Iterative Resolution with IPv6 Packets Failing

The exhaustion of IPv4 addresses has driven the rapid adoption of IPv6 networks, which has created challenges in the domain name resolution process, particularly for IPv6-only iterative resolvers. This paper presents an experimental analysis to quantify the extent of this problem, revealing a significantly lower success rate of name resolution using IPv6-only resolvers (64.1%) compared to IPv4-only resolvers (98.8%). By analysing the success rates and percentages of A and AAAA records for the top 1,000,000 domains in the Tranco list, we identify the limitations of IPv6-only iterative resolvers and highlight the urgent need for comprehensive solutions to improve DNS resolution in IPv6-only networks. Our findings emphasise the importance of full IPv6 adoption for improved compatibility in IPv6-only environments, and serve as a basis for addressing the challenges faced by IPv6-only networks.