When is IPv4 going to run out of addresses?”
Exhaustion date As of 2004, predictions for the exhaustion of the IPv4 address space range from 2016 (for unallocated pool exhaustion) to 2023 (for complete exhaustion of the address space). Historically, though, forward predictions for the date of address exhaustion have been unreliable; predictions from the late 1980s have not been borne out in practice. As of September 2005, Tony Hain (Cisco) estimated the unallocated IANA pool to run out by 2008. Geoff Huston (APNIC) then estimated in November 2005 this to happen in early 2012. Both have since then been updating their projections using incoming data on new allocations (see references below). Geoff Huston’s daily generated simulations seem to result in progressively earlier exhaustion dates. These dates can therefore be regarded as pessimistic. Tony Hain’s quarterly updated predictions seem to result in progressively later dates, and should therefore be regarded as optimistic. As of September 2006, predictions of exhaustion date of
