Name: Residential Proxy
Brand: Ping Proxies
SKU: residential
Price: 6.5 USD
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.8 (116 reviews)

Question 1

What is a Residential Proxy?

Accepted Answer

A residential proxy is a proxy server that uses real residential IP addresses. Most other proxy types rely on data centers or other servers, while residential proxies route traffic through the devices of users in residential areas. This also changes your own IP address to a residential IP address in a different area.

With residential proxies, websites can’t tell that your traffic is coming from a proxy. And since some websites and services tend to ban IPs that can easily be linked to proxies or datacenters, using a residential proxy is the best way to avoid such restrictions.

Residential proxies are typically more expensive than datacenter proxies, but they’re also arguably the most effective for many proxy use cases. So while they may not be the cheapest, they’re often the smart investment to make.

Rather than hosting proxies in datacenter facilities, residential proxies are sourced from real residential devices like smartphones, computers, and tablets connected to home networks.

These devices can go offline at any time as users disconnect or turn off their devices. This makes residential peer proxies unsuitable for use that requires the same IP address for prolonged periods but has the added benefit of rotating IP addresses regularly, making it difficult for websites to ban them.

Most residential proxy providers offer both rotating and sticky session IP address options. Sticky in this context usually means the provider attempts to maintain the same IP for as long as possible rather than true permanence offered by static proxies while Rotating residential proxies automatically change IP addresses, routing your connection through different peers on every request.

There are also some residential VPN providers, however, these services are different to residential proxies since VPNs are aimed at different use-cases like personal privacy by encrypting all traffic that flows through them. This is great but limits their scalability, throughput and use in web-scraping and data-collection as they use different communication protocols which are more difficult to integrate programmatically.

The technical infrastructure behind residential proxies involves routing traffic through this network of real residential devices. Unlike datacenter proxies, residential proxies rely on consumer-grade internet infrastructure and the availability of peer devices. This results in more variable performance, with slightly lower throughput and higher latency compared to datacenter hosted proxies.

Our residential proxy infrastructure supports all major protocols including HTTP, HTTPS via CONNECT tunneling, and SOCKS5 for applications requiring lower-level network access.

Unlike free proxies which are often open and unsecured, residential proxy security is maintained through standard authentication methods including username/password verification and IP whitelisting.

The trade-off with residential proxies is straightforward: they effectively bypass proxy detection systems by using real ISP-assigned IP addresses, but cost more and perform slower than datacenter alternatives. This makes them essential for accessing platforms with sophisticated anti-scraping technology such as major e-commerce platforms, but overkill for basic web scraping where proxy detection isn't a concern.

Question 2

What the benefits of using a residential proxy?

Accepted Answer

Residential proxies differ from both datacenter and Static ISP proxies by operating through a network of real residential devices in homes worldwide. Rather than using fixed infrastructure, these proxies dynamically route traffic through consumer devices connected to residential ISP networks. This creates a constantly rotating pool of authentic residential IP addresses that naturally shifts as devices connect and disconnect from the network. This architecture provides several advantages, particularly in terms of avoiding website bans and detection by anti-scraping systems. IP addresses can be profiled by their ASN and this allows datacenter proxies to be easily identified and blocked by some websites. Websites which want to block traffic originating from datacenters will compile or use a list of known datacenter ASNs like the Udger list and then when a request is received by the website, the connecting IP address will have their ASN referenced against this list and blocked if there is a match. This block method is highly scalable and relatively easy to deploy so it is very common across the internet. Residential proxies are able to access websites which block datacenter IP addresses because they use IP addresses announced to residential internet networks rather than datacenter networks. This means the ASN of the IP address isn't present on lists like Udger and therefore is not blocked. This makes these proxies indistinguishable from regular internet users.This makes them particularly effective for accessing platforms with sophisticated anti-bot measures.  Furthermore, Unlike datacenter proxies which often come in easily detectable sequential blocks, residential IPs are naturally distributed across different subnets and providers, making detection and wholesale blocking much more difficult. Another benefit of residential proxies is that they offer wide geographic coverage through their networks of real devices across different regions and ISPs. You can select proxies in any country or major city on earth which just isn’t possible with datacenter proxies. This distributed architecture provided peer network is particularly valuable for market research, localized content verification, and accessing region-restricted services. The distributed nature of residential proxy networks also provides natural load balancing and redundancy, as traffic can be routed through multiple residential nodes in different locations.

Question 3

What is the difference between residential proxies and datacenter proxies?

