The cost to lease IPv4 addresses varies based on block size, market conditions, address history, geography, routing requirements and additional infrastructure. Address-only leasing may be priced per IP per month, while managed IPv4 deployments can also include BGP, bandwidth, colocation, power, reverse DNS and network engineering.
That means two IPv4 leases containing the same number of addresses can have very different prices.
What Determines IPv4 Lease Pricing?
There is no universal price for leasing an IPv4 address.
Several factors affect the cost.
1. IPv4 Block Size
Larger allocations contain more addresses and therefore generally cost more in total.
Common allocations include:
| Prefix | Total IPv4 Addresses |
|---|---|
| /24 | 256 |
| /23 | 512 |
| /22 | 1,024 |
| /21 | 2,048 |
| /20 | 4,096 |
| /19 | 8,192 |
Some providers establish a price per individual IPv4 address and multiply that rate by the allocation size.
Others price the entire network deployment.
2. Address History and Reputation
Not every IPv4 address has the same history.
Addresses previously associated with spam, malicious traffic, fraud or abusive applications may have reputation problems.
Clean address history and responsible network management can therefore affect the desirability of IPv4 resources.
Organizations evaluating a lease should consider the quality and history of the address space rather than automatically selecting the lowest price.
3. Geography
IPv4 resources are registered and operated within different regions of the world.
A business may specifically require U.S. network infrastructure or another geographic region based upon its technical or operational requirements.
Geographic requirements can influence availability and pricing.
4. Routing
An IPv4 block must be routed before it becomes useful Internet infrastructure.
Ask:
- Who originates the prefix?
- Who controls the routing?
- Is BGP required?
- Is an ASN required?
- Is route management included?
- Is RPKI coordination required?
A managed routing arrangement provides considerably more infrastructure than an address-only lease.
5. Bandwidth
IPv4 addresses and Internet bandwidth are different resources.
A server might have hundreds of addresses assigned to it while using relatively little traffic.
Another application could consume gigabits of continuous bandwidth.
Bandwidth requirements can therefore have a major impact on the total monthly infrastructure cost.
When requesting a quote, provide both:
Average bandwidth
and
Peak bandwidth
If available, also provide expected monthly data transfer.
6. Colocation
Some organizations need somewhere to physically operate the servers using the IPv4 addresses.
A complete colocation deployment can include:
- Rack space
- Power
- Cooling
- Network connectivity
- Switching
- IPv4 resources
- Routing
- Remote hands
- Monitoring
These services are separate from the underlying value of the IPv4 addresses.
7. Network Engineering
Specialized deployments may require engineering work involving:
- BGP
- Routing policies
- VLANs
- Firewalls
- Switching
- Reverse DNS
- RPKI
- Network monitoring
- Failover
- Troubleshooting
A managed infrastructure provider can combine these services into the overall deployment.
Address-Only IPv4 Leasing vs. Managed IPv4 Infrastructure
This distinction is important when comparing prices.
An inexpensive quote may provide only the right to use a block of addresses.
The customer may still need to obtain:
- Hosting
- Servers
- Bandwidth
- BGP
- Routing
- Power
- Colocation
- Technical support
Managed IPv4 infrastructure combines some or all of these components.
That will generally cost more than an address-only lease because the customer is purchasing an operating network environment rather than simply address resources.
Why NetWest Doesn’t Publish a Flat IPv4 Price
NetWest evaluates IPv4 deployments individually because the technical requirements can differ substantially.
For example:
Customer A
Needs a /24, modest bandwidth and no physical equipment.
Customer B
Needs a /21, multiple servers, rack space, power, high-bandwidth connectivity, BGP, rDNS and remote hands.
Both customers need IPv4 addresses.
They clearly don’t need the same service.
NetWest therefore develops pricing around the complete technical requirement rather than advertising a one-size-fits-all price per address.
What Information Do I Need for an IPv4 Quote?
Providing the following information will help NetWest evaluate a deployment:
Should You Choose the Cheapest IPv4 Lease?
Not automatically.
Price matters, but businesses should also evaluate:
- Address history
- Network stability
- Provider reputation
- Routing
- Abuse management
- Technical support
- Contract terms
- Infrastructure
- Scalability
A low-cost block of addresses isn’t necessarily inexpensive if significant additional infrastructure must be assembled around it.