Residential Proxies: Special Features and Advantages

Well, you may also want to buy some products at the lowest price, despite the fact that the special offer is valid, for example, only for Uganda residents?

How is it possible to create a "wormhole" to access the required spot on the web? In that very Uganda, for example, to get the long-awaited discount. Or to make hundreds or even thousands of parallel connections so that a competitor could not block you.

That's when proxies are used to complete these and other tasks.

What Is a Proxy?

A proxy is a kind of web node that acts as an intermediary/your representative. It receives your requests and redirects them to the final node (IP address or website), not via a familiar route, but via an alternative one.

Due to the application of bypass routes, most of the tasks that are assigned to the proxy, are completed.

Proxy servers, however, can simultaneously solve some other tasks. For example, they can compress traffic to save budget or clean it from useless content.

The Main Proxy Tasks

We have already mentioned some of the tasks in the introduction. It’s time now to include them in the general list of samples:

1. Bypass Blocking of Local Internet Operators (certain websites and nodes). Even if the network provider blocks requests directed to undesirable, in its opinion, web nodes (IP addresses or domains), no one prevents you from sending similar requests in favor of a proxy server. It will further redirect them to the required point right after these requests pass the route segment controlled by the Internet operator.
2. Request Parallelization. This mechanism is somewhat similar to peering (P2P). When many requests are directed to the same resource from the same client IP address, this is an obvious hectic load. Large platforms protect their sectors and block such users. Proxies, in their turn, make it possible to build an entire network of parallel routes and requests. Everything, however, depends on the availability of the required IP addresses that are at disposal of the proxy provider. The largest address bases are traditionally offered by residential proxy network providers. We’ll talk about them in detail below.
3. Location Virtualization (Substitution). This is when you rent/choose a proxy server in the required location or even from the desired telecom operator. In this case, you can get adequate location-related prices, place product orders if there are any discounts and special offers or when the purchase is unavailable in the traditional way), and view content that is relevant for this location (this is especially true for different libraries of streaming services), etc. Location change also allows tracking the efficacy of your promo campaigns or checking the quality of contractors’ work, protecting the brand (for example, if competitors sell the fakes of your products), etc.
4. Testing and Monitoring. Imagine that you have a large web service and you offer your services around the world. In some regions, however, the number of complaints about service unavailability is growing. How is it possible to confirm or deny such information? By checking it out personally. Moreover, you can automate the verification process and even be proactive in this respect, without waiting for complaints from real customers.
5. Optimization of Advertising Costs. We have already mentioned the possibility of checking the quality of contractors' work. The ultimate goal of the process is to detect problems and react to them on time. This eventually results in correct ad budget expenditures.
6. Monitoring of Competitors' Websites. The more you know about your direct competitors, the easier it is to build your strategy in the market. Thus, you can detect a niche/location, which is not occupied yet. You can also check the scale of coverage and efficacy of the pricing policy etc. No one prevents you from exploring and using successful strategies. This does not concern the prices, SEO promotion, ad purchasing, review writing (working with PR), etc.

This is not a complete list of tasks proxies help solve. This especially concerns residential proxies, which work best for business tasks as they offer an opportunity to use computers of real network users. Let’s review the essence of residential proxy now.

Proxy Types

Proxies can generally be divided into categories with regard to different principles and criteria. For example, by the type of the data transfer protocol used. These are FTP proxies, CGI, SMTP (and other mail protocols), HTTP/HTTPS, and Socks.

By the type of payment, proxies can be paid and free. By the access method, they can be private (personal, i.e. issued to one user) and general (shared/public). In terms of anonymity, proxies are divided into transparent, distorting, and anonymous.

We will further review the process of division by the device types proxy servers are located.

Server Proxies

The program that implements request forwarding, works inside the data center on a special server and therefore provides the maximum bandwidth and performance. This is because the data center is usually located close to the Internet backbone channels. Availability of restrictions on the volume of the transmitted traffic is a rarity here.

As of the problems users may encounter here is that it is quite easy to detect/track the IP addresses and, correspondingly, block them. That is why it doesn’t make sense to use server proxies for business tasks (monitoring and parsing).

Mobile Proxies

These are the most "indestructible" (subsistent) proxies for business tasks. The thing is that the server part of the proxy works inside smartphones that have access to the Internet via a cellular network. A cellular operator has a small (very limited) pool of IP addresses at its disposal. It dynamically distributes them among active subscribers. It is senseless to block such addresses. The IP may belong to one client now to be transferred to another client in half an hour. Is there a guarantee that it is possible to stop harmful requests from a problem subscriber by blacklisting one of such addresses? No.

