APNIC's annual analysis reveals that IPv6 adoption continues to progress slowly despite the long-standing recognition that IPv4's 32-bit address space is insufficient for today's internet scale. The article examines IP address allocation trends through 2025, noting that while IPv6 was designed 33 years ago to solve address exhaustion, there's still no widespread urgency for its deployment. The piece explores what IP address data reveals about the evolving nature of the internet infrastructure.
Background
IPv6 was developed in the 1990s to replace IPv4's limited 32-bit address space with a 128-bit system capable of supporting the massive growth of internet-connected devices. Despite IPv4 address exhaustion concerns, the transition to IPv6 has been gradual over the past three decades.
- Source
- Lobsters
- Published
- Mar 27, 2026 at 11:55 AM
- Score
- 6.0 / 10