IPv4 and IPv6 are the two major versions of the Internet Protocol, each using different address systems and some other features. In the past few years, with the development and popularization of the Internet, IPv6 has gradually emerged as a new protocol to replace IPv4. However, IPv4 has not been completely replaced, but coexists with IPv6 and is still widely used in some specific scenarios.

What are IPv4 and IPv6?

IPv4 is the fourth version of the Internet Protocol and the currently widely used Internet protocol. An IPv4 address consists of a 32-bit binary number, usually expressed as 4 decimal numbers, and the value range of each number is 0~255. Due to the limited IPv4 address space, there are only about 4.2 billion addresses, and due to uneven distribution due to historical reasons, there is a shortage of IPv4 addresses, making it difficult to meet the needs of the modern Internet.

IPv6 is the sixth version of the Internet Protocol and is designed to replace IPv4 to solve the problem of IPv4 address shortage. An IPv6 address consists of a 128-bit binary number, usually expressed as eight four-digit hexadecimal numbers. IPv6 is designed to provide sufficient address space to meet the needs of the modern Internet.

The difference between IPv4 and IPv6

1. Address length: The address length of IPv4 is 32 bits, while the address length of IPv6 is 128 bits. This allows IPv6 to provide more address space, which is approximately 8×10^9 times that of IPv4.

2. Address representation: IPv4 uses dotted decimal notation to represent addresses, for example: 192.168.0.1. IPv6 uses hexadecimal notation and is separated by colons, for example: 2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334.

3. Configuration method: IPv4 configuration is usually performed manually, while IPv6 supports automatic configuration, which makes network management more convenient and faster.

4. Multicast support: IPv4 supports multicast, but IPv6 provides stronger support for multicast and provides a good network platform for quality of service (QoS) control.

5. Security and authentication: IPv6 provides authentication and encryption, while IPv4 does not. This gives IPv6 an advantage in terms of security.

Regarding the choice of IP proxy, if the proxy server's software or hardware supports both IPv6 and IPv4 protocols, then it can handle all requests from IPv4 and IPv6 networks at the same time. In this case, clients using either IPv4 or IPv6 can connect to the network through the proxy server.

Although IPv6 has gradually become the dominant protocol on the Internet, IPv4 has not been completely replaced. Many websites and services still use the IPv4 protocol, so for some specific network applications or services, using an IPv4-based proxy may be more suitable. At the same time, IPv4 proxies are also more widely used because most users and network devices use the IPv4 protocol by default.

In short, when choosing an IP proxy, you should decide whether to use an IPv4-based proxy or an IPv6-based proxy based on actual needs and usage scenarios. If you need to connect to a website or service that supports IPv6, then using an IPv6-based proxy is a better option. If you need to connect to a website or service that supports IPv4, or if you need to use the IPv4 protocol in some specific situations, then using an IPv4-based proxy may be more suitable.