Handoff performance with Mobile IPv6 strongly depends on the efficiency of IP-layer configuration mechanisms as well as the flexibility of mobile nodes to schedule and parallelize their signaling. This article provides a comprehensive analysis of the handoff performance with standard IPv6 protocols and Mobile IPv6, and it identifies several sources for delay. Some of the delays are already well known, but an optimized and widely applicable handoff approach is yet to be found. While substantial efforts are currently being invested into localized mobility-management architectures, such approaches feature poor scalability and limited deployability given their requirements in terms of financial investments and coordination across administrative borders. This article hence explores a number of promising IPv6 and end-to-end Mobile IPv6 optimization proposals, some of which are currently under standardization within the IETF, and elaborates how a combination of those can significantly improve handoff experience without loss of scalability. The article further shows that the optimizations may not only improve reactive handoff performance, but also facilitate efficient proactive handoff management.