[SOLVED]19.1 - DHCPv6 settings to hand out ipv6 to wifi devices on google wifi

[walkerx]

i get an ipv6 address from my isp and all wired devices on my network work with ipv6

but I have google wifi setup, but to get it work as a mesh I need it to use normal router mode as setting it in AP mode means I can't use the mesh network and some of the units can't be used as can't backhaul via ethernet.

I've enabled ipv6 on the google wifi and it says enabled, but it's not passing any ipv6 to client wifi devices of which I want to do, probably as it's only receiving a single ipv6 address and i have no dhcpv6 server running.

So can anyone offer any advice on how to get opnsense provide to provide an ipv6 to the google wifi, so devices can use ipv6 out to the internet

[Maurice]

Set the Router Advertisements mode to Assisted, enable the DHCPv6 server and configure both an address range as well as a Prefix Delegation range.

(This doesn't work if your ISP only gives you a /64 prefix which unfortunately some do.)

[walkerx]

my current isp provides /56 not sure what my new isp will be providing when i switch over

also never setup dhcpv6 so not sure of the full configuration for this as all my wired devices get an ipv6 (i think i have it set to track from wan)

[Maurice]

In general, you don't need DHCPv6 in the LAN for IPv6 to work. Hosts will just autoconfigure their addresses.

But if you connect another router, this secondary router needs a prefix to assign to its hosts. It gets this prefix using Prefix Delegation and this requires DHCPv6.

Configuration steps in OPNsense are (assuming you get a /56 from your ISP and use tracking on the LAN interface):

• In Interfaces / LAN, enable "Allow manual adjustment of DHCPv6 and Router Advertisements".
• In Services / DHCPv6 / LAN, enable the DHCPv6 server, enter a host ID range (e. g. from ::1 to ::ff), enter a Prefix Delegation Range (e. g. from ::20 to ::40) and set the Prefix Delegation Size to 60.
• In Services / Router Advertisements / LAN, set the mode to " Assisted".

[walkerx]

In general, you don't need DHCPv6 in the LAN for IPv6 to work. Hosts will just autoconfigure their addresses.

But if you connect another router, this secondary router needs a prefix to assign to its hosts. It gets this prefix using Prefix Delegation and this requires DHCPv6.

Configuration steps in OPNsense are (assuming you get a /56 from your ISP and use tracking on the LAN interface):

• In Interfaces / LAN, enable "Allow manual adjustment of DHCPv6 and Router Advertisements".
• In Services / DHCPv6 / LAN, enable the DHCPv6 server, enter a host ID range (e. g. from ::1 to ::ff), enter a Prefix Delegation Range (e. g. from ::20 to ::40) and set the Prefix Delegation Size to 60.
• In Services / Router Advertisements / LAN, set the mode to " Assisted".

thanks for this, i will configure and check next time my isp decides to renew to see if all works

hopefully once i switch providers it will work as intended

[walkerx]

ok, i've configured the settings but devices still not getting full ip range on wifi units, they all start with fe80

I've also looked at https://wiki.opnsense.org/manual/how-tos/IPv6_ZenUK.html ready for switching to zen and noticed there are two ip ranges mentioned, which is confusing

[walkerx]

In general, you don't need DHCPv6 in the LAN for IPv6 to work. Hosts will just autoconfigure their addresses.

But if you connect another router, this secondary router needs a prefix to assign to its hosts. It gets this prefix using Prefix Delegation and this requires DHCPv6.

Configuration steps in OPNsense are (assuming you get a /56 from your ISP and use tracking on the LAN interface):

• In Interfaces / LAN, enable "Allow manual adjustment of DHCPv6 and Router Advertisements".
• In Services / DHCPv6 / LAN, enable the DHCPv6 server, enter a host ID range (e. g. from ::1 to ::ff), enter a Prefix Delegation Range (e. g. from ::20 to ::40) and set the Prefix Delegation Size to 60.
• In Services / Router Advertisements / LAN, set the mode to " Assisted".

I've now got some ipv6 details from my new provider

ND is /64 (for wan)
PD is /48 (for lan)

would the settings be the same

[Maurice]

I've now got some ipv6 details from my new provider

ND is /64 (for wan)
PD is /48 (for lan)

would the settings be the same

You can use the same settings, yes. Just make sure to configure the Prefix delegation size on the WAN interface correctly (/48).

[walkerx]

thanks

I'll try to work this out, as i've set the ipv6 settings to static

all my wired devices are getting ipv6 addresses, so it's just the wifi devices to sort now

[walkerx]

after a lot of help and testing, we have found that Google Wifi will not work as a sub-router handing out ipv6 addresses to client machines.

this was also confirmed by Google who stated it was not supported and only way for ipv6 to work was by having the GW as the main router and not installed as sub-router.

While being used as a sub-router with GW wan set to dhcp, GW will not pick up the addressing and prefix properly and thus not allow ipv6 to work.

I tested with an old dlink dir 825 router and this obtained addresses and prefix from opnsense so knew not an issue with opnsense.

Switched to a tp-link deco system and this works perfectly as a sub-router or access point

[Maurice]

That's odd. The Google thingy always is the "sub-router" of some other router, be it your local OPNsense or your ISP's router. Shouldn't make any difference.

The "documentation" says that the Google thingy runs connectivity tests to some unknown Google servers and might disable IPv6 completely if it's not happy with the results. Wow. Also, the configuration options seem to be slightly limited: "Tap IPv6. Switch the toggle to the ON position."

(Note to self: Don't ever buy networking gear from companies whose primary businesses include advertisement and cat videos.)

[walkerx]

That's odd. The Google thingy always is the "sub-router" of some other router, be it your local OPNsense or your ISP's router. Shouldn't make any difference.

The "documentation" says that the Google thingy runs connectivity tests to some unknown Google servers and might disable IPv6 completely if it's not happy with the results. Wow. Also, the configuration options seem to be slightly limited: "Tap IPv6. Switch the toggle to the ON position."

(Note to self: Don't ever buy networking gear from companies whose primary businesses include advertisement and cat videos.)

yep, as when you look on their faq regarding using dhcp connection on wan it should work

they prefer the router to be directly connected to modem and do all authenication, but as told them it shouldn't matter if isp handing out ipv6 or i am via opnsense as its the same, even showed them that a 7+ year old router can do it, so why not theirs, but it seems how they implement ipv6 that is the problem.

I've now resolved my issues by switching to a deco m5 system