If you’re looking to buy residential proxies and have concerns that you’ll get a datacenter proxy IP, your worries are legitimate. Real residential proxies are incredibly valuable, but the market has become saturated just like the datacenter private proxy space did. More than 60 providers offer datacenter proxy IPs.

At least ten providers currently claim to be selling residential IPs and advertise their products, but it is important to be wary. That’s why you need to know the difference between a fake and authentic residential IP, as well as how to test it and when/when not to use one. There are also benefits of residential proxies to learn and much, much more.

Consider this the ultimate guide to residential proxies, full of the most up-to-date information and resources you can trust. After all, you want to know what you’re buying and what will keep your online identity safe.

What Are Residential Proxies?

It’s all in the name—residential proxies are proxy servers with IPs from consumer-level ISPs (Internet Service Providers) that are located in residential areas. This is the most concise explanation, but it is difficult to comprehend for consumers who aren’t familiar with the layers of the Internet’s communications protocols.

First, it’s important to understand what a proxy server is. Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries defines the term “proxy server” as “a server that exists between somebody’s personal computer and the Internet to provide some services for the user and/or to prevent them from reaching information, websites, etc. without permission”. Therefore, a proxy is like a middle man between your computer or local network and larger scale networks and can be used for multiple purposes, from monitoring your online activities to improving security while browsing the Internet.

Essentially, each consumer device like a smartphone or laptop uses an IP address, which is similar to a phone number, to “dial in” to the Internet. That IP address pinpoints the device’s location, and it also saves your digital information like browser preference and cookies. However, a residential proxy can help you circumnavigate this issue by acting as an intermediary between your devices and a data center by using an IP provided by an ISP.

Residential proxies are key to hiding your identity online because they mask the sensitive information that would be provided by your device every time you connect to the Internet. While they could look like a nefarious tool for criminal activity, they help millions of Internet users to access geo-blocked content, improve search engine optimization (SEO) and stay safe while browsing.

How to Test Residential Proxies

Once you buy a residential proxy, it’s a good idea to test it for legitimacy and any potential operational issues. Fortunately, this is a quick process that takes roughly five minutes. You will be set to browse in no time.

First, ignore the millions of IPs in the network because it’s impossible to test all of them. You only need to pick a few random IPs and test those, and you can test them with a few different tools:

• MaxMind, an IP Geolocation and Online Fraud Prevention service
• ARIN, the American Registry for Internet Numbers – this is the organization that manages and distributes IPs in the US.
• RIPE, ARIN’s European counterpart – they do in Europe what ARIN does in the US.

Once you are done testing, you can search, “What’s my IP?” in Google to confirm that you are accessing the Internet from a different address and that your residential proxy works.

Why Do You Need a Proxy IP?

There are many reasons to buy proxy IP addresses, but the overarching theme is to hide your real IP address and mask it while performing various online tasks. Despite the seemingly boundless nature of the Internet, there are many limitations for users who are tied to the public IP addresses they use to get online.

This is why many people who buy proxy IP addresses are developers running large web scraping operations, social media professionals managing multiple accounts and Internet-savvy browsers looking for data. Here are a few examples:

• Ad verification. Residential proxies have proven to be an effective way to see how ads are displayed in other countries and also allow Internet users to see whether the ads shown to them are real. (Many hackers tend to fake ads so they can claim the revenue.)
• Travel fare aggregation. Collecting data on travel fare prices can be tough, as flight company websites, travel agencies, and other sources have tight security checks, and any bot-like behavior will get blocked. Residential proxies come in handy here with their legitimacy.
• Geo-locked content. Though the Internet is supposed to be a global community, there are sites that are only available to users in certain countries. Residential proxies can get around this and allow you to access content regardless of its geo-location settings.

When you’re looking to buy proxy IPs, there is no right answer for why and when to buy. However, it’s wise to test proxies before buying. Start small, get a few dedicated proxies and run a trial before you commit.

How Do You Create a Residential Proxy?

If you still can’t wrap your head around the way a residential proxy works, consider this section an explanation from another perspective: the creation of a residential proxy.

