How to Get Your Own ASN and Announce IPv6 via BGP — A 2026 Practical Guide

If you've ever wondered what it takes to control your own slice of the internet — your own AS number, your own IP space, announced via BGP to the world — this guide is for you. I'll walk through the entire process from zero to a working BGP announcement, based on real experience doing exactly this in 2025–2026. This is not theory. By the end, you'll understand exactly how to obtain an ASN, get IPv6 space, configure BIRD to peer with an upstream, and even bring your own IPs into cloud providers. Why You'd Want Your Own ASN Most engineers never think about this. You rent a VPS, you get an IP, life goes on. But there are compelling reasons to own your own Autonomous System Number: Provider independence. Your IP addresses follow you. Switch hosting providers, add new ones, move between data centers — your IPs stay yours. No more DNS propagation delays when migrating, no more "we'll release your IPs in 30 days." Multi-homing. Announce your prefix from two or more upstreams simultaneously. I