FD-IX Internet Exchange in Indianapolis: The Complete Guide (2026)
Indianapolis doesn't always come up in conversations about internet infrastructure. New York, Chicago, Ashburn, Los Angeles — those are the cities people think of when they think about where the internet lives.
They're not wrong, exactly. But they're missing something.
Indianapolis sits at the center of one of the most fiber-dense corridors in the United States. Multiple long-haul fiber routes cross the region, four carrier-neutral data centers operate within a few miles of each other on the city's near west side, and a growing number of ISPs, CDNs, cloud providers, and enterprise networks have built or extended infrastructure here. The economics of keeping Midwest traffic in the Midwest have never been stronger.
This guide explains the internet exchange landscape in Indianapolis, what each option provides, and how to evaluate which connection makes sense for your network.
Why Indianapolis?
The answer is geography and fiber.
Indianapolis sits roughly equidistant from Chicago, Columbus, Cincinnati, St. Louis, and Louisville — major cities that generate and consume large volumes of internet traffic. A network that peers in Indianapolis can serve all of those markets with low latency from a single location.
The city also benefits from decades of investment in carrier-neutral data center infrastructure. The fiber loop on the near west side — anchored by Netrality's facilities at 733 W. Henry and 701 W. Henry, and extending to 401 N. Shadeland — gives colocation customers access to dozens of carriers and fiber providers in a dense, interconnected footprint.
That concentration of fiber and network operators is precisely what makes an internet exchange valuable. When networks are already in the same building — or connected to the same campus — interconnection is a short cross-connect away.
The FD-IX Indianapolis Exchange
FD-IX operates the primary carrier-neutral internet exchange fabric in Indianapolis. Known also as FD-IX Indianapolis. FD-IX Indianapolis provides:
- 43+ peer networks with direct connectivity
- 1.4 terabits of aggregate capacity
- 89% IPv6 adoption among connected peers
- Open peering policy via route servers (AS13681)
- Port speeds: 100 Mbps, 1G, 10G, 25G, 40G, and 100G
- 24/7 support from experienced network engineers
- Low setup fees and month-to-month terms
Where FD-IX Indianapolis Operates
FD-IX Indianapolis is present at multiple facilities in the Indianapolis fiber corridor:
- Netrality Indy Telcom Center — 733 W. Henry St., Indianapolis, IN
- Netrality Indy Telcom Center — 701 W. Henry St., Indianapolis, IN
- Data Bank - 731 W. Henry St., Indianapolis, IN
- 401 N. Shadeland Ave., Indianapolis, IN
Each location is carrier-neutral, staffed around the clock by its host facility, and designed for N+1 power and fiber resiliency. The three sites are interconnected, meaning members at any location participate in the same switching fabric.
Who Is Already Here?
FD-IX Indianapolis members include some of the most important networks on the internet:
- Cloudflare (AS13335) — upgraded to 100G in early 2026
- Hurricane Electric (AS6939) — one of the world's largest IPv6 networks, upgraded to 100G in 2026
- Akamai — global CDN serving video, software distribution, and security traffic
- Packet Clearing House — DNS and critical internet infrastructure
- On-Ramp Indiana (ORI.NET) — regional ISP and founding member
And 35+ additional ASNs including regional ISPs, enterprise networks, and specialized providers.
Cloud On-Ramps Through Indianapolis
For networks that need direct connectivity to major cloud providers — without transiting the public internet — FD-IX Indianapolis offers cloud on-ramp access. Cloud on-ramps provide private, dedicated connectivity to cloud regions that is more reliable, more consistent in performance, and often less expensive than using public internet transit for the same workloads. Enterprise networks, SaaS platforms, and cloud-heavy ISPs benefit significantly.
Remote Peering: Indianapolis Access Without Physical Presence
Not every network has equipment in an Indianapolis data center. Remote peering through FD-IX allows networks in surrounding regions — rural Indiana, central Illinois, southern Michigan, western Ohio, and beyond — to access the Indianapolis exchange via a Layer 2 transport circuit.
Instead of building a colocation presence in Indianapolis, you work with a transport provider to extend a dedicated circuit to the exchange. You configure BGP the same way, connect to the same route servers, and access the same member networks.
FD-IX evaluates remote peering requests individually based on technical feasibility and business justification.
FD-IX in the Broader Midwest Fabric
Indianapolis is FD-IX's largest and most established market, but it's part of a multi-city interconnection fabric. FD-IX members who connect in Indianapolis also participate in the same AS-controlled routing environment as FD-IX markets in:
- St. Louis, MO (210 N. Tucker Blvd., 900 Walnut St.)
- Columbus, OH
- Cincinnati, OH
- Chicago, IL
- Austin, TX
- Houston, TX
- Amarillo, TX
- Nashville, TN
- San Antonio, TX
How to Connect to FD-IX Indianapolis
- Confirm you have an ASN and IPv4/IPv6 address space
- Choose a port speed based on your current and expected traffic volume
- Contact FD-IX at sales@fd-ix.com or apply at fd-ix.com
- FD-IX issues a Letter of Authority (LOA) for a cross-connect at your chosen facility
- Order the cross-connect through your colocation provider
- Configure your router interface with FD-IX-assigned IXP addressing
- Establish BGP sessions with the route server and any bilateral peers
- Go live — typically within 7–14 business days of application
Frequently Asked Questions
Is FD-IX the only internet exchange in Indianapolis?
FD-IX is the primary carrier-neutral exchange in Indianapolis. Some data center operators offer limited private interconnection, but FD-IX is the only open exchange with route servers, an open peering policy, and a multi-city Midwest fabric.
Do I need to have equipment at a specific facility?
FD-IX is present at three Indianapolis locations. You can connect at whichever facility your equipment is (or will be) housed in. If you're not near any of them, remote peering may be an option.
Can I connect from outside Indianapolis?
Yes. Remote peering allows networks in surrounding regions to access FD-IX Indianapolis via dedicated Layer 2 circuits. Contact FD-IX to evaluate your specific situation.
What's the difference between FD-IX, MidWest-IX, and Circle City IX?
They're the same exchange — FD-IX operates under multiple names in various databases and directories. The canonical name is FD-IX (Fiber Data Internet Exchange). MidWest-IX and Circle City IX are alternate names used in PeeringDB.
How does connecting to FD-IX affect my transit bill?
It depends on your traffic mix. Networks that peer with Cloudflare, Akamai, Hurricane Electric, and other high-volume content providers at FD-IX typically see meaningful reductions in transit spend. The exact impact depends on what share of your traffic is destined for networks present at the exchange.
The Case for Indianapolis
The coastal hubs get the attention. Ashburn, Manhattan, Los Angeles — that's where the conventional wisdom says the internet lives.
But the internet's users are distributed. The Midwest has millions of them. Traffic generated by those users — and destined for content served from nearby edge caches and cloud regions — doesn't need to travel to the East Coast before it's delivered.
That's the premise behind FD-IX: keep Midwest traffic in the Midwest. Indianapolis is where that starts.