When it comes to residential proxies, Luminati is the most popular example right now with a near-perfect rating and high praise across online forums. Luminati is different from a datacenter proxy provider because it does not own any residential IPs, let alone have a “private” inventory of IPs that they can sell to their clients. Instead, they “rent” the IPs from everyday Internet users with connected devices.

This gives Luminati a millions-strong network of devices that can connect to the Internet and can be used to route online traffic. The service first gets permission from the device owners, and then the proxy users access the Internet through the devices’ IP addresses. Luminati, therefore, is a facilitator that bridges those seeking residential proxies and those with devices that can help proxy users get online.

You may be wondering how Luminati built its network of millions of devices. The provider didn’t actually do much work but rather offered incentive to app developers, who can make money for every person who downloads their apps. The developers simply need to add in code, Luminati SDK, when creating their apps. It’s a win-win for everyone involved.

To recap, all these devices within the Luminati network can be used because app developers inserted code into their apps, which were downloaded to devices. When the devices aren’t being used by their owners, the Luminati SDK activates so the device “joins” the proxy network so users can route traffic through its connection.

Where You Can Buy Static or Dedicated Residential Proxies

Unfortunately for users looking to utilize residential proxies, the ever-changing nature of these networks means there is no such thing as a dedicated residential proxy. This is because, as explained previously, IPs are “rented” by residential proxy services and can have their permissions revoked at any time. These providers do not own the IPs and, therefore, cannot control the same way that data centers and private proxies can control the IPs they own.

An IP address is only added to a residential proxy network if the specified conditions have been met, and it’s only in the network as long as it meets those conditions. That is why static residential proxies don’t exist and why providers cannot guarantee you connect via the same gateway IP address every time. Each IP address is only available to users of the proxy pool for as long as it meets the specified conditions.

Thus, the static and dedicated residential proxies are myths and are not to be trusted. Many Internet users don’t understand how proxies work and can be taken advantage of by fake providers who are simply looking to make money off anyone who isn’t in the know.

How to Get the Best Residential Proxies

In order to get the best residential proxies, you’ll want to be equipped with the best tools. As mentioned earlier, the ARIN and RIPE databases pair nicely with the MaxMind tool to give you the best experience and the peace of mind that comes with knowing you’re using a proxy that works.

The ARIN and RIPE databases are a must-have when using residential proxies, but out of all the IP Whois services on the market, users should take advantage of the free, professional MaxMind tool.

MaxMind is integrated in several online payment processors for fraud prevention and IP blacklist detection. It is the best tool when it comes to staying safe when using residential proxies, and it is the most referenced by similar providers—other IP Whois websites use the MaxMind API to show you IP results.

What Are the Benefits of Residential Proxies?

The main benefit of residential proxies is the masking of your information when you’re online. Regardless of why you need to use a residential proxy, the benefits lie in the scope of access you get when you don’t encounter any blocks.

One of the top ways that Internet providers will market their services is by saying their IP addresses never get blocked by the site users commonly access. However, this gimmick is a summary of these steps to being “accepted” by the sites you’re trying to visit:

1. A residential provider has hundreds, thousands or millions of proxy IPs
2. Users connect to a backconnect-type of proxy that forwards requests to the actual residential IP addresses
3. If a residential IP address being used now is blocked (such as getting a 403 response), the provider switches the connection
4. The request is sent through another IP address
5. Repeat this process until you get an “Accepted” response

If you’re using a residential proxy, there’s no way to tell how many connections your provider tried before finding one that worked. The end result appears to be that you’ll “never be blocked” but relies on sheer quantity to achieve it. With that in mind, you run the risk of having your requests handled by several bad/blocked IP address until your requests reach the web server you want to access. Also, you have to deal with slow Internet browsing because you’re waiting for a “good” IP address to be assigned to you.

Residential Proxies vs Dedicated – Which One to Get or Use?

Proxies serve many purposes, but Internet users often find themselves confused between the uses of residential proxies versus dedicated (datacenter) proxies. The short answer is, there’s no right or wrong answer. It just depends on what you want to achieve with your connections through proxies.

With residential proxies, the web server will be able to identify the location of the node, a map of it and the name of the ISP provider. Datacenter IP addresses, on the other hand, are not associated with an ISP and work like a proxy because they modify or hide the IP address the server sees.

