Should I disable IPv6 or not?

Marie SWE · Mar 8, 2026

allan said:
This is not a comment directed at the OP, just a general observation from having been involved with Windows support forums since they first appeared.

I've never understood why some folks feel a need to changes something if everything is working fine just because they read that someone suggests they make the change. And then, as often as not, those same folks come to the forums looking for help because something isn't working as it should.

I like tinkering and tweaking as much as the next guy (& gal), but I know what I'm doing and I always have multiple recent disk images just in case. Yeah I'm old school, but my advice has always been: If it ain't broke......

to just answer for myself and no one else

i do things for security and privacy. (not counting my home-lab as that is exception of the rule.) *lol*

allan · Mar 8, 2026

Yeah, let me clarify

. I'm not suggesting we shouldn't make ANY changes. I'm talking about changes that serve no useful purpose other than to do what someone else says we should do when no problem exists and there's no obvious benefit.

As I said, I'm a computer tweaker from way back. In fact, one of my first involvements with support fora was as admin of an old tweaking and support forum for XP (tweakxp.com) back in the early oughts

FrancoDT · Mar 8, 2026

Per AI IPv6 is generally more efficient and can be slightly faster (about 5-10% in some cases) than IPv4 because it eliminates the need for Network Address Translation (NAT) and uses a streamlined, 40-byte fixed header. By removing NAT, routers spend less time processing packets. While not drastically faster in all scenarios, its superior efficiency handles traffic better.

Sounds like good reasons to me.

pseymour · Mar 8, 2026

Currently I just untick the IPv6 box in the network adapter settings and I make sure that's done for each connection, whether it be ethernet or wireless. I could delete the entry but have so far resisted doing that.

thats fine now if you prioritise IPv4, IPv6 will sit there redundant
but is available as a fallback if needed.

This unbinds IPv6 from the interface, so it will not be used as a fallback. If you want fallback, you either set the prefix policy to prefer IPv4, or you leave things alone.

jimbo45 · Mar 8, 2026

If you are just using LOCAL network connections i.e internal / private network then that's OK.
However some internet sites only have IPv6 addresses with no IPv4->IPv6 mapping /conversion so you'll need IPv6. That depends on your service provider.

Cheers
jimbo

TairikuOkami · Mar 8, 2026

allan said:
I've never understood why some folks feel a need to changes something if everything is working fine

The problem is, that it is is not, IPv6 causes issues on Wifi and Ethernet.
There are people, who had 200Mbps speed and 1000Mbps without it.
I hate tweaking, I started, because everything is broken by default.
OS is done like one shoe that fits all, but obviously, that is false.
I never ever used LAN, but it is enabled and causes just this:

Marie SWE · Mar 8, 2026

jimbo45 said:
If you are just using LOCAL network connections i.e internal / private network then that's OK.
However some internet sites only have IPv6 addresses with no IPv4->IPv6 mapping /conversion so you'll need IPv6. That depends on your service provider.

Cheers
jimbo

I have not run in to any websites that dont work.
Do you have an example?

RazorKat83 · Mar 8, 2026

allan said:
If it ain't broke......

Don't fix it. . . I finished it for ya. My ISP doesn't support IPV6, but it's enabled on my PC. I'm not touching it. It's not hurting anything

Marcus Vinicus · Mar 8, 2026

My ISP uses IPv6 on its network so little point in tampering with it on my devices and network.

Slavic · Mar 8, 2026

Marie SWE said:
I have not run in to any websites that dont work.
Do you have an example?

Facebook

www.v6.facebook.com

garlin · Mar 8, 2026

In that example, you're forcing the browser to visit an IPv6-only site.

Most websites will return both IPv6 & IPv4 DNS A records when browsing their top-level domain (www.facebook.com), and your browser can pick accordingly.

Marie SWE · Mar 8, 2026

Slavic said:
Facebook

www.v6.facebook.com

Facebook has ipv4 as i can open facebook.com
So they as many has both ipv4 and ipv6
But websites with only ipv6 is rare.. small niche sites might have, but i have not run in to any website yet that dont have ipv4

Marie SWE · Mar 8, 2026

garlin said:
In that example, you're forcing the browser to visit an IPv6-only site.

Most websites will return both IPv6 & IPv4 DNS A records when browsing their top-level domain (www.facebook.com), and your browser can pick accordingly.

I missed your post before i sent mine. *lol*

larc919 · Mar 8, 2026

I have IPv6 turned on, but have never even once had any need for it. It still pretty much seems to be a solution in search of a problem.

