What is the difference between IPv4 and IPv6 addresses?
Each device connected to the Internet is assigned a unique numerical label that allows other devices to find it, called an IP address. If you look at your IP address, it will usually look like this: 95.180.120.120.
There are two types of IP addresses. The IPv4, shown above, is a 32-bit address that uses only decimal numbers 0-9. As such, the total number of possible IPv4 addresses is limited to 2^32, or 4,294,967,296.
Since it became clear that this is not enough for every device connected on the network, the IETF developed a new IP version, called IPv6. IPv6 uses a hexadecimal system (0-9 and A-F), which allows 340 undecillion addresses.
Here are some major differences between IPv4 and IPv6:
| IPv4 IP addresses | IPv6 IP addresses | |
|---|---|---|
| Structure | IPv4 uses only numbers | IPv6 uses both numbers and letters |
| Size | IPv4 is 32-bit | IPv6 is a 128-bit address |
| Data type | IPv4 is decimal | IPv6 is hexadecimal |
| Checksum | IPv4 allows a checksum field | IPv6 does not include a checksum field |
| Encryption | IPv4 does not provide encryption and authentication | IPv6 does not provide encryption and authentication |
| Connection integrity | IPv4 does not have connection integrity. | IPv6 has end-to-end connection integrity |
IPv6 adaptation has been slow, but IPinfo has quickly adapted to providing IPv6 address information and accepting traffic from IPv6 addresses as well.
IPinfo’s website is dual stack. For our API endpoint, if you are assigned an IPv6 address, you should https://v6.ipinfo.io/ which is special built to accommodate IPv6 addresses.