As discussed earlier, there are many different reasons why someone might want to use residential proxies, but overwhelmingly the most common is for anonymity. (Once someone identifies your ISP, anyone in the world can look at your IP address and make a pretty accurate guess of where you live and the specific address of your computer.) But with a residential proxy, your true address is masked but still appears to be that of a real person, not a bot.

The prime example of using a residential over a proxy is when buying multiple pairs of sneakers with a one-per-person limitation. The web store would absolutely recognize a dedicated proxy as unnatural and would flag the shopper, causing them to lose their place in line to buy the sneakers. A residential proxy, however, would appear “real” and would not be flagged by the site, letting the shopper go on to use multiple IP addresses to purchase several pairs of sneakers.

Before choosing between either type of proxy, take the following into consideration:

1. Budget. Residential proxies are expensive at the outset, but when you need a several random IPs, it becomes a viable investment, saving you the cost of using thousands of private proxies.
2. Bandwidth. How much do you need to accomplish with your residential proxy? Complex tasks require more bandwidth, and the pricing is based on bandwidth. Consider that before buying.
3. Connection accounts. Do you need your online activity to be connected to one fixed IP address? If yes, then you should choose private dedicated proxies so you never have to “start over” whenever you want to return to that activity.
4. Performance. Residential IPs can be slow (from that trial-and-error process of IP address testing) and connections might time out, whereas dedicated private proxies are allocated from datacenters. These usually have fiber Gigabit connections so you don’t have to worry about performance.

Luminati suggests first trying their datacenter’s dedicated/private proxies, knowing that their residential IPs can be a fall-back solution in case datacenter IPs get blocked. With this method, you avoid higher costs when usage is high.

Who are the Best Providers with a Large Number of IPs?

Luminati is well regarded as a top tier proxy provider, but a few other services are on the rise. These networks have millions of IP addresses, defy the odds of being banned and serve users from beginner to expert programming levels.

Other providers are expected to start offering residential proxies in the future, which will broaden the market and likely drive costs down.

Why There are no Cheap Residential Proxies

Residential proxies are usually pricier than datacenter proxies because they are harder to get. A residential proxy is directly affiliated with an ISP and, thus, it provides a more legit IP address that is harder to detect as a proxy.

Some providers offer low-cost packages for residential proxies, making them more compelling to consumers who are on the hunt for a solution. However, just like the marketing gimmicks that scammers use to take advantage of naive users, these cheaper packages are designed to take your money with little to nothing in return.

If you see too-good-to-be-true prices on residential proxies, simply proceed with caution. You can easily do your due diligence by reading online reviews of the provider and testing a proxy network with a free or low-cost trial before committing to spending excessive money.

What are IPV Brokers and IPV4s?

Understanding the function of residential proxies is an essential step to grasp the way the Internet works because it introduces users to concepts like IP addresses, which are all intertwined to form a network called IPv4.

IPv4 is the fourth version of the Internet Protocol (IP), one of the core protocols of standards-based internetworking methods in the Internet and other packet-switched networks. IPv4 was the first version deployed for production in the ARPANET in 1983 and still routes most Internet traffic today.

IPv4 brokers, therefore, handle the secondary market of IPv4 address transfer requests. A significant quantity of unused, previously allocated IPv4 numbers are readily available for redistribution to IP network operators and companies that need them. The IPv4 broker market creates financial incentives for those entities to invest in efficiently renumbering their IPv4 blocks to free up excess inventory to sell to others who need more IPv4 numbers.

IPv4 Depot is an IPv4 broker that helps facilitate the buying and selling of IPv4 addresses between companies with excess blocks and companies with need. We are a registered and approved IPv4 Address Facilitator within the American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN) Specified Transfer Listing Service (STLS) and are the source for all your IPv4 requirements. We are a full service firm handling both purchases and sales of ARIN, APNIC, and RIPE IP blocks. Taking into account the increasing scarcity of IPv4 blocks in the market, we now offer leased IPv4 addresses for both short and long term use as well as IPv6 addresses. In addition we offer hosted VM solutions that connect to major cellular networks that allow you unlimited IP rotations out of massive IPs pools.

