Chicago · United States
PeeringDB records thirteen exchanges in Chicago. Equinix Chicago is the best connected with 254 of the city's 475 participant records, ahead of DE-CIX Chicago at 83 and ChIX at 64, while 26 facilities hold 673 network presences. An IP that geolocates to Chicago points at an operator's registered location, not a verified device.
Internet exchanges in Chicago
An exchange is a shared switch where networks hand traffic to each other directly. Participant counts come from PeeringDB, where each network maintains its own record.
| Exchange | Participants | Registry carriers peering |
|---|---|---|
Equinix Chicago Equinix Internet Exchange Chicago | 254 | |
DE-CIX Chicago | 83 | none in the registry |
ChIX Chicago Internet Exchange | 64 | none in the registry |
Any2Chicago CoreSite - Any2Chicago | 16 | none in the registry |
BGP.Exchange - Chicago | 16 | none in the registry |
MegaIX Chicago | 12 | none in the registry |
Chicago Open Pipes | 8 | none in the registry |
Digital Realty Chicago | 7 | none in the registry |
DACS-IX Central DACS-IX Central Region | 7 | none in the registry |
FD-IX - Chicago | 4 | none in the registry |
BBIX Chicago BroadBand Internet eXchange Chicago | 3 | none in the registry |
GCIIX Greater Chicago International Internet Exchange | 1 | none in the registry |
CyrusOne IX Chicago CyrusOne Internet Exchange | 0 | none in the registry |
Exchange records: PeeringDB.
Colocation facilities
Buildings where networks put equipment. The network count is how many PeeringDB members list a presence there, which shows where capacity in the city sits.
| Facility | Networks present | Address |
|---|---|---|
| Equinix CH1/CH2/CH4 - Chicago | 334 | 350 E Cermak Rd |
| Digital Realty CHI (350 E Cermak) | 100 | 350 E Cermak Rd. |
| CoreSite - Chicago (CH1) | 74 | 427 S. LaSalle |
| Netrality Chicago - 717 S Wells | 22 | 717 S Wells - Netrality Data Center Meet Me Room 717 S Wells Street |
| Northwestern University co-location facility | 20 | 710 N. Lake Shore Drive |
| 365 Data Centers Chicago (CH6) | 19 | 427 S. La Salle |
| SBA Edge, LLC | 16 | 603 Discovery Dr. West Chicago |
| Level(3) Chicago (Kingsbury) | 15 | 900 N Kingsbury St |
| CoreSite - Chicago (CH2) | 15 | 1432 S. Clinton St |
| QTS Chicago (CHI1) | 14 | 2800 S. Ashland Ave |
| TierPoint Chicago - Polk | 9 | 601 W Polk St |
| Digital Realty CHI (600-780 S Federal) | 7 | 600 S Federal St |
Showing the 12 facilities with the most networks, of 26 recorded.
What a Chicago IP address tells you
Chicago has thirteen exchanges in PeeringDB, and participation across them is uneven. Equinix Chicago holds 254 of the 475 participant records, DE-CIX Chicago 83 and ChIX 64, while the remaining ten exchanges share 74. Colocation concentrates the same way. The Equinix CH1, CH2 and CH4 buildings list 334 networks and Digital Realty at 350 East Cermak 100, out of 673 network presences across 26 facilities. T-Mobile's AS6614 appears at Equinix Chicago, and no ASN from the AT&T or Verizon mobile lists appears at any Chicago exchange.
An address that geolocates to Chicago may not be a device in Chicago. A network announces a prefix from a registry record holding one postal address, and geolocation databases read that address for every address in the range. Mobile traffic compounds the gap, because handsets over a wide serving area leave through a small set of gateways and the operator publishes a single city for the block. The city on a lookup describes an operator's paperwork and network design.
An origin ASN check is worth more than a city field. Read which ASN announces the prefix, then the netname and registered holder on that exact prefix. An address announced by a network present at 350 East Cermak or the Equinix CH buildings is a server or a hosting customer, and the Chicago label is right about the building only. An address announced by one of the registry's mobile ASNs, such as Verizon's AS22394, is a consumer range with an approximate city.
Mobile carriers in the United States
A mobile address in Chicago is routed by one of the country's operators. Each entry lists the operator's ASNs, so you can check which network an address belongs to.
Questions
Which internet exchanges are in Chicago?
PeeringDB lists thirteen, holding 475 participant records. Equinix Chicago has 254 of them, DE-CIX Chicago 83, ChIX 64, Any2Chicago and BGP.Exchange - Chicago 16 each, and MegaIX Chicago 12. The rest, including GCIIX and CyrusOne IX Chicago, have fewer than ten each.
Do United States mobile carriers peer in Chicago?
T-Mobile does. Its AS6614 is a participant at Equinix Chicago. No ASN from the AT&T or Verizon mobile lists appears at a Chicago exchange, which only means PeeringDB has no record of it, not that the traffic avoids the city.
Does an IP that geolocates to Chicago mean the device is there?
No. The city comes from the location an operator published for the address block, and one record can cover a range in use across a region. The origin ASN and the netname on the prefix tell you who holds the address.
Sources
- PeeringDB - exchanges, participant counts, facilities and network presence, snapshot 2026-09-07
- PROXIES.SX carrier and ASN registry - operator ASNs used to match peering participants