A residential proxy routes your web requests through IP addresses assigned by internet service providers (ISPs) to real homes and devices. When you use one, websites see traffic coming from what looks like a regular person browsing from their house, not a server in a data center.
How residential proxies work
Your scraper connects to a proxy provider's gateway, which then forwards your request through an actual residential IP address. The target website only sees that home IP, keeping your real identity hidden.
Most providers offer two main modes:
- Rotating IPs: You get a different IP address for each request or at set intervals. This makes your traffic look like it comes from many different users.
- Sticky sessions: You keep the same IP for several minutes, which helps when you need to stay logged in or maintain a shopping cart during a scraping session.
Why residential proxies matter for web scraping
Websites with strong anti-bot protection can easily spot and block traffic from data centers. Residential proxies solve this problem because their IP addresses look identical to regular users browsing from home.
You will find residential proxies especially useful when:
- Scraping e-commerce sites that aggressively block automated requests
- Collecting search engine results that vary by location
- Accessing content that only appears for users in specific countries or cities
- Monitoring prices or ads that change based on where visitors are located
Residential vs datacenter proxies
Datacenter proxies come from servers hosted in commercial facilities. They are faster and cheaper, but websites can identify them more easily because those IP ranges are publicly known.
Residential proxies cost more and can be slower since they rely on home internet connections. However, they give you much higher success rates on protected websites because your requests blend in with normal user traffic.
Choose datacenter proxies for bulk scraping of less protected sites. Use residential proxies when you need to get past strict anti-bot systems or access location-specific content.
Key benefits
- Higher success rates: Protected websites block residential IPs far less often than datacenter ones
- Accurate geo-targeting: Access content exactly as users in specific cities or countries would see it
- Better anonymity: Large rotating pools make it harder for sites to track and ban your activity
Challenges to consider
Residential proxies are not perfect. The higher cost per request means you need to optimize your scraping to avoid wasting bandwidth. Connection speeds can vary since you are routing through home networks. You should also verify that your proxy provider sources their IPs ethically and complies with relevant regulations.
How Browse AI helps
If you want the benefits of residential proxies without managing them yourself, Browse AI handles proxy rotation automatically. The platform routes your web scraping tasks through the right proxy infrastructure, so you can focus on extracting the data you need rather than troubleshooting blocked requests or configuring proxy settings.