Many Internet users are simply waiting because they’ve read that IPv4 has run out of addresses and that the new IPv6 is going to solve the problem, which is why they make the mistake of not taking advantage of the secondary IPv4 market. This is not the case; here’s why IPv6 won’t change the big picture.

How Internet Addressing Works

Every device that connects to the Internet needs its own address, the same way that every building on the street—like a house or business—needs its own address. Another common analogy that we used earlier is that an IP address is the “phone number” that a device uses to “dial in” to the Internet. With Internet Protocol, or IP, addresses there is a mathematical limit to the number of possible addresses that Internet-connected devices can use. These addresses have been assigned since the advent of the IPv4, the original Internet addressing system. It has worked successfully for many years, but by employing 32 bits of recombined digits, IPv4 has a maximum of 4.3 billion possible addresses. (You may recognize what IPv4 addresses look like; an example of an IPv4 address is 68.149.3.230.)

Despite this seemingly enormous number of IP addresses, the explosive growth of the Internet meant that those addresses were taken at a pace too rapid to accommodate today’s hyperconnected world. Between the computers, smartphones, mobile devices and other Internet-enabled electronics, we’re running out of IPv4 addresses.

The good news: IPv6 is coming.

IPv6 Brings Good News

A new internet addressing system, known as IPv6, has enlarged the addressing system to help ameliorate the limitations of the now-outdated IPv4. IPv6 uses 128 bits instead of 32 bits for its addresses, creating 3.4 x 1038 possible addresses, which means that there will be trillions upon trillions instead of a few billions of IP addresses. The enlarged addressing will also affect what an address looks like, meaning that a random example of an IPv6 address is 3ffe:1900:4545:3:200:f8ff:fe21:67cf.

The current issue with IPv6 is that the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority has only apportioned some of these trillions of IPv6 addresses for public addresses. There’s no shortage of them in total, but all 340 undecillion aren’t technically available, just 42 undecillion. That is still trillions of new IPv6 addresses, and even the explosive growth of the Internet and demand for more space will be met with the IPv6 addressing system.

When Is the Switch to IPv6?

The world has slowly begun to embrace IPv6, and those new addresses coexist alongside the older IPv4 addresses. Big web properties like Google and Facebook officially began to make the switch in June 2012, but other organizations have been slower to convert.

The change to IPv6 has been invisible to the everyday Internet user because the process is at the network level, which is behind the scenes and doesn’t disrupt the way people browse online. It doesn’t require the average user to learn anything new, and Internet-connected devices will come already upgraded. Thus, it will be a gradual adoption process that will happen naturally without interrupting the way people use the Internet today.

How to Choose the Right Proxy Server

It’s a well-known fact that proxy management is important when completing any web crawling assignment. In fact, proxy services are an absolute must for anyone looking to crawl and extract a relatively large volume of data. These are complex projects, so be aware that web scraping projects and developing crawlers take a similar amount of time, and both require the right proxy service.

These are the different types of proxy services that can be used in a web scraping project, including comprehensive data points that will help you make the right decision.

Proxy and its Importance in Web Scraping:

This is where residential proxies, IPv4 and choosing a proxy server all come together. Just to recap: an IP address is a numerical label assigned to each Internet-connected device using IP for communication and generally look like the following: 216.3.128.12.

A proxy, whether residential or datacenter, is a third-party server that allows you to send and receive network requests (packet-switching) by providing its IP address, which masks the true IP address of your device. Once you’ve deployed a proxy, you can send a request to any website, and it will only be able to identify the IP address of the proxy server. This allows you to browse anonymously and access any data, regardless of how it’s locked.

Currently, the web is moving to IPv6 from IPv4. The switch to IPV6 will open up trillions and trillions of new IP addresses, but note that the proxy providers still primarily use IPV4 protocol. As of right now, most proxies do not use IPv6 addresses and, therefore, may someday be flagged as “bot” addresses that are out-of-date.

When web scraping, then, ideally you employ the best practice of keeping your company name as the user agent when utilizing proxy services. This helps the third-party proxy companies to get in touch with you in case your crawling results in unusually high server load. They can also ask you to not extract data from their site.

