Subj : FidoNews 34:30 [02/08]: General Articles
To   : All
From : FidoNews Robot
Date : Mon Jul 24 2017 00:21:12

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                        GENERAL ARTICLES
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                   TV without IPv6
                   By Michiel van der Vlist (2:280/5555)


Two weeks ago, I bought a new TV. My almost 20 year old TV with 70 cm
CRT finally let go of all its smoke and after watching on a 35 cm
portable for a while I decided it was time for something new. So after
some scouting, comparing specs and prices, my choice fell on a SAMSUNG
UE40KU6020. One meter screen, 4K resolution, build in DVB-C, DVB-S and
DVB-T2 decoder and lots more. I have been watching the Tour the France
in HD for the first time on a big screen and I love it.

There is one thing I overlooked.

Eight years ago, I told myself not to buy any more new network
equipment that does not support IPv6. I haven't bought any new IPv4
only stuff in eight years. And then two weeks ago I sinned. Only to
discover it after the fact. When I connected my new TV to the coax
cable and started the setup procedure, to my surprise, it asked for
the WPA2 key of my WLAN. Apparently it found my WiFi and wanted an
internet connection. In hindsight, it makes sense. It is a smart TV.
It uses an internet connection for the ancillery features. It all
works as advertised. It even has a build in web browser.


Just one thing: no IPv6.

It never occured to me this was one of the things I had to check when
making my choice.

It is not a matter of life and death. Everything works as advertised,
so I am not going to bring it back to the vendor. But I will make a
note to self that in future I will have to check every piece of
electronics for IPv6 capability. Even stuff that does not qualify as
"network equipment" at first glance. These days everything seems to
be connected, so everything needs to be schecked for IPv6 capability.


I will not bring it back. But one of these days I will write a letter
to Samsung, asking them for a firmware upgrade including IPv6.
Because 17 years into the 21th century, IPv4 only is not "state of
the art".



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