In an IPv6 header, the next three fields provide information on the length of the payload, the protocol that follows the IP header, and how many hops the packet can take before going away. The fields are as follows:

• Payload length 16-bit: The payload length represents the packet's payload, which includes higher-layer headers, data, and any extension headers. Similar to IPv4, the entire length cannot exceed 2¹⁶, or 65,535 bytes. In some cases, the payload may exceed 65,535 bytes, which can occur when using extension headers. If the value of this is greater than 65,535 bytes, the field value is set to zero (0).
• Next header 8-bit: This field identifies the higher-layer protocol that follows the IP header. This is similar to the protocol field in IPv4 and uses the same values as IPv4 to identify the higher-layer protocol. However, if there is an extension header, this field will indicate what extension header follows the IPv6 header. In 2017, IANA updated the list for the next header field. The list can be found at https://www.iana.org/assignments/protocol-numbers/protocol-numbers.xhtml.

• Hop limit 8-bit: In IPv4, the TTL field value in an IP header is the number of routers or hops a packet can take before dropping the packet. In IPv6, this is the same concept. However, the field is more reflective of what it does today. This field uses 8-bit to hold a value not greater than 255. If the hop limit reaches 0, the packet is discarded.

In frame 347, the field value is Hop Limit: 1, which makes sense as this frame is DHCPv6 multicast from a host trying to get an IP address.

As with IPv4, the last two fields in an IPv6 header are the address fields, as discussed next.