A residential IP is an address that is assigned from an ISP to a homeowner, and is associated with a single owner and location.
What type of IP address do I have?
Detecting your type of IP address isn’t a 100% exact science, but websites have various options. The best way to explore these is to try them for yourself.
Go to ipfingerprints.com and by default the site checks your own IP address. You can test any other IP you like by typing it in the box and clicking Lookup.
When the ipdata report appears, scroll down to the ASN (Autonomous System Number) section. In our test, this included the details “name: British Telecommunications PLC”, “domain: btplc.com” and “type: isp.” The report got it right, as this was a residential IP.
Next, we connected to ExpressVPN and tried the ipdata test again. This time the ASN details included ‘name: “UK-2 Limited”‘, ‘domain: “uk2.net”‘ and ‘type: “hosting.”‘ The site correctly recognized this was a datacenter IP, and that we were connecting through a web server.
If a site wants to block you, this looks like an easy first step to figuring out if you’re a regular home user, or if you might be connecting via a VPN.
Residential VPNs vs residential proxies
You might already be familiar with VPN services like PureVPN, which protect your privacy by directing your internet traffic through a server that you select and can modify whenever you want. Though PureVPN does not maintain any logs of your online activities, other VPNs (especially free ones) may store your information, which can be later stolen or sold. But what about residential proxies or residential VPNs?
As mentioned earlier, the primary difference is their IP source. Residential proxies do not use data centers and hundreds of servers, but rather request ISPs and users to share their current IPs.
Furthermore, residential VPNs are more difficult to block. Since they use IPs that consumers own and have agreed to share, residential IPs are less likely to get blacklisted. Even though these services usually highlight anonymity as a benefit, residential VPNs do not differ much from regular VPNs in this regard.
While privacy tools can improve your anonymity online to some extent, neither residential proxies nor traditional VPNs can guarantee 100% anonymity due to advanced tracking methods employed across the internet.
Residential proxies and VPNs share a few similarities, such as fast connectivity, unlimited bandwidth, and better privacy. As such, the primary differences between these VPN types are typically brand-related, such as connection speed, subscription cost, and the number of devices that can be connected.
How does a residential proxy work?
Trouble is, while the internet is a global community, many service providers will geo-lock content, so you can only access it from certain countries. Moreover, if you’re trying to scrape data or use bots for social media automation or scripts for search engine optimization (SEO), your IP address might get blocked, and you won’t be able to access the website.
Luckily, a residential proxy network is one of the most effective ways to get around these problems.
First, it’s important to note that residential proxies are different from datacenter proxies. Residential proxies are more reliable and in demand, while datacenter ones are easier to block. They’re cheaper and can work wonders for scraping targets that don’t have sophisticated scraping detection technologies. But let’s talk about the real MVPs – residential proxies.
This is how the residential proxy magic happens:
- The proxies route your internet traffic through an intermediary server.
- This server changes the IP address of your connection request.
- Your IP is completely hidden, and you appear as a different yet completely normal user.
Residential proxies are exceptional because they’re real mobile and desktop devices connected to a local Wi-Fi network.
How do I get a residential IP address?
You can get a residential IP from various proxy providers. Some providers offer a list of IP addresses, while others offer endpoints. When choosing Pia Proxy, we’re going to save you some hassle – there’s no need to import proxy lists, and there’s almost zero chance you will get a proxy that doesn’t work.
How Does The Rotating Residential Proxy IP Work?
The residential proxy provider has a pool of IP addresses. When you make a website request to a website through a residential proxy server, they will choose any available IP address (random) in the pool and then route the request to the website through them.
For rotating residential proxy IP, they will change the session of the IP address used for connection according to the website request or the specified time.
When the IP is rotated by session or request, each website request you send will be routed through a different IP address.
This method is especially tried for website crawling. During the crawling process, you send a large number of requests every minute. With this kind of rotation, the website cannot track you.