Understanding Latin America IPv6 connectivity: A preliminary exploration

Matters related to Latin American topology at both IPv4 and IPv6 are underdeveloped, constituting a field of study in which much remains to be understood. In this paper we present an innovative approach for topology exploration, which consists on running our own measurements using Ripe Atlas probes with dual stack, located within the continent. Although the idea may seem simple, it has a significant impact as it allows us to compare the paths among the same pair of endpoints, varying only the IP version and observing how this change reflects in connectivity. Moreover, we also study differences between shortest paths in the gathered topology versus their corresponding traceroutes. In terms of connectivity, a relevant finding of our work is that more than half of the paths leave the continent, which reveals that there is yet much improvement to be made in regard to connectivity policies and infrastructure.