diff --git a/fail2ban/server/actions.py b/fail2ban/server/actions.py
index b4612f8c..1db07ba1 100644
--- a/fail2ban/server/actions.py
+++ b/fail2ban/server/actions.py
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ from .banmanager import BanManager
 from .jailthread import JailThread
 from .action import ActionBase, CommandAction, CallingMap
 from .mytime import MyTime
+from .filter import IPAddr
 from ..helpers import getLogger
 
 # Gets the instance of the logger.
@@ -178,7 +179,7 @@ class Actions(JailThread, Mapping):
 	def getBanTime(self):
 		return self.__banManager.getBanTime()
 
-	def removeBannedIP(self, ip):
+	def removeBannedIP(self, ipstr):
 		"""Removes banned IP calling actions' unban method
 
 		Remove a banned IP now, rather than waiting for it to expire,
@@ -186,14 +187,16 @@ class Actions(JailThread, Mapping):
 
 		Parameters
 		----------
-		ip : str
-			The IP address to unban
+		ipstr : str
+			The IP address string to unban
 
 		Raises
 		------
 		ValueError
 			If `ip` is not banned
 		"""
+		# Create new IPAddr object from IP string
+		ip = IPAddr(ipstr)
 		# Always delete ip from database (also if currently not banned)
 		if self._jail.database is not None:
 			self._jail.database.delBan(self._jail, ip)
diff --git a/fail2ban/server/banmanager.py b/fail2ban/server/banmanager.py
index 662666b0..39d0321b 100644
--- a/fail2ban/server/banmanager.py
+++ b/fail2ban/server/banmanager.py
@@ -152,9 +152,9 @@ class BanManager:
 			for banData in self.__banList:
 				ip = banData.getIP()
 				# Reference: http://www.team-cymru.org/Services/ip-to-asn.html#dns
-				# TODO: IPv6 compatibility
-				reversed_ip = ".".join(reversed(ip.split(".")))
-				question = "%s.origin.asn.cymru.com" % reversed_ip
+				question = ip.getPTR("origin.asn.cymru.com" if ip.isIPv4()
+						else "origin6.asn.cymru.com"
+				)
 				try:
 					answers = dns.resolver.query(question, "TXT")
 					for rdata in answers:
diff --git a/fail2ban/server/database.py b/fail2ban/server/database.py
index 7de87554..eda3ee24 100644
--- a/fail2ban/server/database.py
+++ b/fail2ban/server/database.py
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ from threading import RLock
 
 from .mytime import MyTime
 from .ticket import FailTicket
+from .filter import IPAddr
 from ..helpers import getLogger
 
 # Gets the instance of the logger.
@@ -413,7 +414,7 @@ class Fail2BanDb(object):
 		#TODO: Implement data parts once arbitrary match keys completed
 		cur.execute(
 			"INSERT INTO bans(jail, ip, timeofban, data) VALUES(?, ?, ?, ?)",
-			(jail.name, ticket.getIP(), int(round(ticket.getTime())),
+			(jail.name, ticket.getIP().ntoa(), int(round(ticket.getTime())),
 				{"matches": ticket.getMatches(),
 				 "failures": ticket.getAttempt()}))
 
@@ -428,7 +429,7 @@ class Fail2BanDb(object):
 		ip : str
 			IP to be removed.
 		"""
-		queryArgs = (jail.name, ip);
+		queryArgs = (jail.name, ip.ntoa());
 		cur.execute(
 			"DELETE FROM bans WHERE jail = ? AND ip = ?", 
 			queryArgs);
@@ -446,7 +447,7 @@ class Fail2BanDb(object):
 			queryArgs.append(MyTime.time() - bantime)
 		if ip is not None:
 			query += " AND ip=?"
-			queryArgs.append(ip)
+			queryArgs.append(ip.ntoa())
 		query += " ORDER BY ip, timeofban"
 
 		return cur.execute(query, queryArgs)
@@ -462,7 +463,7 @@ class Fail2BanDb(object):
 			Ban time in seconds, such that bans returned would still be
 			valid now.  Negative values are equivalent to `None`.
 			Default `None`; no limit.
-		ip : str
+		ip : IPAddr object
 			IP Address to filter bans by. Default `None`; all IPs.
 
