an IPv6 binkp connect.
Keep in mind also, that currently developed BBS softwares (Mystic and Synchronet, for example) have options to listen on IPv4, IPv6, or
both. It could just be the fact that they've set it up to listen on
IPv4 only, maybe not even knowing that they have IPv6 capability. Or,
they may only want to connect via IPv4 because they have no way of
setting any kind of firewall rules for IPv6 (crappy ISP issued router,
or something).
Finally, they may just not know what the hell they're doing. ;)
I'd be willing to bet a majority of those 46 nodes just have no idea
they have IPv6,
or don't know how to properly configure it (so they have an AAAA
record, but it's not setup to listen on certain ports).
Hostnames with AAAA records only (IPv6): 4 (0.6%)
Then where do the AAAA records come from? Those AAAA records do not
fall out of the sky. AFAIK it always requires a premeditated affort
from the owner of the host name.
Did I mention that when I come across such a situation I always try
to contact the sysop in order to try to help hem/her fix the problem?
The vast majority of these attempt to contact the sysop fails. They
do not respond at all. :(
When you lookup this hoster, it is headquartered in Lithuania, though
it has a registered office in Cyprus (as seen above).
When you look at their website it says it has multiple datacenters
around the world, but it doesn't mention the Netherlands.
Does every DNS provider make you manually setup an AAAA record? Or do
some of them possibly have a default one in place just so that IPv6 /works/ out of the box?
When you lookup this hoster, it is headquartered in Lithuania, though
it has a registered office in Cyprus (as seen above).
When you look at their website it says it has multiple datacenters
around the world, but it doesn't mention the Netherlands.
https://support.hostinger.com/en/articles/1583267-where-are-hostinger-servers-
located
Europe: France, Germany, Lithuania, United Kingdom, *Netherlands*
Asia: India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore
North America: Arizona, Massachusetts, New York
South America: Brazil
Does every DNS provider make you manually setup an AAAA record? Or do
some of them possibly have a default one in place just so that IPv6
/works/ out of the box?
I really hope so ..
if not I would not choose that DNS provider.
A record A or AAAA should only be setup by the user who controls de DNS.
If I want to have a DNS name whatever.com and I do not configure it, it is registered but does not go to any address. Hence which is ok and wanted and
meant to be.
Then where do the AAAA records come from? Those AAAA records do not
fall out of the sky. AFAIK it always requires a premeditated affort
from the owner of the host name.
Does every DNS provider make you manually setup an AAAA record? Or do
some of them possibly have a default one in place just so that IPv6 /works/ out of the box?
The vast majority of these attempt to contact the sysop fails. They
do not respond at all. :(
So maybe they have it halfway setup, then.. and then decided they're
too busy to pay attention to their services.
I don't know, I've exhausted all of my ideas, and also realized I was trying to rationalize what others do entirely too hard on this. ;)
For a VPS the mac address is known by the VPS provider. If they also provide the host name, they can pre configure an IPv6 AAAA record,
that is based on the mac address.
If I want to have a DNS name whatever.com and I do not configure it,
it is registered but does not go to any address. Hence which is ok
and wanted and meant to be.
In the past, in the IPv4 only age, some providers here offered
customers xxxx.provider.nl as a host name linked to their static IPv4 address. xxxx was for he customer to choose. That practise stopped
over a decade ago and I do not see how that could be extended to IPv6
to "work out of the box". For IPv6 there usually is k\just one IP
address and it points to the to of the customer's NAT. That would not
work "out of the box" for running a server because the customer still
had to configure a port forwward and possibly puncj hols in firewalls
but it could be a start. Fo IPv6 there is not a single IP adres for
the whole system. There is no way the provider would know what IPv6
address to proconfigure for it to "work out of the box".
So the question "if the sysop is unaware that he/she has IPv6, where
do these AAAA records come from" remains unanswered.
Possibly. So these nodes have become zombie nodes for all intents an puposes?
So have I. I have no idea what we can do to remedie the situation.
For a VPS the mac address is known by the VPS provider. If they also provide the host name, they can pre configure an IPv6 AAAA record,
that is based on the mac address.
If I want to have a DNS name whatever.com and I do not configure
it, it is registered but does not go to any address. Hence which
is ok and wanted and meant to be.
There might be some package deals where you buy a VPS with a Hostname, where the DNS for the hostname is preconfigured to point to the VPS...
I guess what I meant was, if one does indeed configure their A record,
do some providers possibly have some kind of catch all, default AAAA record that just points to A in hopes there's an IPv6 address also?
I understand if one wants to point their DNS to a specific AAAA
record, they can do it themselves. I'm just wondering with not many
people even knowing if they have IPv6 (or not even knowing what it is)
in a dual stack situation, if it might be automatically enabled
somehow by the registrar.
When IPv6 compatible routers first started coming out, there was no filtering and/or port forwarding. If you enabled IPv6, it was
completely open. I don't think it took very long for them to wise up
and address that, but I bet there's still people using those old
routers.
So what you're saying here is, there is no possibly way someone could advertise an AAAA record without them manually configuring it at their
DNS provider?
So the question "if the sysop is unaware that he/she has IPv6,
where do these AAAA records come from" remains unanswered.
That's the same question I'm hung up on then.
but alas I understand that in above way it is possible that a party already configured the IPv6 record as well although it might not be configured on the VPS ;)
If I want to have a DNS name whatever.com and I do not configure
it, it is registered but does not go to any address. Hence which is
ok and wanted and meant to be.
