IPv6 private network ranges

You might think that you cannot try IPv6 now, but little do you realize that you can try IPv6 on your own LAN now.  IPv6 has some network rnages that are defined as IPv6 private (site-local).  These addresses are similar to the old RFC1918 Addresses.  One of these ranges, FEC0::/10 (RFC1884) is now deprecated.  The other range, FC00::/7 (RFC4193) is still in effect and can be used actively.

Here are the steps to get IPv6 working on your LAN

1. To get IPv6 working on your machine, you first need to get the protocol installed on it.  (Provided your OS does not already come with it.)
2. find your local IPv4 IP and convert it to hex.  (If your IP is 19.3.1.2, it would be hexidecial 13030102.)
3. Calculate a subnet number, such as 0001.
4. Your IPv6 IP will look as FC00:IPv4-hex:subnet::/64.
5. Place your IP in the new range and FC00:1303:0102:0001::/64 becomes your new IPv6 network number.
6. Add this IP to your internal interface.
7. Place FC00:1303:0102:0001::1/64 into a device that will be on all the time on your network.  This could be a router or computer.
8. make sure your external router gets an IPv6 address from the ISP.
9. enable ipf or some other NAT6 program on your router.
10. configure ra.conf to broadcast the range.
11. Replace this range in your ra.conf when you get a real IPv6 range.

Now that you have IPv6 setup on your local lan, you can use you can setup other devices on your network and test IPv6 interoperability.  Good luck testing your setup.