Time to First Renter: How Fast Do IPv4 Blocks Get Leased?
An IP owner may have a block available, clean records and a reason to put unused addresses to work. But before starting the listing process, they want to know whether a renter will arrive.
Artem Kohanevich
Co-Founder & CEO at IPbnb
Last updated
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“Will it actually lease?”
An IP owner may have a block available, clean records and a reason to put unused addresses to work. But before starting the listing process, they want to know whether a renter will arrive. A block can be ready for the marketplace and still spend time waiting there.
There is no honest number that answers this for every block. Some subnets find a renter within hours; others wait weeks. The size of the range matters, but so do the location renters need, the asking price and the block's readiness. Here is how to think about that wait without mistaking a quick listing process for a quick lease.
What does “time to first renter” mean?
It starts when a block is live and available on the marketplace. It ends when an IP renter takes some or all of that space. That interval is different from the time an owner spends submitting a block, and different again from the time needed to activate a lease after a renter is found.
IPbnb says an owner can submit a listing in about 15 minutes. Verification follows. On the renter side, most leases go live within 24 hours. Neither statement tells an owner how long a live listing will wait for demand.
Visual 1. Three separate clocks in an IPv4 lease
Stage | What happens | Does it measure the wait for a renter? |
Submit and verify | The owner adds the block; IPbnb checks it before listing. | No |
Live listing to first renter | An approved block is available until an IP renter takes space from it. | Yes |
Renter to activation | Authorization and routing are prepared so the renter can use the subnet. | No |
The distinction matters when reading any claim about speed. “List in 15 minutes” describes the owner's task. “Live within 24 hours” describes the renter's route to using an available block. Neither promises that every listed subnet will lease within a day.
Why most renters choose a /24
Like cloud capacity, leased IPv4 can expand as a business needs it. Renters need not take years of spare addresses upfront. Around 95% of leases on IPbnb are for /24 blocks. A /24 contains 256 addresses and is the smallest prefix widely accepted in global routing.
An owner can list a larger prefix and split it into smaller blocks: a /22 contains four /24s, and a /20 contains sixteen. Available portions appear in the catalog. Owners can attract renters for individual /24s while an unleased larger range remains available to a renter who needs it. Once a portion leases, the overlapping range cannot also be leased as a whole.
For a larger prefix, the first renter and full take-up are different milestones. One /24 might lease while the rest waits. Location and asking price also affect demand.
Avoid delays before the block becomes available
Owners cannot make a renter appear on a particular day. They can, however, prepare their space so avoidable checks do not slow down listing and activation:
Review reputation. Look for blocklist entries and investigate what caused them. A clean history makes the block easier to assess.
Check registry and contact details. Keep the records accurate and make sure the team can complete ownership verification.
Review routing records with IPbnb. Identify old IRR route objects or ROAs that may conflict with a new renter's authorization, and update or remove them as appropriate.
IPbnb screens IP renters through KYC/KYB checks and supports the LOA, RPKI and IRR work needed for routing. Once a lease is active, the platform monitors blacklists around the clock. These steps address verification, authorization and reputation; they are not a guarantee of how quickly demand will arrive.
For a closer look at the process, see How IPv4 leasing works and our leasing safety guide for IP owners.
Netwise: six of ten prefixes leased in about two months
Netwise, a London data centre operator, listed ten idle prefixes on IPbnb, mostly /22s and /21s. Within about two months, six were leased. Netwise said its existing route to market took roughly a year to reach a comparable level of take-up.
Chart 2. Time to lease roughly six of ten listed prefixes
Route to market | Approximate time to comparable take-up |
IPbnb | 2 months |
Netwise's previous channel | 12 months |
Another IP owner leased a /20, equivalent to sixteen /24s, within three days of listing. That anonymous example shows how widely timelines can vary. Asking price matters, but neither case isolates its effect from other factors.
Netwise's figures describe take-up across ten prefixes, not time to one block's first renter. Neither case predicts the next listing.
What should an IP owner plan for?
Start with the block you can make available, not a universal waiting-time estimate. Check the registry and routing records, resolve reputation issues, and decide whether you want to offer a larger range as a whole or make parts of it available. Then track both the first renter and how much of the space is leased over time.
If you have an idle block, list it on IPbnb to put it in front of verified IP renters. Submitting the listing can take about 15 minutes. The time to its first renter depends on the block and the demand for it.
