---
title: AS20473
url: https://docs.vultr.com/products/network/bgp/asn-information/as20473
description: Vultr's public Autonomous System Number (AS20473) used for routing traffic across the global internet.
publish_date: 2025-06-24T14:18:18.584932Z
last_updated: 2026-03-10T17:47:08.160283Z
---

# Vultr's Public ASN - AS20473

Vultr offers **Public ASN (AS20473)** for managing network routing and peering with external networks. This ASN is essential for advertising IP prefixes and enabling effective routing policies for your network.

Follow this guide to configure and use **AS20473** for your peering setup, focusing on its use within Vultr's network infrastructure.

## Understanding Vultr Public ASN - AS20473

**Public ASN**: Vultr's **Public ASN (AS20473)** is used for external BGP peering and managing routing policies with networks outside of Vultr's infrastructure.

* **AS20473** is assigned to customers who need to establish public peering, typically for Bare Metal instances. It allows for advertising IP address space and establishing routing relationships with external peers or transit providers.

> [!NOTE]
> **Public ASN (AS20473)** can only be used for peering with **Vultr's Bare Metal instances**. **Private ASN (AS64515)** is not available for Vultr Bare Metal instances.

## Peering with Vultr Using AS20473

When you peer with **Vultr's Bare Metal instances** using **AS20473** (public ASN) or your own ASN, you can advertise your IP prefixes. Your ASN will be used to advertise these prefixes and manage the routing to external peers or transit providers.

**Public ASN Peering**:

Peering with **AS20473** allows you to control your routing policies and advertise your IP space to the broader internet. This includes the ability to prepend your ASN in the **AS_PATH** when advertising your IP prefixes.

* **Example of ASN Prepending**: If your primary ASN is **AS64500** and you also use **AS64501** and **AS64502** as secondary ASNs, your advertised prefixes to Vultr's network could look like this:

    * 64500
    * 64500_64501
    * 64500_64502
    * 64500_64501_64502

    When Vultr advertises these prefixes to its transit providers, it will prepend **AS20473** (Vultr's public ASN), resulting in the following **AS_PATHs** on the public internet:

    * 20473_64500
    * 20473_64500_64501
    * 20473_64500_64502
    * 20473_64500_64501_64502

    In this case, **AS64500** will always appear before **AS64501** and **AS64502**, indicating the customer's primary ASN.

    > [!NOTE]
    > For more information about **AS20473** BGP policies, including **AS20473 Action Communities and Informational Communities**, such as **Prefix Type** and **Locations**, visit the [AS20473 BGP Customer Guide](https://docs.vultr.com/products/network/bgp/asn-information/as20473-bgp-communities-customer-guide).

## RPKI and Prefix Validation

Vultr uses **Resource Public Key Infrastructure (RPKI)** to validate BGP announcements and ensure the integrity of network prefixes. When configuring **AS20473**, it’s important to ensure that only **valid RPKI prefixes** are advertised to external networks. This helps mitigate the risks of **hijacking** or **misrouting**.