Why can't we just prefix IPv4

2 points

10 years ago

Instead of the complexity of switching to IPv6 couldn't we have a an IPV4.1 that supports variable length addresses with 0 indicating legacy.

So:

0.192.168.0.1 -> 192.168.0.1

0.0.0.192.168.0.1 -> 192.168.0.1

25.192.168.0.1 -> new address space 25 with IP of 25.192.168.0.1

25.100.1.2.3.4 -> new address space 25.100... with IP of 25.100.1.2.3.4

then the CIDR notation would just become:

25.192.168.0.1/32 for 25.192.168.0.0 ->25.192.168.0.255

Router's could use the x.y.z.0.0.0.1 address as gateways by default, making routing easy.

Under the covers it would be possible to use IPv6 as the protocol like 6to4 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6to4) but with variable sized addressing from a consumer's perspective.

Just a thought.

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