Browser fingerprinting is common in cross-border business, but in the final analysis, the most important fingerprint is your IP address. Using the same IP address for multiple accounts is a big mistake, and doing so often results in the account being suspended.

Now more and more cross-border business scenarios require the use of IP proxies, so what are our common data center proxies and residential proxies? What are their differences? What businesses are they suitable for?

If you want to keep your account safe, you must understand the difference between the two and choose the right type. This article will explain it to you in detail.

What is a residential proxy?

You can think of a residential IP as a connection assigned to a homeowner by an ISP. When you move to a new house or apartment and set up your network, your connection is assigned an IP address. It's in a format like 11.22.33.444 or 111.22.33.444. In addition, you can see detailed information associated with your IP address on the site, such as the name of your ISP and even your general location. If you're connected through a different residential IP address as a proxy, when you browse the site, your public IP information will appear for any specific residence using that IP.

What is a Datacenter Proxy?

A datacenter proxy is different from a residential proxy because it is not owned by an ISP. It acts as a "wall" between you and anyone trying to see your IP over the Internet. Instead of seeing your home IP address and all the associated identifying information, those trying to see your real IP address will only see the datacenter proxy address, along with information about the company that owns the datacenter. You can think of a datacenter proxy as a way to mask your real IP address and its associated identifying information, however, it is not a complete replacement for a residential IP.

What is the difference between the two?

If you just want to mask your real IP address, then you are more suitable for a residential IP as a proxy. After all, it is closer to the real user and may have an anonymous effect. If someone needs to send a large number of emails to popular sites, they need different IP addresses to bypass the website screening program, so they usually choose a data center IP because it is easier to obtain a large number of data center IPs than residential IPs. You can use a data center IP to browse the web, but you also need to know that doing so is likely to be subject to additional scrutiny by the website security system.

Residential Agent

More secure: Residential IPs are only assigned to residential residents. Therefore, security systems usually consider residential IPs more trustworthy and compliant than data center proxies.

Fewer providers, more expensive: Since it is very difficult to collect residential IPs that can be used as proxy connections, there are not many providers that provide such proxy connections, so residential IPs are usually more expensive.

Sometimes blacklisted: Although residential IPs are more trustworthy, they can still be abused by criminals. Therefore, some residential IPs are still blacklisted by certain security systems and databases.

Data Center Proxy

Complete anonymity: Since data center IP users are full of violations, when you log in to your account using a data center proxy connection, you will often be immediately subject to strict scrutiny. However, most data center proxies are highly anonymous.

Therefore, it is recommended that you use a pure and dedicated data center proxy for each account. Although it is obvious that you are using a proxy, it is safer to do so. The premise is that you use different proxies for different accounts and your accounts are not directly linked.

Large number of providers, lower prices: Since there are many data center proxy providers, the prices are cheaper.

Which One Should You Choose?

Both can accomplish the same task: hiding your real IP address on the Internet.

Datacenter proxies are sufficient for most users, and can be used with fingerprint browsers for a higher level of protection. Remember that datacenter proxies are only one factor that triggers security system review. If you use a clean datacenter proxy and the rest of your fingerprints are trustworthy, most websites will let you pass directly without strict review. Generally speaking, residential IPs are less likely to trigger website security reviews than datacenter proxies, so it is recommended that you use fingerprint masking and datacenter proxy masking at the same time.

It is recommended that you use a legal and compliant IP proxy and be wary of unclean proxies on the market to avoid affecting your business. I use a global proxy myself, and there are pure and exclusive data center proxies and dynamic and static residential proxies to choose from. Cross-border partners who need it can go and have a look.