Residential proxy server: How to get a US IP address?

Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. It’s one of the ways we keep the lights on here. Click here for more.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. However, our opinions, reviews, and other editorial content are not influenced by the sponsorship and remain objective.

Are you tired of being blocked by websites that limit your access based on your IP address?

Do you want to increase online security and privacy while surfing the web? You might find the answer you’ve sought in a residential proxy.

Let’s discuss residential proxies, how they work, and why you might need US residential proxies.

A residential proxy – what is it?

A residential proxy server uses IP addresses issued by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to individual residences. These proxies differ from data center proxies, which use IP addresses from data center servers.

Residential proxies are more trustworthy and challenging to identify by websites that block proxy traffic since they use real residential IP addresses.

How do residential proxies work?

When you use a residential proxy to connect to the internet, your web requests are routed through an intermediate server with a home IP address.

This means that websites you visit will show the proxy server’s IP address rather than your own. This can assist you in circumventing IP-based restrictions and protecting your online privacy.

Residential proxies function by creating a connection between your device and the proxy server. When you request a website, it is routed to the proxy server, which obtains the content from the website and returns it to your computer.

Since the website sees the proxy server’s IP address rather than your own, it cannot block you based on your IP address.

What is the difference between a proxy and a VPN?

At first glance, proxies seem to be a lot like a VPN. Proxies and VPNs are similar in that they hide your original IP address and help you protect your identity online.

Yet, there are some significant variances. Let’s briefly go through how VPNs operate. VPN stands for Virtual Private Network.

They’ve gained popularity in recent years due to their major consumer use case of disguising the user’s location in order to access geo-restricted services, such as streaming on Netflix.

A user in the United States could see UK content on Netflix if they used a VPN. How do VPNs function? Like proxies, they’re also web servers to which your device connects.

Conversely, VPNs perform at the operating system level, whereas proxies operate at the application level.

This implies that when you use a VPN, all traffic from your device, rather than just that of a single program, is routed through it.

VPNs will share single IP addresses for multiple different users. This implies that certain websites will restrict an IP address because it has been identified as a VPN.

Since there are more proxies than VPNs in the world, using proxies gives you access to more IPs and makes it easier to find one that isn’t blocked.

Uses cases for changing your IP address

Online privacy has become a more prevalent issue in recent years. More and more internet users worry about their security when browsing the web.

An IP address, in particular, is an essential piece of information that is traceable to you and your device. It is exchanged across every interaction you make online.

Changing your IP address with another provides you with a level of anonymity, along with many other perks as listed below:

Get around geo-blocks 

Geo-blocks make content accessible just to users inside specific geological limits. Sites that stream media are most commonly affected by this.

What if you live in the United States but are obsessed with great British comedies? Geo-blocking websites use your IP address to determine where you are geographically. 

​​For free access, you can circumvent these geo-blocks by concealing your IP address and connecting instead through a residential location within the target site’s area.

Be safer on public Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi hotspots are notoriously a breeding ground for hackers. While Wi-Fi in a public place is unquestionably convenient, you must protect your personal information. When you mask your IP address, browsing will be protected even further.

Avoid pesky marketing 

Marketers use your IP address to monitor your activities. Because of this, advertisements for something you’ve recently viewed frequently appear on sites that have nothing to do with it.

Advertisers who know how to use the internet look at your online activity to find out what interests you most. 

From the perspective of a marketer, this is a smart business. Ads tailored to your preferences make you more likely to click through and purchase.

However, gathering your information this way can feel like an intrusion of privacy to you as a customer. Masking your IP is a great way to avoid this.

Conclusion 

There are many reasons why users feel it is essential to change their IP address. Whether it is to watch a show unavailable in their country or feel more at ease while browsing the web, residential proxies allow users to improve their online experience.

Have any thoughts on this? Drop us a line below in the comments, or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• What is a mobile 4G proxy server and where to buy it
• Can you still use a VPN with Netflix?
• Why should I know my IP address?
• This VPN subscription lasts a lifetime and it’s yours for just $29

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. However, our opinions, reviews, and other editorial content are not influenced by the sponsorship and remain objective.