Dual-Stack Lite (DS-Lite)

Dual-Stack Lite (DS-Lite) is a technology that allows Internet Service Providers to offer IPv6 connectivity while still supporting IPv4 devices. It works by pairing an IPv6 connection with a shared IPv4 address using a tunneling method. When an IPv4 device tries to access the internet, its traffic is encapsulated inside IPv6 packets, sent through the network, and then decapsulated at the edge of the provider’s network. This enables the provider to efficiently manage IPv4 addresses and gradually transition to IPv6, ensuring compatibility with both protocols without requiring full IPv4 address space.