625710 - "Unable to connect" page should note the possiblity of missing IPv6 connectivity for IPv6-only sites

Status: NEW

(Core :: Networking, enhancement, P3)

Description

[Andreas Kotes]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux x86_64; en-US; rv:1.9.2.13) Gecko/20101206 Ubuntu/10.10 (maverick) Firefox/3.6.13
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux x86_64; en-US; rv:1.9.2.13) Gecko/20101206 Ubuntu/10.10 (maverick) Firefox/3.6.13

When
- connecting to http://www.v6.facebook.com (a IPv6 only website)
- with only a link-local IPv6 address

the current error page reads:

"Unable to connect

Firefox can't establish a connection to the server at www.v6.facebook.com.
 *   The site could be temporarily unavailable or too busy. Try again in a few moments.
 *   If you are unable to load any pages, check your computer's network connection.
*   If your computer or network is protected by a firewall or proxy, make sure that Firefox is permitted to access the Web."

.. which is the standard error page, and (as such) would be sufficient, as it's talking about the computer's network connection. IPv6 support is reasonably new, and IPv6-only sites are not distinguishable from other for the average user, so (IMHO) this should be noted especially, e.g. with an additional message if Firefox sees that there are only AAAA but no A records for a site:

* This site uses IPv6 for connectivity. Please make sure that not only your computer but also your internet connection provide global IPv6 connectivity.

.. or similar. Minimal effort, reasonable usability effect.

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
go to http://www.v6.facebook.com or any other site with IPv6-only connectivity without actually having full IPv6 connectivity.

Comment 2

[YF (Yang)]

It is also suitable for other products.

It may require a separate string, and check the networks status.

Comment 3

[Firefox Bug Husbandry Bot]

Bulk change to priority: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1399258

Comment 4

[bert]

Many ISPs provide IPv6 connectivity on demand.
In a lot of other cases, newer revisions of routers support IPv6 whereas older ones do not.

Without accurate error messages, users would make false assumptions about why a site is inaccessible. With accurate information, many users could easily solve the problem by requesting ipv6 from their isp, requesting a newer router or altering configuration.

Comment 5

[chrysn]

With DoH being rolled out and widely available, I think this issue should be revisited: Back in 2011, this would have only worked for users whose v4-only ISPs would not filter out AAAA records. Now when DoH is used, the browser can determine reliably that there are AAAA and not A records, and site operators can be reasonably sure that the message gets across (at least in regions where DoH is enabled).