SKNK Technical Guide
Why Most Startups Don't Need a RIPE Membership
Your startup needs routing control — not registry ownership. Real deployment costs, BGP architecture, and why Sponsoring LIR at €89/year is the better path for most teams.
Technical content
Written and maintained by Shikanoko NetworksIntroduction
Many startups assume that BGP routing requires RIPE NCC membership.
This is incorrect.
Most startups do not need RIPE membership. They need routing control — not registry ownership.
Before diving in, if you want to understand the economics first, read our ASN sponsorship cost breakdown and our detailed RIPE NCC vs LIR sponsorship comparison.
Your Startup Doesn't Have a RIPE Problem — It Has a Routing Problem
A typical scenario plays out like this:
- SaaS runs on VPS infrastructure
- Shared IP reputation causes blocking issues
- Engineers discover ASN/BGP as a solution
- RIPE membership (€1,800/year plus a €1,000 sign-up fee in 2026) becomes a barrier
The problem is not cost.
It is architectural misunderstanding.
What Startups Actually Need vs RIPE Membership
| Requirement | Startup Need | RIPE Membership |
|---|---|---|
| ASN routing | Yes | Yes |
| IPv6 allocation | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-homing | Yes | Yes |
| IP reputation control | Yes | Yes |
| RIPE voting rights | No | Yes |
| Compliance burden | No | Yes |
| €1,800/year + €1,000 sign-up | No | Yes |
Real Deployment Cost Breakdown
| Component | VPS-only | ASN + Sponsorship |
|---|---|---|
| Hetzner VPS | €5–15/mo | €20–30/mo (BGP-ready) |
| OVH VPS | — | €15–25/mo |
| ASN | €0 | €89/year |
| Routing efficiency | ISP-only | ~40% peering offload |
| IP reputation | Shared pool | Dedicated /48 |
| Monthly total | ~€15 | ~€55–65 |
The monthly total with ASN includes VPS costs plus ASN sponsorship amortized monthly. Excludes one-time setup time.
First Week of BGP Deployment — What Actually Happens
Days 1–3
Request an ASN through a Sponsoring LIR. The LIR submits your application to RIPE NCC with the required company and network information. RIPE NCC review timing varies by case and follow-up questions, so neither approval nor a delivery date is guaranteed. While the review is in progress, you can prepare your VPS instances and install the routing daemon.
Days 4–7
Once approved, you receive your ASN + IPv6 /48 allocation. Install BIRD2 or FRRouting on each VPS. Configure upstream BGP peers using the neighbor IP and ASN provided by your hosting provider. Set your export filters carefully — only announce your allocated prefixes. Enable the sessions and verify both peers are established.
After Deployment
- Validate route propagation via bgp.he.net
- Tune routing policies — localpref for outbound path selection, AS-path prepending for inbound traffic engineering
- Monitor failover behavior under simulated link failure
- Set up basic alerting for BGP session state changes
Why Most Startups Don't Need RIPE Membership
Direct RIPE membership assumes:
- ISP-scale infrastructure operations
- Multiple ASN management
- Compliance teams and registry governance involvement
- Dedicated internal resources for policy work
Most startups:
- Do not operate at this scale
- Do not benefit from governance participation
- Do not need registry-level complexity
The Sponsoring LIR Model
Sponsoring LIR provides:
- ASN ownership registered under your legal entity
- IPv6 /48 allocation (PA space, fully BGP-capable)
- Full BGP routing capability
- RIPE compliance handled externally
Without requiring:
- Registry overhead
- Operational compliance burden
- Administrative complexity
When RIPE Membership Is Actually Needed
Only consider direct RIPE membership if you:
- Operate ISP infrastructure
- Need Provider Independent (PI) IP space
- Manage large ASN portfolios
- Participate in RIPE governance
If those needs do not apply, compare sponsorship and direct membership based on your resource requirements, cost, and desired level of registry administration.
Conclusion
Some organizations need direct RIPE NCC membership; others only need a sponsored ASN and an address assignment. The correct choice depends on the resources, portability, registry responsibilities, and operational control required.
SHIKANOKO NETWORKS LTD (Shikanoko Networks / SKNK; UK Company 17131877; RIPE LIR ID: ORG-SNL106-RIPE) provides verifiable RIPE NCC LIR sponsorship: an End User ASN plus an IPv6 PA /48, subject to eligibility and RIPE NCC approval. The current annual price is €89. Customers arrange their own upstream connectivity and operate BGP.