IPv6 troubleshooting

Products Affected

AirPort Base Station, Mac OS X 10.6, Safari 5 (Mac OS X 10.6)

Symptoms

Learn some helpful troubleshooting suggestions for resolving IPv6-related Internet connectivity issues.

IPv6 related symptoms may include any of the following.

  • The web browser is unresponsive after you enter a search in the search field
  • The web browser reports that it is unable to connect to server because it isn't responding
  • The web browser connects, but only after several minutes
  • The web browser connects, but downloads take much longer than normal, or never complete
  • Other Internet-enabled activities such as reading mail or posting photos do not complete, possibly only when using certain sites

Note: Many websites and search engines are experimenting with adding IPv6 connectivity, so these symptoms may suddenly appear.

Resolution

To determine whether this is an IPv6-related issue or not, attempt to connect to both a known IPv6 website (such as www.ipv6.apple.com) as well as a known non-IPv6 website (such as www.apple.com). If you can connect to www.apple.com but not www.ipv6.apple.com, then you probably have an IPv6-related Internet connectivity issue.

If you have determined that any of the IPv6 symptoms listed above is affecting your system, review the following points and make changes where you feel they are appropriate.

If not, you most likely have an issue not specific to IPv6. The following links may help you troubleshoot the connection issue further:

IPv6 resolution

  1. Update Your Home Router
    • If you are using a third-party router or Internet gateway, check with the vendor for any relevant software updates.
    • If you are using a AirPort Base Station or Time Capsule, be sure it is using the most recent firmware (7.5.2 or later). For more information, see AirPort Extreme: How to Update a Base Station's Firmware.
    • Open AirPort Utility 5.5.2 for Mac or AirPort Utility 5.4.2 for Windows to resolve any IPv6-related problem codes for that base station.
       
  2. Update Your Computer Software
    • If your router does not properly handle IPv6 or compensate for a misconfigured ISP, you may be able to work around it by updating software on your computer.
    • If you are running Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard, update to 10.6.7 or later. For more information, see Mac OS X: How to update your software.
    • If you are experiencing issues with a third-party web browser, try using the latest version of Safari, available here.
       
  3. Contact Your Internet Service Provider.
    • If the issues are indeed due to IPv6-related Internet connectivity issues, the most likely cause is insufficient IPv6 support from your Internet Service Provider (ISP). You should contact them directly and ask them to either reconfigure or disable IPv6 support.
       

Disable IPv6

If the previous steps do not resolve the issue, you can disable IPv6 entirely.

To disable IPv6 on your Mac, see "Configuring IPv6 on Mac OS X".

To disable IPv6 routing on an Airport Base Station:

  1. Open AirPort Utility.
  2. Select your wireless device.
  3. Choose Manual Setup from the Base Station menu.
  4. Enter the password if necessary.
  5. Click the Advanced button, and then click IPv6.
  6. Set the IPv6 mode pop-up to Link Local.

For third-party routers, check your manual or contact the vendor.

Disabling IPv6 routing may be necessary if you have other devices on your local network that are experiencing IPv6-related Internet connectivity issues.

Additional Information

See also: What is IPv6.
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