Accepted Answer

The key technical distinction between residential and datacenter proxies lies in their infrastructure and hosting architecture. Datacenter proxies operate from commercial hosting facilities, or datacenters, using IP addresses assigned to datacenter ASNs, offering high-speed connections often exceeding 1Gbps and consistent low latency. However, these IP addresses are easily identifiable as proxy traffic since they come from hosting providers rather than real residential networks like Spectrum, AT&T, Comcast and many others. Residential proxies, while typically slower with speeds, route traffic through real residential devices and their real residential IP addresses which are assigned to ISPs, making them far harder to detect and block. Another difference between the two types of proxies is their billing mode, residential proxies are charged by GB, while datacenter proxies and static residential ISP proxies are usually priced per IP address. The Pay per GB model, used for residential proxies, charges based on the amount of data (bandwidth) transferred through the proxy service. This is similar to how mobile phone plans charge for data usage - you pay for what you consume. For instance, just as you might pay for 5GB of mobile data per month, you could pay for 5GB of proxy bandwidth. This model is particularly beneficial for users who need access to a wide range of IP addresses across various regions but may not have consistent or high-volume usage. On the other hand, the Pay per IP Address model, typically used for datacenter proxies and static residential ISP proxies, charges users based on the number of unique IP addresses they utilize and are able to send an amount of unlimited bandwidth through these IP addresses. This model suits users requiring consistent IP addresses, such as those needing specific IPs for whitelisting or maintaining continuous connections. The choice between proxy models depends on specific needs, traffic patterns, and target websites. In practice, many operations end up using a mix. Datacenter proxies handle high-volume, speed-critical tasks where detection doesn't matter. They're perfect for basic web-scraping but when needing diverse geographic coverage, access to large pools of IP addresses or the ability to access websites with anti-scraping technology, operations will require a switch to residential proxies.

Question 4

Key Features to Look for in a Residential Proxy Service

Accepted Answer

When choosing residential proxies, speed and pool quality are your primary concerns. Fast proxies handle more requests efficiently, while a large, diverse IP pool reduces ban rates through lower IP reuse. The more IP addresses in a residential proxy pool, the less they’re likely to be used by other customers and this means they’re more likely to be unbanned on the websites you want to use them on. Bigger pools also typically offer better geographic coverage, letting you target specific countries, cities, and ISPs more effectively since they’ll be more IP addresses in the network for each of the characteristics that you want to restrict. One overlooked part of residential proxy networks is their backconnect network - the infrastructure routing your requests through residential peers. Poor routing means high latency and dropped connections, so provider infrastructure quality matters as much as the residential IPs themselves, even if they have a huge pool of residential pools. When choosing a proxy provider, it’s important to ensure that the proxies are ethically sourced. Some providers source their residential proxies in deceptive and illegal ways. By using such proxies, you’d risk losing your money and potentially even harming your reputation. Many responsible and ethical proxy services, like Ping Proxies, partner up with SDK programs. These programs pay regular internet users to share their traffic and become a part of a proxy network. This way, users are fairly compensated and are always well-informed about how their IP addresses might be used. The software which accompanies residential proxies also has a large effect on their usage and effectiveness. A good residential proxy provider like Ping Proxies will offer good tooling like APIs and a good dashboard so you can view real-time performance analytics, and manage multiple proxy uses. Customer Support is also very important and the proxy providers’ technical support should understand proxy infrastructure and solve real problems. It is best to check user reviews focusing on reliability and support quality, and test both proxy performance and support responsiveness.

Question 5

Potential Risks and Downsides of Residential Proxies

Accepted Answer

The main downside of the residential proxies is that the IP addresses they offer are not persistent and available all the time. This is because of the distributed nature of residential networks and their reliance on real residential devices which proxy providers do not have full control over. Since residential proxies rely on real residential devices all over the world, the specific IP addresses they rely on can be switched on and off by their owner or lose connectivity unpredictably. Good proxy providers will have systems in place to rotate proxies as they come online and offline but even with this, it will mean you’ll only have access to a specific IP address for a temporary, often unknown period of time. This limits the effectiveness of residential proxies for some use-cases like account management since many websites will ban or security lock users if they’re seen to constantly log in to their account from various different IP addresses in quick succession. Another thing to look out for when using residential proxies is to ensure that you’re using them ethically and not breaking any laws. Web Scraping and using Residential Proxies is broadly legal but it's important to follow rules and ensure your activity doesn’t break any other laws in the process of your data-collection operations. We have a whole blog on the subject but the TLDR is to make sure you only collect publicly available information, don’t scrape personally identifiable information (PII) and don’t overload a website's servers.

Question 6

How to Choose the Right Residential Proxy Provider?

Accepted Answer

Picking the right proxy provider comes down to pricing models and technical offering. Some providers charge for bandwidth usage, others bill by IP count or connection limits. Your usage patterns will determine the best value - heavy bandwidth users should look at bulk GB pricing, while specific geo-targeting needs might justify paying per IP. Many providers claim worldwide coverage, but the reality often disappoints. Test your target regions thoroughly during trials, especially less common locations. Strong European coverage doesn't guarantee solid Asian or South American presence. Watch for providers who actively clean their IP pools by removing flagged addresses - this matters more than raw pool size. Proxy rotation features can make or break your operations. Good providers let you control whether you want sticky or rotating sessions -  from fresh IPs on every request to keeping the same address as long as possible. You'll want to be able to control these both in the dashboard and API. Extra features like ASN filtering or city targeting aren't essential but open up new use cases. Look past the marketing speak at the provider's actual track record. Established names generally maintain better infrastructure. Dig into how they source their proxies and compensate residential users - sketchy sourcing often means unstable service. Clear documentation and responsive support usually signal a reliable operation. Run small tests before committing big money, and pay attention to how they handle issues during trials.