Difference between IPv4 and IPv6

Comparison between IPv4 and IPv6

Difference between IPv4 and IPv6 in Tabular Form

  • IPv4 and IPv6 both are internet protocol version 4 and internet protocol version 6, IP version 6 is the new version of Internet Protocol, which is more powerful than IPv4 in terms of complexity and efficiency.
  • More major Comparisons between IPv4 and IPv6 are below the table.

Comparison Chart

IPv4 IPv6
1 IPv4 addresses are 32-bit length. IPv6 addresses are 128-bit length.
2 Fragmentation is done by the sender and forwarding routers. Fragmentation is done only by the sender.
3 IPv4 generates a 4.29×109 address. IPv6 generates a 3.4×1038 address.
4 No packet flow identification. Packet flow identification is available within the IPv6 header using the Flow Label field.
5 The checksum field is available in the header No checksum field in the header.
6 Options fields are available in the header. No option fields, but Extension headers are available.
7 Address Resolution Protocol (ARP)is available to map IPv4 addresses to MAC addresses. Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) is replaced with Neighbour Discovery Protocol.
8 Broadcast messages are available. Broadcast messages are not available.
9 Not Support Auto-configuration. Manual configuration (Static) of IP addresses or DHCP (Dynamic configuration) is required to configure IP addresses. Auto-configuration of addresses is available.
10 Can not support real-time applications. Support real-time application.
11 No Security at a network layer. Provides Security at a network layer.
12 Throughput and delay are more. Throughput and delay are less.
13 IPv4 does not provide encryption and authentication. IPv6 provides encryption and authentication




IPv4

  • IPv4 is Internet Protocol version 4.
  • It is the network layer protocol of the TCP/IP protocol suite.
  • IP is a connectionless, unreliable, best-effort delivery protocol.
  • All the nodes were identified using an IP address. Packets are delivered from the source to destination using IP address
  • IPv4 addresses are encoded as a 32 bits field.
  • IPv4 addresses are often represented in a dotted-decimal format as a sequence of four integers separated by a dot.
  • IPv4 address is used to identify an interface on a router or host. IP addresses are unique. Two devices on the internet can never have addressed at the same time.
  • The address structure was originally defined to have a two-level hierarch Network ID and host ID.  The network ID identifies the network the host is connected to. The host identifies the network connection to the host rather than the actual host.
Class Starting Address Last Address
Class A 0.0.0.0 127.255.255.255
Class B 128.0.0.0 191.255.255.255
Class C 192.0.0.0 223.255.255.255
Class D 224.0.0.0 239.255.255.255
Class E 240.0.0.0 255.255.255.255

IPv6

  • IPv6 provides the host to host communication between systems on the Internet.
  • In early 1990 the IETF began to work on the successor of IPv4 that would solve the address exhaustion problem and other scalability problems.
  • IPv6 addresses are 128 bits in length.
  • Addresses are assigned to the individual interface on nodes, not to the node themselves.
  • IPv6 addresses are assigned to interfaces, rather than to nodes, in recognition that a node can have more than one interface.
  • A single interface may have multiple unique unicast addresses. The first field of any 1Pv6 address is the variable-length format prefix, which identifies various categories of addresses.
  • A new notation has been devised for writing 16-byte addresses. They are written as eight groups of four hexadecimal digits with colons between the groups, like this 8000: 0000: 0000: 0000: 0123 : 4567: 89AB : CDEF
  • IPv6 allows three types of address
    1. Unicast
    2. Anycast
    3. Multicast

Advantage of IPv6

  • Large Address space.
  • Batter header formate.
  • More Security provides




Differences between IPv4 and IPv6 FAQs

What is the main difference between IPv4 and IPv6?
Both are internet protocol version 4 and internet protocol version 6, IP version 6 is the new version of Internet Protocol, which is more powerful than IPv4 in terms of complexity and efficiency.
Which is better IPv4 or IPv6?
IPv6 is better.
What is the advantage of IPv6 over IPv4?
  • Large Address space.
  • Batter header formate.
  • More Security provides

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