Residential proxies are the vast network of IP addresses that an internet service provider (ISP) supplies. A residential proxy works by allowing you to use its IP address as a form of protecting yourself and letting you browse the internet anonymously.
- There are several types of proxies available on the market as residential proxies. In fact there are different types of proxies based on the purpose they are supposed to serve. You can even find mobile proxies that assist with keeping your activities anonymous when on the mobile network. You may click here to learn more about mobile proxies.
Types of Residential Proxies
As mentioned earlier, residential proxies come in a variety of types according to the purpose they serve. Here are a few types:
Dedicated Residential Proxies
This type of proxy is considered one of the best in the category, as it assigns a dedicated IP address to a single user. This is the perfect option if you are looking for the highest level of privacy and anonymity. They also offer a reliable connection and high speed.
Shared Residential Proxies
As the name implies, this type of proxy allows multiple users to use one IP address. The main advantage of shared residential proxies is that they’re cheaper than most. These proxies also have a decent speed and robust network architecture, but they are considered unreliable and not secure.
Rotating Residential Proxies
Rotating proxies are different because they rotate an IP address, randomly changing them. These make them very difficult to detect. This is considered a safe proxy.
Mobile Residential Proxies
Mobile residential proxies, similar to dedicated residential proxies, provide high levels of security and privacy. They use mobile IP addresses.
How Residential Proxies Are Used
Here are the commonly used scenarios of residential proxies:
They can be used for market price monitoring, and work by using multiple sales intelligence software. They can be used to collect and monitor pricing trends.
Residential proxies make social media management simple by allowing you to create multiple accounts. Using a residential proxy lets you easily switch these accounts around without worrying about your IP address. Social media marketing has become a massive trend in today’s internet marketing.
Hiding IP addresses is a form of encryption that cyber security companies use. This means residential proxies can be used for cyber security penetration testing.
Residential proxies let you verify and check any ads displayed on your page. This means they can block any suspicious activity from these ads.
They can also be used to block and unblock sites. Some sites block access, which means you can only access them from a specific location, and residential proxies can bridge that lock.
Choosing a Residential Proxy Provider
Finding a residential proxy provider can be overwhelming, considering the vast pool of them available. Here are a few features you should look for in a proxy provider:
- You should find a residential proxy provider with many residential proxies. The proxies should also provide IP addresses for several locations globally.
- The proxy provider should have rotation as an option and also have good pool management. This ensures that you can get multiple requests from different IP addresses.
- The provider should offer authentication methods that suit what you require. A standard authentication method is the username and password approach. Additionally, the proxy should be easily compatible with the tools you want to use it with.
- The proxy provider should have excellent customer support service. You’ll need to check what level of customer support the proxy provider provides based on response times. A commonly reliable provider will have 24/7 technical support.
- The proxy provider should be reliable, and this is a must. The provider should ensure low latency and high connection speed with their proxies. Slow proxies can create a bad browsing experience or data scraping activities.
- Lastly, the proxy provider should be able to offer you a proxy that is within your price range.