Hi! I noticed the below IPv6 announcement on the Roon forum this morning… Wondering @MarkCole how this may affect Antipodes gear, specifically my EX and CX?
Hello Roon users,
We’ll soon be updating how Roon Remotes and Roon Servers find each other on your network and how they communicate with services on the internet. This change simplifies Roon’s networking and improves reliability for most users (especially those using ARC), but a small number of advanced or unusual setups may need to make adjustments.
What’s Changing
Historically, Roon has ignored IPV6 DNS records (AAAA) and always used IPv4 DNS records (A). We are now removing this old IPv4-only preference. Notably, ARC on mobile networks often uses IPV6, so this should improve some reliability issues in finding your Roon Server. If your ISP supports IPV6, Roon will now function just as most software on your network. If your ISP doesn’t support IPV6, nothing changes.
Additionally, Roon Remotes first look for your Roon Server on your local network. If they can’t find it, they try an internet-based method. This method is the one we are changing. For the vast majority of users, we expect nothing will go wrong, and your Roon Remote will continue to find your Roon Server automatically over your LAN.
Who Might Be Affected by the IPV6 change
The switch to using IPV6 DNS (AAAA) may affect you if:
- your ISP supports IPV6 (use test-ipv6.com from a computer that supports IPV6, such as a modern phone or computer)
- your router is configured to support IPV6
- any computer or device on your network that may be involved with Roon, does not support IPV6
In this scenario, we recommend disabling IPV6 in your router settings to make your network entirely IPV4 to prevent this situation of a mixed system. You will need to contact the manufacturer of your devices to see if it supports IPV6. Audio endpoints tend to not be of concern here, and neither do mainstream modern operating systems (Windows, MacOS, Ubuntu, and other modern Linux distributions). The real items to worry about here are older machines, NAS, and 3rd party servers running your Roon Server. Note that Roon OS devices such as ROCK and Nucleus with the latest software support IPV6 just fine.
Who Might Be Affected by the internet-discovery change
The removal of internet-based discovery may affect tinkerers or advanced network setups such as double NAT, multiple routers, or isolated subnets.
If this applies to you, adjust your setup to allow all IP traffic to flow between network segments in both directions and allow for IP multicast traffic to cross the LAN.
If your network is a simple single-LAN network setup, internet-based discovery was never doing anything for you, so this should not impact you.
When will this change occur?
We’ll begin rolling out this change starting September 1st (26 days). Preparing now will help ensure a smooth transition.
Thank you for helping us keep Roon reliable and ready for the future.
– Your Roon Team