As people added more computers and devices to Internet connections, they -- or their devices -- relied on NAT (Network Address Translation) as a way to set up their informal internal networks. NAT can be problematic in that it doesn't permit direct Internet access, necessitating device makers and software providers such as Skype to complicated and trouble-prone work-arounds.

IPv6 will require a fundamentally different approach for setting up end nodes than is typically used today, Droms explained. Most notably, end devices will be able to access the Internet, and be accessed from the Internet, directly, rather than traversing NAT. The home Internet-facing router or cable modem will get an IPv6 prefix and each device in that home will get an Internet IPv6 address based on that prefix.

"All the devices in the home will have globally route-able addresses. I don't have to do anything to make those devices accessible to the rest of the Internet," Droms explained.

"End-to-end communication is both an opportunity and a concern as it enables new applications but also exposes nodes in the internal networks to receipt of unwanted traffic from the Internet," to the IESG (Internet Engineering Steering Group), which oversees the IETF.

IPv6 will bring other issues and opportunities as well, which the group would address. Most home networks typically have only a single subnet. But the ability to easily set up multiple subnets may be handy in that it would allow users to allow their guests a dedicated conduit for Internet access while keeping sensitive material on another, private, subnet.