With the explosive growth of connected devices, IPv4’s limitations are becoming more apparent, leading to the development of IPv6, the successor protocol. So, let’s explain what it is, why it was developed, and whether it truly represents the future of the Internet.

What is IPv6?

IPv6, or Internet Protocol version 6, is the latest version of the Internet protocol used to assign unique addresses to devices so they can communicate on the network. The most significant difference between IPv4 and IPv6 is the size of the address space.

While IPv4 uses a 32-bit system that supports about 4.3 billion unique addresses, IPv6 uses a 128-bit system, allowing for an astronomical number of addresses — approximately 340 undecillion. This makes it capable of handling the immense growth of internet-connected devices in the future.