The Evolution of Internet Addressing
Every device on the global internet needs an Internet Protocol (IP) address to route data packets accurately. For decades, IPv4 served this role reliably. However, the exponential explosion of smartphones, IoT devices, cloud servers, and connected gadgets rapidly exhausted the pool of available 32-bit numbers.
What is IPv4?
IPv4 (Internet Protocol Version 4) was deployed in 1983. It uses 32-bit numerical addresses, which translates to $2^{32} \approx 4.29$ billion possible addresses. While this seemed enormous in the 1980s, the global population and device density quickly exceeded this limit.
What is IPv6?
IPv6 uses 128-bit addresses, providing $2^{128} \approx 3.4 \times 10^{38}$ unique addresses—enough for every grain of sand on Earth to have trillions of IP addresses.
| Feature | IPv4 | IPv6 |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| Address Size | 32 bits | 128 bits |
| Format | Dotted Decimal (e.g. 192.0.2.1) | Hexadecimal (e.g. 2001:db8::1) |
| Total Addresses | ~4.3 Billion | ~340 Undecillion |
| Configuration | Manual or DHCP | Stateless Auto-configuration (SLAAC) |
| Built-in Security | Optional (IPsec) | Mandatory IPsec support |
How to Check Your Current IP
You can check whether your connection is currently using IPv4 or IPv6 by using the
IP Chicken What is My IP Address tool.