The main disadvantage here is frequent disconnections and extremely slow data exchange speed (especially if there is no 4G network, not to mention the advanced and not that developed 5G networks). Unlimited traffic is generally a rarity, taking into account the fact that no one offers unlimited plans to new subscribers now. Read more about mobile proxies.

Residential Proxies

"Home" proxies are quite another solution. What does the term mean? As the name implies, the “residents” for the server part operation are ordinary home users - residents of a particular country, or, to be more precise, their devices: computers, routers, laptops, SMART TVs, TV boxes, etc. (that is, all those gadgets that can be connected to the network of a local Internet provider).

Residential proxies are the perfect combination of cost, reliability, and functionality for business tasks. Why? Let's talk about the advantages further.

Note! The terms "resident" and "residential" are synonyms.

Residential Proxy Advantages

Let’s discuss the advantages of residential proxies and their prevalence over other proxy types now:

1. Connection Speed. The speed and ping here are not as high as in the case of server proxies, but they cannot also be compared to mobile proxies, where the connection quality depends literally on “everything” - distance from the tower, obstacles, user movement speed, current load of the base station, policy of charge economy of the smartphone operating system, etc. Modern cell phone operators offer the channel width, which is more than sufficient for everyone - up to 1 Gb/s in case of the fiber optic connection. However, a connection at a speed of 10-100 Mb is also enough for any task: watching videos, downloading torrent files, working with websites, etc.
2. Increased Proxy Lifetime. Yes, server connections are more consistent. However, desktop PCs are almost always connected to the web. Network breaks are a rarity. The lifetime of home/residential proxies is notably longer than the lifetime of mobile connections. That’s a fact.
3. Minimal Risk of Blocking. It is easy to track and detect server proxies. Whatever the size of the address pool is, server proxies are very likely to be included in the stop lists of anti-fraud systems of popular Internet platforms. This means that money invested in monitoring and parsing tasks will be wasted. Residential proxies work on the IP addresses of real clients (individuals). As far as many network providers use the dynamic IP output from the list of available options, it doesn't make any sense to block such networks. The Internet service may just lose access to its target audience. IP addresses of residents are blocked only for a short time and very carefully - almost in manual mode.
4. Operational Rotation. There is no need to worry that the proxy IP address used was blocked or lost activity (went offline). Due to a huge pool of addresses (Froxy has more than 8.5 million IPs), problematic nodes can be easily replaced with working ones. This is done either manually or automatically. You don't have to pay extra fees for rotation.
5. Unreal Location Accuracy. The larger the residential proxy network of the service provider is, the more accurately you can emulate your location. For example, Froxy allows selecting not only a country or city but also a specific network provider. Thus, you can "get" to any place in the world.
6. Thread Parallelization. There are almost no restrictions on the number of ports. You can complete requests simultaneously from any number of independent IPs and then aggregate them on your PC. For example, Froxy guarantees consistent operation with 1000 concurrent connections. This is enough to solve tasks of any complexity and scale. Thus, the tasks of parsing and bypassing single IP blocking are solved in a few seconds.
7. Low Traffic Cost. Yes, server proxies can have completely unlimited traffic. Working on devices of private users, however, has another specific. Unlimited traffic on residential proxies is a difficult task as the connections are inconsistent. Accordingly, in order to save traffic (for its rational use), it makes sense to introduce payment for the amount of data transferred. The cost of traffic is still notably more affordable as compared to mobile proxies.

As a result, residential proxies maintain a perfect balance between the obtained opportunities, consistency, and cost.

How to Use Residential Proxies

Proxy use will depend on the tasks and a set of involved tools.

The general algorithm for working with a proxy implies the implementation of a connection to the specific software.

This is what you have to do:

• get a list of proxies and authorization parameters (in the personal account of the proxy rental service provider);
• activate proxy use in the corresponding part of program settings;
• copy and paste authorization parameters as well as a list of residential proxies;
• make sure the server performance complies with your requirements.

This refers to any software type: parsers, SEO tools, anti-detect browsers, bots, etc., and even operating systems (all modern operating systems provide the opportunity for proxy connection).

You may need to apply the API (programming interface) instead of regular settings in some situations.

Which Residential Proxy Service to Choose? (where to buy)?

Choose Froxy.com and you won't go wrong! The service boasts over 10 years of experience, a huge residential network (over 8.5 million IPs), a convenient personal account, up to 1000 parallel streams, high targeting accuracy to the city and network operator, ready-made integrations, and various payment methods.

We also have favorable prices and the possibility of preliminary testing - a 3-day trial at $1.99. Premium subscriptions can be paused.