IPv6 connectivity with 64 bin long prefix from ISP

[a.r...@osram.com]

Hi,

Is there a way to get IPv6 connectivity with a LTE router which only receives a 64 bit prefix from the ISP?

The Border router (wpantund) does not provide a global prefix to the Thread network because it does not get a prefix from the router through DHCPv6-PD. 

I tried "sudo wpanctrl add-prefix prefix <prefix>" to add another or the same prefix resulting in nodes getting a GUA prefix. But it is not routable inside the home network and also not to the internet.

The router has and option to add a ULA prefix, which is also a 64 bit prefix. Can I use that for routing traffic inside the home network? 

Kind regards,

Arnulf

[Martin Turon]

Hi Arnulf,

The two options given in the Border Router Best Practice guide for that case are VPN or ND Proxy:

https://www.threadgroup.org/Portals/0/documents/support/ThreadBorderRouterBestPractices_2530_1.pdf

Regards,

Martin

_____________________________
Martin Turon  |  Nest Labs

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[Jonathan Hui]

Let me more thoroughly answer your seemingly simple question.

Regarding connectivity with devices beyond the LTE router (i.e. WAN).

1. Out-of-box, OpenThread Border Router (OTBR) does not yet directly handle connectivity across an ISP that only provides a /64 prefix.
   
2. If you are able to configure the LTE router directly and dedicate the /64 to the Thread network, then you could have the LTE router route all traffic directly to the Thread network. However, this would not work if you also want non-Thread (e.g. Wi-Fi / Ethernet) devices to route using the /64.
3. If you cannot dedicate the /64 to the Thread network (e.g. because you want to support Wi-Fi / Ethernet devices), then you could use an IPv6 tunnel to provide external connectivity, but this would be an overlay on your existing ISP topology. Here you would use the prefix assigned by the tunnel broker.
4. You could also use NAT66 technology to map a /128 on the Wi-Fi / Ethernet to Thread addresses. Here you could use a ULA prefix.

Regarding connectivity with devices behind the LTE router (i.e. LAN).

1. If you are able to, you could configure the Wi-Fi / Ethernet router(s) and/or host(s) with routes to the Thread network via OTBR. Here you could use a ULA prefix.
1. This could be done manually via static IPv6 route configuration.
2. This could also be done using a dynamic routing protocol (e.g. OSPF).
   
2. If your hosts and/or router support processing Route Information Options in RAs, then you could configure OTBR to advertise the Thread network prefix in RAs on the Wi-Fi / Ethernet interface. Here you could use a ULA prefix.
   
3. It may also be possible to add ND-Proxy support to OTBR, such that Thread devices appear as IPv6 hosts on the Wi-Fi / Ethernet networks. This allows you to extend the ISP-assigned /64 to the Thread network.
4. You could also use NAT66 technology to map a /128 on the Wi-Fi / Ethernet to Thread addresses. Here you could use a ULA prefix.

Which path you choose above largely depends on the specific scenario and environment you have in mind.

Hope that helps.

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Jonathan Hui

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[Vishnu Bemera]

hi Jonathan,

  Could you please explain on how to enable dynamic routing protocol, OSPF mentioned below:

  my requirement is to use multiple border routers  and  the shortest path should be selected automatically

  Hence I would like to use OSPF feature in my openthread network.

Thanks you so much

Vishnu

[Jonathan Hui]

Unfortunately, we do not have a guide or example that demonstrates this.

I would take a look at Quagga, a common implementation of routing protocols for Unix platforms.

You will also need to inject host routes into the dynamic routing protocol (e.g. OSPF). To learn what hosts are behind each router, you will also need each Thread device to provide their IPv6 addresses to border routers, which can then be injected into the dynamic routing protocol operating on the WAN interface.

Hope that helps.

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Jonathan Hui

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