Windows 7: How to solve IPv6 "No network access" problem?

I'm tearing my hair out on this one. Basically I need IPv6 to work on a Windows 7 (Home Premium) Dell laptop and it isn't.

I have the wireless networking all working but if I click on the wireless network and select status it says:

IPv6 Connectivity: No network access

I have the firewall completely disabled, the registry setting DisabledComponents is set to 0 (for IPv6) and I can only find answers of Google that go something like:

• reset the TCP/IP stack (done that, no effect);
• you don't need IPv6 (yes I do)

IPv6 is enabled in the properties for my wireless adapter. God I hate Windows. Anyone have a solution for this?

Annoyingly I had a similar problem to this a few weeks ago and I ended up running a command that removed a firewall rule and that solved it even though my firewall was disabled so there's something strange going on here. I really need a solution before I go nuts.

Edit: no other Windows 7/Vista machines on this network. I'm actually trying to talk to an Airport Express, which uses IPv6 for AirTunes and configuration. Works seamlessly on my Macbook Pro on the same network. Windows 7 doesn't see it nor can it see the extra speakers in iTunes. Non-functioning IPv6 seems to be the cause but I can't find out why IPv6 isn't working.

Edit 2: I should also point out I have a link-local IPv6 address (ie fe80::/10) on the wireless interface. Also, IPv6 works over ethernet but not wireless!!! I don't understand this. Below is the output from running ipconfig /all.

Notice that wireless has DHCPv6 and other things on it and the ethernet doesn't. So I guess I need to make the wireless like the ethernet somehow? Windows IP Configuration

 Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : laptop Primary DNS Suffix . . . . . . . : Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 2: Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom Virtual Wireless Adapter Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 1C-65-9D-0B-E4-7F DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection: Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : DW1501 Wireless-N WLAN Half-Mini Card Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 1C-65-9D-0B-E4-7F DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::598:e33c:9cc7:b542%12(Preferred) IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.104(Preferred) Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0 Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, 3 October 2010 10:11:17 AM Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, 6 October 2010 10:11:17 AM Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1 DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1 DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 219964829 DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-14-08-Firefox-C3-F0-4D-A2-7B-63-00 DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1 NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled
Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection: Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek PCIe FE Family Controller Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : F0-4D-A2-7B-63-00 DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::a8a6:9367:8182:fa68%11(Preferred) IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.111(Preferred) Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0 Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, 3 October 2010 11:39:15 AM Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, 6 October 2010 11:39:15 AM Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1 DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1 DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 250629538 DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-14-08-Firefox-C3-F0-4D-A2-7B-63-00 DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1 NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled
Tunnel adapter iSATAp.{1533D0AA-42AB-4904-B22E-EEF6054E76C3}: Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0 DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Tunnel adapter iSATAp.{D60E2DFB-D336-4A54-B77C-979A6B5A7F05}: Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #2 Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0 DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Tunnel adapter iSATAp.{E66DCB54-E7A4-41B9-ADEE-86284F92EEF1}: Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #3 Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0 DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Tunnel adapter Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface: Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0 DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

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7 Answers

I found a solution to this:

1. Start the Airport Utility;
2. Select the Airport Express;
3. Click "Advanced";
4. Select IPv6;
5. Change IPv6 mode to "Tunnel";
6. Check "Block incoming IPv6 connections";
7. Configure IPv6 automatically.

Restart and suddenly Windows 7 can see it. OSX could see it regardless but can still see it.

Don't ask me why but this fixed it.

5

The local network / internet access is complicated.

Based on your comments, I think the reason you are seeing the message you are seeing is because there are no other Windows Vista or Windows 7 machines on your network (or any other machines designed for link local IPv6).

These are the possible states:

No network access - No DHCP server, no link-local address assigned.
Limited network (or similar) - No DHCP, link-local address assigned.
No Internet - DHCP detected, no access to internet
Internet - DHCP detected, Internet access available.

Link Local addresses are purely used in an ad-hoc way for computers to network without a network infrastructure. The only way I know of to make it work is to either have an IPv6 enabled DHCP server, use other link-local compatible devices or manually assigning an IPv6 address.

In addition, to rule out anything silly / restrictions on your machine (I have seen a few drivers cause this), you can check it hasn't been disabled in your registry:

Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip6\Parameters\ and look for an entry called DisabledComponents and make sure it is a 32-bit Dword and set to 0. If you do not see it, try creating it in order to reset restrictions, then restart your computer.

2

Your currect Windows IP Configuration shows both connections simultaneously, so...

Pull out the network cable and see if the wireless does connect then.

Really sounds dumb, so hit me if I misread something...

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Update 1.

Can you try the following three commands with the wired connection disabled and update your question:

netsh interface ipv6 show addresses
netsh interface ipv6 show interfaces
netsh interface ipv6 show subinterfaces

Are you sure that this is enabled (and the properties configured right):

2

Many wireless routers automatically block all contact between wireless units.

Something to verify:

Check if "Client Isolation" is turned on in the wireless router (if it has this option).
This option is also sometimes called "AP isolation" or "Privacy Separator".

2

Sounds like it could be a bug in the driver for your wireless card. Make sure it's up to date. If it's already up to date, it could be a regression and you can actually try an older driver. Since IPv6 just isn't used much at all on the desktop in the PC world, a lot of manufacturers haven't done the testing they need to in this area. Even macs have had some trouble.

i've been having similar issue. but many threads on the web seem to claim that IP6 only works on a LAN and not a WLAN. hope i'm wrong because then I could get higher speeds. at the moment limited to 54mbs when router is providing 300mbs

1

The article Windows 7 and IPv6: Useful at Last? :

The root of this is that Windows 7 handles IPv6 auto-configuration with the Neighbor Discovery Protocol (NDP) in a manner that’s not quite the same as how the RFC standards prescribes them. You can get around this by disabling Microsoft’s take on how IPv6 addresses are assigned with the command:

netsh interface ipv6 set global randomizeidentifiers=disabled

If this doesn't help, you might play around with the Microsoft 6to4 Adapter, which will let you use ipv4 over an ipv6 network:

In Device Manager, Action –> Add Legacy Hardware –> Next –> Install the hardware that I manually select from a list –> Network adapters –> Microsoft –> Microsoft 6to4 Adapter –> Next –> Finish the wizard.

From Configuring and Deploying IPv6 on Windows Vista

6to4 is a technology that assigns addresses and automatically configures tunnels between routers to provide unicast IPv6 connectivity between IPv6-capable sites and hosts across the IPv4 Internet.

Note : 6to4 only works with Public addresses.

In general, 6to4 routers are used to allow IPv6 clients to communicate with each other by using IPv6 over the IPv4 Internet. 6to4 routers require a public IPv4 address. Like ISATAP, the application data and IPv6 header are encapsulated in an IPv4 header to traverse the IPv4 Internet.

Unfortunately, I don't have the right environment for testing all this.

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