The University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL (News - Alert)) announced it is assisting broadband providers and customer premises equipment (CPE) vendors to prepare for offering Internet service to their customers using IPv6.

The UNH-IOL, an independent provider of broad-based testing and standards conformance services for the networking industry, is also assisting in enabling end-user connectivity by verifying IPv6 readiness in home networking equipment.

“Six months ago, CE routers were not compatible with IPv6, but since then the industry has made great progress,” said Timothy Winters, senior manager for the UNH-IOL, in a statement.

“In a sense, with our extensive leadership in IPv6 testing, the UNH-IOL has been readying companies for World IPv6 Day for the past 15 years, and our recent effort to make CE router vendors ready for IPv6 deployment is just one example of how the lab is helping companies stay competitive,” Winters.

The UNH-IOL is preparing CE router vendors and operators for participation in World IPv6 Day by hosting interoperability testing in advance of the 24-hour IPv6 test flight. This will be an extension of the CE Test Event.

“2011 is the year that many operators and ISPs will move decisively toward offering IPv6 services,” said Danny Dicks, analyst for Heavy Reading.

On June 8, 2011, the World IPv6 Day, Internet service providers, hardware manufacturers, operating system vendors and other Web companies will enable IPv6 on their main servers for 24 hours.

Majority of users are expected to access services without troubles. However, misbehaving network equipment, particularly in home networks, may impair access to participating Web sites during the trial.

If consumers are facing any issues, they can visit an IPv6 test Web site to check if their connectivity will be impacted. If they are facing any home router problem, the UNH-IOL has posted a list of compatible devices.

Last year, the UNH-IOL announced a new consortium for companies preparing products for the IEEE (News - Alert) 802.3ba standard for high-speed Ethernet.