Static residential proxies: How to mask the real IP and maintain a reliable connection?
By 2018, 26% of global online users were utilizing a VPN or proxy server to access the internet. These numbers were published last year, so we can only imagine the growth that has happened since then. Proxies are a helpful tool that masks the user’s actual IP address while maintaining a reliable connection. Residential proxies have many use cases at a personal and an enterprise level.
Read on to gain insight into what static residential proxies are, why people use them, and the advantages of utilizing a static proxy network.
What are static residential proxies?
If you have yet to become familiar with residential proxies, they are the best solution for hiding an IP address by masking it with another legitimate residential IP address. Residential proxies enable you to browse the web as a real user in a given location while shielding you from malicious hackers and other internet dangers. Although relatively dependable and unlikely to be blocked by most sites, data center proxies are slower than residential proxies.
Data center proxies are not associated with an ISP (Internet Service Provider). Provided by a secondary corporation, data center proxies offer private IP authentication and anonymity. They are known for their processing speed; however, the drawback is that because they are not identified with ISP providers, some sites may flag these IPs and take preventative actions.
What we know now begs the question: what if there was a proxy that offered both legitimacy and speed? This is where static residential proxies come in.
A static residential proxy is a data center IP address that an ISP contractually assigns. Static residential proxies allow you to use the same IP address as a residential user for as long as you require. On the other hand, a rotating (also known as dynamic) residential proxy will modify or rotate your proxy for each request you make, as the name implies.
Why do people use static residential proxies?
When IP rotation is not an option, static IP proxies are used. Changing IP addresses with some websites may result in blocks or bans, necessitating a static IP proxy service. This is the main advantage of static residential proxies over a rotating residential proxy. Static IP addresses are also known as sticky IP addresses.
Uses cases for static and rotating residential proxies are very similar. In particular, Static residential proxies provide lightning-fast internet performance, improved cyber security, as well as perfect anonymity, which translates to the following advantages:
Prevention of data theft – In today’s digital age, data has unparalleled value for companies and hackers. As a result, they’d go to any extent to find and exploit it. Your internet activity produces a data trail that criminals can use to profile you quickly. If your data enters the hands of marketers or hackers, you may become the target of advertisements or cybercrime.
Web scraping – If the local network server has defense mechanisms, data collection online can be limited. These safeguards prevent web scrapers from operating. If you have a static residential proxy, your scraping work will go much more smoothly, and you are less likely to be blocked from accessing your targeted information.
Accessing restricted content – Online content is often geo-restricted, which means you can’t access it if you’re not in the permitted location. These restrictions can be particularly frustrating if you need to access a network for work or want to stream your favorite Netflix show while you are abroad. However, your connection avoids these constraints because you use a static proxy. Websites would also be unable to block your IP address.
Market research – Much like being able to access restricted content, if you operate from home or run a business that relies on overseas research, static residential proxies can help. These become crucial when undertaking market research, price analysis, competition research, performance monitoring, etc.
What are the advantages of static residential proxies vs. dynamic proxies?
In contrast to a static IP address, a dynamic IP address varies from time to time. Most home networks will likely use a dynamic IP address since it is cost-effective for ISPs to provide dynamic IP addresses to their customers.
Depending on your needs, the advantages of static residential proxies or dynamic proxies can vary greatly. Consider your targets if you run a proxy server for your company network.
For comparison, companies who want to target less-complex websites that can profit from a speedier pool of static IPs. Account management and ad verification are examples of use cases: Vice versa, companies targeting sophisticated websites that can benefit from IP rotation. Moreover, dynamic proxies are harder to detect when it comes to blocking risks.
Overall, the main advantages of static residential proxies include their high speed. You won’t have to leverage the swiftness of your connection while operating this type of proxy network. Another considerable advantage is anonymity. Since you are connected to an actual IP address, no one will be able to detect that you are using a proxy. This also ties into the reliability of static proxies – static residential proxies never get blocked, thanks to their authentic IP addresses.
Conclusion
Static residential proxies will allow you to mask your IP address and maintain a reliable online connection. As long as the proxy works properly, you can reap the benefits of utilizing a proxy network while staying anonymous with fast connection speed.