 		Returns
@@ -471,7 +472,8 @@ class Fail2BanDb(object):
 			List of `Ticket`s for bans stored in database.
 		"""
 		tickets = []
-		for ip, timeofban, data in self._getBans(**kwargs):
+		for ipstr, timeofban, data in self._getBans(**kwargs):
+			ip = IPAddr(ipstr)
 			#TODO: Implement data parts once arbitrary match keys completed
 			tickets.append(FailTicket(ip, timeofban, data.get('matches')))
 			tickets[-1].setAttempt(data.get('failures', 1))
@@ -491,7 +493,7 @@ class Fail2BanDb(object):
 			Ban time in seconds, such that bans returned would still be
 			valid now. Negative values are equivalent to `None`.
 			Default `None`; no limit.
-		ip : str
+		ip : IPAddr object
 			IP Address to filter bans by. Default `None`; all IPs.
 
 		Returns
@@ -512,6 +514,8 @@ class Fail2BanDb(object):
 			ticket = None
 
 			results = list(self._getBans(ip=ip, jail=jail, bantime=bantime))
+			# Convert IP strings to IPAddr objects
+			results = map(lambda i:(IPAddr(i[0]),)+i[1:], results)
 			if results:
 				prev_banip = results[0][0]
 				matches = []
diff --git a/fail2ban/server/filter.py b/fail2ban/server/filter.py
index 798dc0c9..1fe70564 100644
--- a/fail2ban/server/filter.py
+++ b/fail2ban/server/filter.py
@@ -303,13 +303,19 @@ class Filter(JailThread):
 	def getIgnoreCommand(self):
 		return self.__ignoreCommand
 
+	##
+	# create new IPAddr object from IP address string
+	def newIP(self, ipstr):
+		return IPAddr(ipstr)
+
 	##
 	# Ban an IP - http://blogs.buanzo.com.ar/2009/04/fail2ban-patch-ban-ip-address-manually.html
 	# Arturo 'Buanzo' Busleiman <buanzo@buanzo.com.ar>
 	#
 	# to enable banip fail2ban-client BAN command
 
-	def addBannedIP(self, ip):
+	def addBannedIP(self, ipstr):
+		ip = IPAddr(ipstr)
 		if self.inIgnoreIPList(ip):
 			logSys.warning('Requested to manually ban an ignored IP %s. User knows best. Proceeding to ban it.' % ip)
 
@@ -433,7 +439,7 @@ class Filter(JailThread):
 				logSys.debug("Ignore line since time %s < %s - %s"
 							 % (unixTime, MyTime.time(), self.getFindTime()))
 				break
-			if self.inIgnoreIPList(ip.ntoa(), log_ignore=True):
+			if self.inIgnoreIPList(ip, log_ignore=True):
 				continue
 			logSys.info("[%s] Found %s" % (self.jail.name, ip))
 			## print "D: Adding a ticket for %s" % ((ip, unixTime, [line]),)
@@ -528,17 +534,16 @@ class Filter(JailThread):
 					try:
 						host = failRegex.getHost()
 						if returnRawHost:
-							ipaddr = IPAddr(host)
-							failList.append([failRegexIndex, ipaddr, date,
+							ip = IPAddr(host)
+							failList.append([failRegexIndex, ip, date,
 								 failRegex.getMatchedLines()])
 							if not checkAllRegex:
 								break
 						else:
-							ipMatch = DNSUtils.textToIp(host, self.__useDns)
-							if ipMatch:
-								for ip in ipMatch:
-									ipaddr = IPAddr(ip)
-									failList.append([failRegexIndex, ipaddr, 
+							ips = DNSUtils.textToIp(host, self.__useDns)
+							if ips:
+								for ip in ips:
+									failList.append([failRegexIndex, ip, 
 										 date, failRegex.getMatchedLines()])
 								if not checkAllRegex:
 									break
diff --git a/fail2ban/server/ticket.py b/fail2ban/server/ticket.py
index 70be06fe..a0eae491 100644
--- a/fail2ban/server/ticket.py
+++ b/fail2ban/server/ticket.py
@@ -48,7 +48,9 @@ class Ticket:
 
 	def __str__(self):
 		return "%s: ip=%s time=%s #attempts=%d matches=%r" % \
-			   (self.__class__.__name__.split('.')[-1], self.__ip, self.__time, self.__attempt, self.__matches)
+			   (self.__class__.__name__.split('.')[-1], 
+				self.__ip.ntoa(), self.__time, self.__attempt, 
+				self.__matches)
 
 	def __repr__(self):
 		return str(self)
@@ -63,9 +65,6 @@ class Ticket:
 			return False
 
 	def setIP(self, value):
-		if isinstance(value, basestring):
-			# guarantee using regular str instead of unicode for the IP
-			value = str(value)
 		self.__ip = value
 	
 	def getIP(self):