IPV6 setup question

My question is - and I have tried to find an answer on the web for years - how do I configure all the other airports I have that are being controlled by my airport router in bridge mode? Automatically, Manually or Local-link only? Which of these will best serve my set up? Do I configure the bridged airport as 'Local-link only' or do I set them to 'Native' or 'Automatic' for best network performance and speed?

I'm not sure I have found an "official" answer from Apple on this either.

However, I believe the following is true:

• For Internet Options > Configure IPv6:
  • Automatically = The base station is enabled as a auto-assigned DHCPv6 client.
  • Manually = The base station's IPv6 settings must be statically-assigned by the administrator.
  • Link-local only = The base station's DHCPv6 client mode is disabled.
• For Internet Options > Enable IPv6 Connection Sharing:
  • (enabled) Enables the base station's DHCPv6 server.
  • (disabled) Disables the base station's DHCPv6 server.

The key here is there is no NAT functionality with IPv6. As such, if you want the downstream base stations to "pass through" the IPv6 addresses from the "main" base station's DHCPv6 server, then you would want to set Configure IPv6 for "Automatically" and leave the "Enable IPv6 Connection Sharing" option disabled.

I would be interested to see how these settings would work out for you and if you're will to experiment, to try the other Configure IPv6 options for the downstream base station to find out their results. (Sorry, I would do this myself, but my ISP has not joined the IPv6 bandwagon yet.)

Another question I have is if all settings are like you say on the base station, how do I configure the other airports that are bridged so that they all use IPV6? These are all on ethernet connections. Auto, Manual or Local-link?

To receive the IPv6 addys from the "main" base station, I would suggest that you start by using the "Automatic" setting for the downstream base stations. This should assign IPv6 addresses to those stations. Then using the AirPort Utility, note the IPv6 addresses assigned to them.

They try using the other two options and note the results. The "Manually" option, I believe, will require you to enter the appropriate IPv6 address provided by your ISP. The last option (Link-local only,) should assign private IPv6 addresses; those would be addresses that begin with "FE."

Although I am not 100% sure on this point, I believe this option enables/disables the DHCPv6 service. Like its IPv4 counterpart, you should only need a single DHCP service running on your network for the most typical configurations. In this case, your "main" base station will provide a "single" DHCP service, but one for IPv4 and the other for IPv6.

Again, as long as you are willing to experiment, it would be helpful to know your results.