These are the cases in which it’s most important to use proxies for web crawling:

1. When extracting site data, you’ll find the most success by using several proxies because it will minimize the chances of getting stopped/blocked by that site.
2. Many sites show their content to Internet users based on their location, which is linked to the IP address they’re using to browse online. The data might also change based on the type of device you’re using. But with a proxy server, you can see a site’s content that’s assigned to users in another location or using a different device than you’re actually using. For example, you could be located in the US but see how a site looks when you’re browsing from Italy if your proxy’s location is in Italy. This comes in handy when crawling ecommerce sites.
3. If you need to make several concurrent requests to a website, you can use multiple IP addresses given by the proxy provider. Because these are so many addresses you can access, you have few limitations and at the same time reduce your risk of getting banned.
4. Sometimes, certain IP addresses get flagged for malicious activity and get completely banned by website admins. For instance, if there is a DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attack emerging from a cloud hosting service, the admin can identify that host and block its associated IP address. This is bypassable with a proxy, which will simply assign you a new IP address altogether.

Proxy Pool and the Underlying Factors

Now that you know the basics of proxy services and their importance in web scraping, we’ll explain proxy pools and how they relate to web scraping projects as well.

Just like you’re limited by the IP address of your system, if you only use one proxy, you’ll run into the issues associated with being limited to a certain set of IP addresses, namely accessing geo-specific data, data volume and overall crawling efficiency. Therefore, you should use a proxy pool to make multiple requests to a site—by diversifying the traffic load on the site by distributing it across different proxies, you’ll be more efficient.

Here are some key factors that would contribute to the size of the proxy pool:

1. Total number of connections per unit of time.
2. The number of proxies required; the more cutting-edge anti-crawling technology a website has, the larger the number of proxies you’ll need to crawl it.
3. The category of the proxy based on origin: datacenter, residential or mobile. Remember that although the overall quality of a datacenter proxy is not as good as a residential proxy, which is more robust owing to its technical architecture.
4. The anonymity of the IP: is it transparent, anonymous and elite?
5. The technical strength of your provider’s proxy management technique: proxy rotation and control, session distribution, etc.

The efficiency of your proxy management system is influenced by all of the above factors, meaning that a high-quality proxy pool is one that is fast, robust, residential, totally anonymous and managed effectively. A low quality proxy configuration, on the other hand, will leave you blocked from websites and stuck with low quality data.

These are the types of proxies that are used for networks.

Type of Proxies

I’m sure you have already checked the type proxies available for your crawling projects. So, you would have noticed one element in any proxy provider’s site – they are all claiming to be the top proxy service without showcasing any credible reason. And this makes it challenging to assess the right proxy vendor.

The first step in any crawling project is checking the available proxies, but the problem everyone runs into is that every proxy provider claims to be the top service without showing any credibility. This presents a challenge because it’s difficult to assess proxy vendors without any objective criteria, but you can start by choosing the right proxy type for your project.

These are the three primary types of IP addresses, as well as each of their pros and cons, to help you choose the right proxy type.

Datacenter IPs:

Data centers offer the most conventional IP addresses, which are generally the IPs of servers located on site. Because of their sheer abundance, these proxies are the most low-cost option. Remember: traffic routing through datacenter IPs can get flagged as bot-like, so it might be risky, but it’s absolutely possible to build a high quality crawling infrastructure by pairing datacenter IPs with a well-managed proxy system.

Residential IPs:

These are the proxies discussed in depth at the beginning of this guide. To recap, they originate from the IPs of a personal (residential) network and route traffic through an everyday device, usually one that has installed an app with the proxy’s code embedded in it. These coveted IPs, therefore, are expensive.

Most crawling projects are achievable with datacenter or residential IPs, so the choice comes down to costs and legal protection.

Mobile IPs:

As the name suggests, mobile IPs are the addresses of mobile devices, and collecting enough for a full network is a highly complex process. This makes them costly, so it only makes sense to choose them when you need to crawl mobile websites. Another detail to keep in mind is that there could be legal ramifications because the mobile phone’s owner might not be aware that you’re using their device for web crawling.

Resource management is an important aspect of any business project, so many users looking to crawl opt for the low-cost datacenter IPs and a high quality proxy management system. This facilitates a similar experience of using residential and mobile IPs but at a lesser expense.

Another criterion for proxies is their level of anonymity, explained here.

