Testing

In order to thoroughly implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, accelerate the construction of a network power, and solidly promote the in-depth development of large-scale deployment and application of IPv6, in accordance with the "Radio Management Regulations of the People's Republic of China", "Radio Transmitting Equipment Management Regulations" and other laws and regulations, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology recently issued "Notice of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on matters related to carrying out capability testing of wireless LAN equipment to support the IPv6 protocol during the model approval of radio transmission equipment"; 

on December 1, 2023. Wireless LAN equipment produced or imported before that time can continue to be sold and used until it is scrapped.

The main contents of the "Notice"

1、It is clarified that wireless LAN equipment with IPv6 address allocation function sold and used in China must apply for and obtain a model approval certificate in accordance with the relevant regulations on radio management ;

2、Make it clear that wireless LAN devices enable the IPv6 address allocation function by default and allow users to configure it themselves ;

3、Model approval testing agencies are required to have IPv6 protocol testing capabilities ;

4、Basic telecom operators are required to support and encourage users to access the Internet through IPv6 wireless LAN equipment, while making it clear that users can still access the Internet through other existing wireless LAN equipment.

The attachment of the "Notice" provides the technical requirements and testing methods for the ability of wireless LAN equipment to support the IPv6 protocol.

What should companies pay attention to when producing, importing and selling wireless LAN equipment?

Starting from December 1, 2023, when enterprises apply for wireless LAN equipment model approval, they must conduct IPv6 protocol capability testing in accordance with the technical requirements and test methods specified in this "Notice". 

At the same time, from this date, relevant enterprises should stop producing or importing wireless LAN equipment that does not meet the requirements of this Notice. 

However, wireless LAN equipment produced or imported before this date can continue to be sold and used until it is scrapped.

What should users pay attention to when using wireless LAN equipment?

After the "Notice" is promulgated, it will not have any impact on users' use of wireless LAN equipment. The relevant contents in the "Notice" involving users' use of wireless LAN equipment mainly include:

1、The wireless LAN equipment used by users should have the IPv6 function turned on by default, and this function should be turned on by default by the manufacturer when the product leaves the factory ;

2、Retain the user's ability to configure the IPv6 function of wireless LAN equipment by themselves, that is, the user can choose whether to enable the IPv6 function. The relevant configuration method should be clearly stated in the product description ;

3、For wireless LAN devices that support IPv6 that have not been upgraded, users can still access the Internet normally. Operators or other units shall not put forward corresponding usage restrictions.

Specific requirements and test methods: 

Basic technical requirements:

1、Wireless LAN devices with the function of allocating public IP addresses must support the IPv6 protocol and enable the IPv6 function by default.

2、Wireless LAN equipment with public network IP address allocation function works in Layer 2 bridge mode, and the equipment must support transparent transmission of IPv6 data packets ;

3、Wireless LAN equipment with public network IP address allocation function works in Layer 3 routing mode. The equipment must support the allocation of IPv6 addresses to access users and support the forwarding of user IPv6 data packets. 

testing scenarios:

1、A test scenario in which network equipment works in Layer 3 routing mode and wireless LAN equipment works in Layer 2 bridging mode ;

2、A test scenario in which network equipment works in Layer 2 bridging mode and wireless LAN equipment works in Layer 3 routing mode ;

3、Both network equipment and wireless LAN equipment work in the test scenario of Layer 3 routing mode.

One and two are mandatory test scenarios, and the third is optional test scenarios.

The attachment of the "Notice" provides specific test methods and judgment basis for each test scenario, clarifying the test environment, test steps, expected results and judgment basis. The test results serve as the basis for type approval. 

Link to the original announcement:

https://www.miit.gov.cn/jgsj/wgj/wjfb/art/2023/art_23dd3eaffc7e4e42a0c2e43b3415792a.html