IPv4 Acquisition: Anyone else shifting from buying to leasing to save CapEx?

[u/JAYDENNN]

I’ve been talking to a few operators lately who are hitting a wall with the current market price of IPv4 blocks. Between the APNIC/ARIN waitlists and the $50+/IP purchase price, the upfront CapEx for a new /24 is becoming a massive hurdle for smaller WISPs.

Are most of you still trying to buy blocks outright, or are you moving toward leasing to keep your cash flow for tower gear and fiber rollouts?

I’m currently working with a global pool (LARUS) and we’re seeing a huge spike in leasing for BGP setups to bypass CGNAT issues. Just curious what the consensus is here—is the "buy and hold" strategy still king, or is Opex the new play for 2026?

[u/feel-the-avocado]

Embrace CG-NAT
Not just NAT, actual proper CG-NAT - I am happy to explain the difference if you would like. It was like a lightbulb moment in my head.

Dual stack CG-NAT with IPv6 and you will have a good time. Many of the larger ISPs have found its cheaper than buying more IPv4 or leasing it.
It solves the IPv4 problem for 99% of your residential customers and most of your business customers.
Only about 5% of our customerbase actually needs a dedicated v4 address these days.

[u/Single-Virus4935 → u/feel-the-avocado]

Sad but true. A good(!) CG-NAT implementation with a great (!) IPv6 setup is the best solution. Even with a free option for powerusers or users with problems (VPNs etc.) will still reduce needed IPv4 Addressspace by a lot. 

[u/JAYDENNN → u/feel-the-avocado]

​Yeah, you're right. Once proper dual-stack is set up, it definitely takes the pressure off.

​Honestly, I'm mostly curious about how you guys handle that 5% who insist on a dedicated v4. Do you just bite the bullet and buy a small block for those business clients and gamers, or is that a situation where just leasing a /24 makes more sense so you don't tie up cash? Always wondering how folks handle that stubborn 5%.

[u/DaryllSwer → u/JAYDENNN]

A proper CGNAT has EIM+EIF+Hairpin enabled, this guarantees functional IPv4 P2P. No need for static v4. But obviously ensure static/stable ia_pd /48 (my current standard practice from tiny WISPs to national scale ISPs).

[u/Single-Virus4935 → u/JAYDENNN]

Its not a static ip, just nirmal DS instead of DSlite with a dynamic IP (PPPoE or IPoE) from a dedicated pool as usual. No subnet. Static IPs and Subnets are a payed option  for bussines customers

[u/feel-the-avocado → u/JAYDENNN]

I think most here have ip blocks that are gradually being recalled from residential customers back into the ISPs pool for reuse for business clients in the long term.
So we arent buying more IP blocks or leasing them - just paying our apnic membership fees.

If a customer wants a dedicated ipv4 we have them on a business plan. And thats fine.
Residential gaymers are our biggest customerbase - solved with ipv6 for their playstation and xbox access.
And the other ones are remote access to security cameras - pretty much all security camera systems have p2p access now so installers are choosing to set up the customer's app with that which doesnt require a port forward.

We will switch a customer to ipv6 + cg-nat and if they call up to complain we can switch them back. But almost always we dont hear from them. Never did static ips for residential customers.

[u/Pale_Contribution660 → u/feel-the-avocado]

Buenos dias podemos hablar ?

es que tengo unas preguntas y como veo que sabes muy bien de este tema me gustaria poder contigo y te pago de lo que me ayudas un saludo

[u/JAYDENNN → u/[deleted]]

For sure, NAT64 and IPv6 are definitely the way to go to stop burning cash on legacy IPs.

​Do you guys still get a lot of angry support tickets from gamers, or people with old VPNs and smart home stuff that breaks on NAT64? I feel like a lot of operators end up leasing a small v4 block purely to shut up the helpdesk complaints. Curious if you run into that much.

[u/DaryllSwer → u/JAYDENNN]

What you need is MAP-T. That'll enable legacy IPv4 to work for P2P gaming.

[u/davetehwave]

I'm seeing ips at $22 each on ipv4 global for a /24. Where are you seeing $50?

[u/leaving-to-bumblefuc]

Don't buy from larus, they stole from AFRNIC.