Billion, a Taiwan based manufacturer of networking equipment and power supply products, has today heralded itself for being one of the first broadband ISP router manufacturers to be ready and compliant with the new IP (Internet Protocol) address standard - IPv6 .

An IP address is assigned to your computer each time you go online (the internet equivalent of a phone number), which allows you to connect with other systems and services. Sadly the current range of IPv4 (e.g. 84.76.41.2) addresses are running out and so IPv6 (e.g. 2002:0:0:0:0:0:5517:38c6) was created, though many in the industry have been slow to adapt.

Billion's announcement has been timed to coincide with World IPv6-Day on 8th June 2011, which is when many of the world's major content providers (e.g. Google, Facebook etc.) will offer their services over IPv6 for a 24-hour "test flight".


The firm also notes that its "award-winning" BiPAC 7800N router (includes a gigabit switch and full wireless-N Wi-Fi features) can now be upgraded with a simple firmware update to support IPv6. The router has been tested and is already working with the following IPv6 compliant UK ISPs: AAISP, IDNet and Entanet .


Billion warns that the rise in the number of mobile devices, laptops and connected machines has helped exhaust IPv4 stock, which it claims could be all used up as early as August 2011. ISPs that are not prepared could, further down the line, face difficulty with adding new customers and existing end-users might even suffer from internet connectivity and performance problems.