Transparent, Anonymous and Elite Proxies.

While you’re browsing, a proxy can send three different headers:

REMOTE_ADDR

HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR

HTTP_VIA

Here, the `REMOTE_ADDR` header is the one that transmits the IP address. It does the same even if you are simply browsing the web.

A transparent proxy type transmits your real IP address in the `HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR` header. This means a website not only sees the `REMOTE_ADDR` but also checks for certain proxy headers that will identify your actual IP address. The `HTTP_VIA` header is also sent, which tells that you are using a proxy server.

An anonymous proxy type will never transmit your actual IP address in the `HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR` header, instead sending the IP address of the proxy or is simply void. The `HTTP_VIA` header in this case also reveals that you are using a proxy service to make access requests.

An elite proxy only sends the REMOTE_ADDR header, and the other headers are blank or empty. This makes you look like a normal web user who is not using any proxy.

You now have a solid grasp on the different types of proxies, how they’re used and how they are categorized according to IP source and anonymity. Choosing the right proxy is an important first step, but another important part of a web crawling project is proxy pool management. This ensures that you aren’t quickly blocked and see maximum return on investment.

Proxy Pool Management:

Any web crawling project is subject to blocking, so it’s important to establish a proxy pool management system so you can continue to sustainably extract data.

Be sure to factor in the following:

• Locate blockers. Your proxy management system must be able to log in and report different types of blocks—ranging from captchas to cyclic redirections to blanket bans and ghosting—so the engineers can quickly fix them.
• User agents. Efficiency is highly dependent on correctly managing the software acting on your behalf.
• Proxy moderation. Depending on what your web crawling project requires, you might need to have multiple sessions with the same proxy. This will require extra configuration.
• Keeping intervals. Randomness and delays are the two keys to avoiding website proxy alerts.

Managing a pool of ten IP addresses is far easier than managing hundreds or thousands of proxies, and the process only gets more complex as you scale. These are the three main options for management.

In-house management:

This system is just like the name suggests. In-house management is the most cost-effective option because a dedicated team of engineers can continuously monitor the proxy pool. They can either make changes to the existing proxy management software or build a new one from scratch depending on the project requirements.

Proxy rotators:

This is a sort of responsibility split in which the vendor that delivers the IP addresses handles proxy rotation and location-based targeting, leaving you to focus on blocking detection, session allocation and request moderation.

Fully managed:

At the far end of the spectrum is fully managed proxy management, which is outsourced to a crawling service provider that can handle end-to-end data acquisition. These providers usually offer complete proxy management, leaving you to focus on the application of the data rather than its delivery.

As you can see each of these options have their own positive and negative points, so evaluate the correct choice based on the nature of the project and budget.

There are many aspects to consider when choosing a proxy type and how to manage it, so it’s important to take a big-picture view of your project before making any decisions. The nature of the project and the budget are often the determining factors, as is legality.

Legal Factors When Using Proxies:

When making a proxy selection, it’s often the technical facets that are considered rather than the legalities, but the legal aspect also needs to be considered to spare you the consequences of Internet crime. Just to be clear, remember that the process of using a proxy IP to browse a website is legal at its baseline, but you need to ensure you remain inside the legal perimeters.

First, be mindful of the website’s resources when you’re crawling/scraping a site with your proxy system. The huge proxy pool and concurrent requests can overwhelm the website’s server, disrupting its function and consuming its computing resources. This can be disastrous to the website owner, so remember that with great power comes great responsibility.

Second, make sure your crawlers respect the robots.txt files of each site and follow its guidelines perfectly to allow normal operation and not harm the site. If the site owner reports that your crawlers are overwhelming the site, you are obligated to either back off or stop data collection entirely depending on the circumstances. As long as your crawlers are polite, so to speak, you will remain within the legal boundaries.

Third, confirm consent from the residential IP owner if you’re using this type of proxy. Since GDPR has been enforced, each residential proxy must be compliant because the data privacy regulation states that IP addresses are personally identifiable information.

This is a straightforward process when you are using your own residential proxies, but vendors don’t always offer that same guarantee. Therefore, if your residential proxies are purchased from a third party provider, check if they have acquired consent based on GDPR compliance for web crawling projects.