What Are Residential Proxies? Here’s Everything You Need to Know

Think about it! Whenever you connect a device to a local ISP (Internet Service Provider) or mobile carrier’s network, the carrier assigns your device an IP address. Using the IP address, the carrier or ISP can restrict the device’s access to specific data or regulate transfer rates.

But what if you could rent IP addresses from other people’s devices? What doors would that open for you?

What Are Residential Proxies?

A residential proxy makes it possible to lease device IP addresses. It is a server your device can connect to, allowing it to route web requests through other users’ device IP addresses.

The users are usually in a different location, and the respective local ISPs or mobile network operators assign the IP addresses to them. Hence, you can anonymize your browsing activities, access restricted content, and do more. 

Read on to uncover the benefits of using a residential proxy and how it works.

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Benefits of Residential Proxies

Enhances online privacy and security

Since various ISPs can use your IP address to determine your identity or location, using one from a residential proxy server can conceal your identity or location.

In contrast to other proxy servers like a datacenter proxy, a residential proxy simulates genuine user activity. You route traffic through an actual residential device, making it unlikely for websites to detect proxy use.

On the other hand, a datacenter proxy uses a finite number of IP addresses to mask your IP address, allowing websites to recognize repetitive patterns and block you.

Moreover, hackers are less likely to attack your device because the residential proxy hides your true identity.

Gives you access to geo-blocked content

With the help of residential proxies, you can avoid content access restrictions. 

Websites or services like gaming or streaming platforms may restrict your access due to geographic location. 

To bypass the restrictions, a residential proxy allows you to use a different IP address.

Facilitates effective SEO tracking

Suppose you run a business that uses Search Engine Optimization to increase business ROI (Return on Investment). In that case, you can use a residential proxy to track the regional performance of particular keywords.

You can switch between IP addresses of various locations and check how your target keywords rank. This helps you understand the competitive landscape of each market, allowing you to strategize better and rank on top of SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages).

Optimizes your web scraping operations

As a web scraper, you do understand the primary challenges of scraping, including IP blocking, rate limits, and terms of service violation. Well, a residential proxy can help you navigate these hiccups.

With a residential proxy, you can access many IP addresses of real residential devices. Therefore, you can rotate through these IP addresses to avoid leaving breadcrumbs that may lead to an IP ban. 

Moreover, you can distribute your web requests across a large number of IP addresses to avoid rate limit issues. And, to avoid violating terms of service, you scrape a website using an IP address that places you within the residential area allowed to scrape the website. 

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How Residential Proxies Work

As mentioned, the residential proxy provider does not own the IP addresses you get to use. The respective local ISPs or mobile carriers own the IP address. So, how does the proxy provider get permission to use the IP addresses?

The residential proxy provider can partner with the local ISPs or get into an agreement with individual device owners. 

For instance, device owners could install the proxy provider’s software in exchange for a free service or monetary compensation. 

The proxy provider must obtain consent from the partnering individuals and implement measures to protect the individual’s privacy.

After getting consent, the proxy provider configures their server to route some requests through the IP address a local ISP or mobile network operator assigns the partnering user’s device. 

Here is how a configured residential proxy server handles your web requests:

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How Residential Proxies Handle Requests

You establish a connection with the proxy server and send a request

After leasing a residential proxy from a reliable provider, you get access to the proxy’s details. That’s the proxy’s address, port number, or authentication details (if required).

You then configure your device to establish communication with the proxy server. The configuration process varies depending on your device’s operating system, so consult the provider’s documentation to configure your device correctly.

After configuring the device, you can send a request to any web server via the proxy server. A request is equivalent to any regular web browsing activity. For example, you can query a search engine to access a specific online service or website. 

The proxy forwards the request to the target web server 

Once the proxy receives the request, it replaces your device’s IP address with one from its pool of residential IPs. This IP swap masks your identity and location. Then, it forwards the request to the target web server. 

The web server sends a response to the proxy

When the request reaches the target server, the server processes it like any other request from a typical residential user. The target server cannot tell that you are using a residential proxy, further augmenting your privacy and security. 

After processing the request, the target server generates the appropriate response and sends it back to the proxy server. 

The proxy delivers the response to your device

Finally, the proxy server receives the response on your behalf, replaces the initially assigned IP address with your original IP, and forwards the response to your device. And, the cycle repeats. Throughout the phases, the proxy server is an intermediary, handling interactions between your device and various web servers. 

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Closing Words

Proxies come in different flavors. This one grants you access to the IP addresses of residential devices. 

Just like you access the internet on your device by connecting to a local ISP’s network, so does this proxy whenever you route traffic through it. Want to know more about it? This piece explores the benefits and operations of a residential proxy.