IdeaWell

Project ideas from Hacker News discussions.

I spent a week without IPv4 (2023)

Original Article

Hacker News Discussion

📝 Discussion Summary (Click to expand)

1. IPv6 Home Setup Challenges

Users seek practical guidance on prefixes, collisions, routing, firewalls, and VLANs, emphasizing ISP prefix delegation and SLAAC over manual config.
"While these articles are useful... what would really help is an article explaining step by step how to configure a home network using IPv6." - glitchc
"Prefix delegation will let your ISP assign you multiple networks, and then most routers will break these up into /64 networks for each of your VLANs." - candiddevmike

2. Unfriendly IPv6 Address Format

Long, hex-based addresses are hard to remember/type, with abbreviation rules (e.g., ::) seen as confusing despite tools like DNS.
"IPv6 is just too long and requires copy/paste all the time. This is the only real reason... why IPv6 is doomed to be second-grade citizen." - mojuba
"The length of the addresses and the clunky nature of their ASCII representation is absolutely the #1 reason the IPv6 has taken this long." - api

3. Device/Service Compatibility Barriers

Android's DHCPv6 absence, incomplete IPv6 site support, router defaults, and ISP variability force dual-stack reliance.
"Android... purposefully disables DHCPv6. I am forced to support IPv4/DHCPv4 for the foreseeable future." - candiddevmike
"About 50% of the public sites I tried to visit didn't resolve... IPv6 simply is still not ready." - 1970-01-01

🚀 Project Ideas

Android IPv6 DHCPv6 Proxy

Summary

  • Router-side software agent that intercepts Android SLAAC addresses via NDP monitoring, assigns stable suffixes based on MAC/DUID for firewall/monitoring rules, and proxies DHCPv6 requests to mimic stateful control without client changes.
  • Core value: Enables IPv6-only networks for Android users by bridging SLAAC gaps, avoiding dual-stack or VLAN segregation.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience IPv6 adopters with Android devices (candiddevmike: "Android purposefully disables DHCPv6"; throw0101c on WONTFIX).
Core Feature NDP listener assigns/reserves suffixes (e.g., ::beef for monitoring), auto-generates firewall rules, supports NAT64/DNS64 passthrough.
Tech Stack Go/Rust daemon, integrates with OpenWRT/OPNsense via Lua plugins, NDP via libndp.
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Hobby

Notes

  • "I wish I could switch my network to all IPv6... but Android disables DHCPv6" – candiddevmike; gspr/kstrauser note multiple addresses complicate rules – this fixes tracking/firewall mismatches.
  • Practical for homelabs; HN would discuss Android workarounds and prefix delegation news.

Auto-Renumber IPv6 DNS Updater

Summary

  • Daemon/service that detects prefix changes via Router Advertisements, renumbers SLAAC/ULA addresses, updates local/global DNS (mDNS + DDNS), and generates short mnemonics (e.g., prefix::1 as "home::router") for static hosts.
  • Core value: Handles dynamic ISP prefixes (e.g., Xfinity), stabilizes services/DNS despite changes, makes addresses memorable without manual intervention.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Users with dynamic prefixes and SLAAC/privacy extensions (LeoPanthera, karlshea: prefixes change, breaking DNS/IP tracking).
Core Feature RA monitoring triggers renumbering script, Cloudflare/DuckDNS API integration, mnemonic encoder (BIP39-like for hex).
Tech Stack Python/Go, bird/radvd hooks, dnsmasq/unbound integration, WebSocket dashboard.
Difficulty Low
Monetization Revenue-ready: SaaS ($3/mo for hosted DDNS sync).

Notes

  • "My IPv6 prefix changes... all my LAN addresses change" – LeoPanthera; "IPv6 is too long... copy/paste all the time" – mojuba – quotes highlight stability/memorability pains.
  • Utility for self-hosters; fosters HN debates on ULA vs GUA, prefix rotation.

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