Slavic · Mar 8, 2026

garlin said:
In that example, you're forcing the browser to visit an IPv6-only site.

Yes, you can count this as a test of IPv6 compatibility: there is no much reason to use it instead of traditional Facebook address. But as a test, it shows the readiness for near or more distant future when number of such websites will increase. Right now, some IoT devices can connect using IPv6 because they will be in the future so numerous, far beyond the IPv4 address space.

Also this is a good test of VPN service. For example, while my ISP doesn't support IPv6, with browser VPN extension (Proton in my case) I can reach this website easily because Proton supports IPv6/IPv4 transition.

Marie SWE · Mar 8, 2026

ipv6 has been around over 30 years and in use in te internet for over 20 years. So dont expect ipv6 to increase to much the next 10 years.
There is a reason that servers exposed to the internet hasn't adopted ipv6 more then they have the last 20 years.

cheaterslick · Mar 8, 2026

allan said:
I've never understood why some folks feel a need to changes something if everything is working fine just because they read that someone suggests they make the change. And then, as often as not, those same folks come to the forums looking for help because something isn't working as it should.

Thing is I'm thinking about switching my protocol to using WireGuard and that WireGuard (correct me if I'm wrong) utilizes IPv6 to work more effectively. I haven't fully decided to do that yet. That's why I'm looking for feedback.

Unless you all know that WireGuard uses IPv4 just as effectively as anything else..

allan said:
I like tinkering and tweaking as much as the next guy (& gal), but I know what I'm doing and I always have multiple recent disk images just in case. Yeah I'm old school, but my advice has always been: If it ain't broke......

I'm of the same mindset as well.

~

The reason I disabled it way back when was due to the following mentioned in that ExpressVPN link up above.

"That said, some users worry about IPv6 tracking risks and its impact on their online anonymity. There is some basis for this concern: unlike IPv4, which often uses shared or dynamic addresses, IPv6 can assign unique, persistent identifiers to devices, which in theory could make tracking easier. However, most modern systems use privacy extensions that generate temporary, randomized IPv6 addresses to avoid this issue."

What "privacy extensions" are they talking about?

"However, there are legitimate reasons to consider turning IPv6 off. Some security professionals recommend turning it off if you’re not actively using it to reduce your system’s potential attack surface. If you’re using a VPN that lacks IPv6 support, disabling it can also help prevent privacy leaks."

Again, I remember hearing that way-back-when but I also don't know if that's still true or not. Yes? No?

Slavic said:
Facebook

www.v6.facebook.com

lol, no big loss....

pseymour · Mar 8, 2026

cheaterslick said:
Thing is I'm thinking about switching my protocol to using WireGuard and that WireGuard (correct me if I'm wrong) utilizes IPv6 to work more effectively. I haven't fully decided to do that yet. That's why I'm looking for feedback.

Could have said that yesterday.

cheaterslick · Mar 8, 2026

pseymour said:
Could have said that yesterday.

True, and I was gonna eventually mention it, but I also wanted to know if this also extended beyond WireGuard in general and not just any specific protocal/program.

I don't plan on toggling IPv6 on or off anytime soon.

XxXxX · Mar 8, 2026

cheaterslick said:
Thing is I'm thinking about switching my protocol to using WireGuard and that WireGuard (correct me if I'm wrong) utilizes IPv6 to work more effectively. I haven't fully decided to do that yet. That's why I'm looking for feedback.

Unless you all know that WireGuard uses IPv4 just as effectively as anything else..

Cloudflare warp uses IPv6 to create its encrypted tunnel to its DNS servers
thats why i have IPv6 enabled but have set system priority to IPv4

warp can then create its tunnel but then uses IPv4 before using IPv6 for DNS
but will fallback to IPv6 if a IPv4 address cant be found.

best of luck Steve ..

Should I disable IPv6 or not?

I almost never bite.......

My Computers

Well-known member

My Computer

Well-known member

My Computers

putting the mental back in experimental

My Computer

Well-known member

My Computer

Microsoft 365 Basic

My Computer

I almost never bite.......

My Computers

Arklahoma Storm Spotter

My Computers

Semper paratus

My Computers

Well-known member

My Computer

Well-known member

My Computer

I almost never bite.......

My Computers

I almost never bite.......

My Computers

Well-known member

My Computer

Well-known member

My Computer

I almost never bite.......

My Computers

Well-known member

My Computers

putting the mental back in experimental

My Computer

Well-known member

My Computers

Just a Computer User

My Computers

Similar threads