I guess what I meant was, if one does indeed configure their A record,
do some providers possibly have some kind of catch all, default AAAA record that just points to A in hopes there's an IPv6 address also?
I understand if one wants to point their DNS to a specific AAAA
record, they can do it themselves. I'm just wondering with not many
people even knowing if they have IPv6 (or not even knowing what it is)
in a dual stack situation, if it might be automatically enabled
somehow by the registrar.
When IPv6 compatible routers first started coming out, there was no filtering and/or port forwarding. If you enabled IPv6, it was
completely open. I don't think it took very long for them to wise up
and address that, but I bet there's still people using those old
routers.
Hey Michiel!
On Wed, Aug 06 2025 03:20:58 -0500, you wrote:
So what you're saying here is, there is no possibly way someone could advertise an AAAA record without them manually configuring it at their
DNS provider?
So the question "if the sysop is unaware that he/she has IPv6,
where do these AAAA records come from" remains unanswered.
That's the same question I'm hung up on then.
Possibly. So these nodes have become zombie nodes for all intents
an puposes?
I imagine there's quite a few. Did the most recent report from Dmitry
show about 25% of Fidonet participants are dead wood? ;)
So have I. I have no idea what we can do to remedie the situation.
I'm not so sure we can.
For a VPS the mac address is known by the VPS provider. If they
also provide the host name, they can pre configure an IPv6 AAAA
record, that is based on the mac address.
With this in mind, I have heard quite a few sysops mention using a VPS over the years. So, if this is a thing, maybe our question is finally answered!
IPv6 is still niche ..
so it would not directly be available on OLD routers. Mainly they only
do support IPv4 (been there done that as OEM/ODM manufacturer for
end-user consumer market)
There are ISP's who give users routers with dual stack, but as I am
not using that hardware I do not know if IPv6 is enabled by default.
But hey open ports is asking for trouble so they would drop every
incoming connection until it is configured otherwise
Indeed. But .. if you had it in use for ie. 2 years and you do not
use fido anymore and you forget about it or your IPv6 has been
changed cause sometimes that happens and you forget about your DNS..
than your DNS has an advertised IPv6 but does not work anymore as you
are unaware that your IPv6 has been changed.
What do you mean by "points to A" in this context?
I doubt that the use of those very old routers that do not have a
firewall and have it reject all unsilliced income is more that a very
few exceptions. IIRC they are over two decades old.
IPv6 is still niche ..
I disagree. While it is not yet the dominant protocol, it hovers just under 50% global use. It is not a niche.
so it would not directly be available on OLD routers. Mainly they
only do support IPv4 (been there done that as OEM/ODM
manufacturer for end-user consumer market)
How long ago was that?
The vast majority of consumers use a router from their provider and
the vast majority of those routers support IPv6 and have it enabled by default. Your provider's router certainly does.
Indeed. But .. if you had it in use for ie. 2 years and you do not
use fido anymore and you forget about it or your IPv6 has been
changed cause sometimes that happens and you forget about your
DNS.. than your DNS has an advertised IPv6 but does not work
anymore as you are unaware that your IPv6 has been changed.
This sounds much more plausible, then. IPv6 could have been configured
at one point (as you say), and then they bought a new router, or
anything that could cause their IPv6 address to change, and never
realized to change their DNS settings.
I doubt that the use of those very old routers that do not have a
firewall and have it reject all unsilliced income is more that a
very few exceptions. IIRC they are over two decades old.
I rocked an Asus AC68U up until only a few years ago. I'm fairly
certain with the default firmware on that router you could enable
IPv6, but you couldn't configure anything to do with it. It may have
even warned you that enabling it would open it completely to the
public. Of course, when I originally realized that I changed firmware, until it ran it's course and I eventually upgraded to an AX88U Pro.
I rocked an Asus AC68U up until only a few years ago. I'm fairly
certain with the default firmware on that router you could enable
IPv6, but you couldn't configure anything to do with it. It may have
even warned you that enabling it would open it completely to the
public. Of course, when I originally realized that I changed firmware,
until it ran it's course and I eventually upgraded to an AX88U Pro.
Bottom line: That router without a firewall is no longer is use.
Bottom line: That router without a firewall is no longer is use.
Correct, in my case. But how many others out there might still be
using a router like that. If they aren't broken (in their eyes), many don't bother upgrading until they absolutely have to.
I have 3 in my list of IPv6 nodes.
10 2:280/5006 Kees van Eeten Native KPN f INO4
61 2:460/5858 Stas Mishchenkov Native KCT/he.net f INO4
71 2:221/10 Tommi Koivula Native Hetzner f INO4
Who is number 4?
I have 3 in my list of IPv6 nodes.
10 2:280/5006 Kees van Eeten Native KPN f INO4
61 2:460/5858 Stas Mishchenkov Native KCT/he.net f INO4
71 2:221/10 Tommi Koivula Native Hetzner f INO4
Who is number 4?
There is a strong candidate in Sweden...
address: 2:203/0@fidonet
address: 2:20/0@fidonet
address: 2:2/2@fidonet
address: 2:203/2@fidonet
OPT EXTCMD
2001:9b1:10d:77::52b - Ok.
Session with 2:20/0 done.
Calling 2:20/0 (94.254.14.141:24555)
error (Connection timed out)
| Sysop: | DaiTengu |
|---|---|
| Location: | Appleton, WI |
| Users: | 1,104 |
| Nodes: | 10 (0 / 10) |
| Uptime: | 492384:05:42 |
| Calls: | 14,149 |
| Files: | 186,281 |
| D/L today: |
1,837 files (678M bytes) |
| Messages: | 2,501,069 |