Mobile proxies, as the name will tell you, are proxy servers that assign IP addresses of mobile devices to hide yours. For the last decade proxying with mobile devices has been in the shadow of more common proxy activities done using residential or datacenter IPs.
However, with the growing availability of mobile proxies, they are steadily rising from this shadow. Thus, it is high time to look closer at rotating mobile proxies and how they can help you browse mobile networks more securely.
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The rise of mobile proxies
As you might know, mobile phones and tablets have different kinds of IPs than, for example, computers. This is because mobile devices can wirelessly connect to cellular networks which they do when using mobile data. Among other things, this means that there is a specific type of proxy, known as mobile proxy.
The other two kinds of proxies in terms of IP address, are residential proxies and datacenter proxies. The former assigns residential IPs issued by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to devices like home routers. The latter is hosted on powerful servers in data centers and gives IPs not associated with any specific ISP.
Mobile proxy IPs are issued by mobile network providers, thus to websites they appear as belonging to organic mobile users. The other two kinds of proxies are better known and used to be much more common.
However, the tide is changing in that regard. It is projected that by 2025 there will be around 18.22 billion mobile devices in the world, increasing by over 4 billion from 2020. Naturally, with a growing number of devices, it is likely that there will also be more IPs leased for proxying.
Additionally, with the increasing usage of mobile devices for online activities, the cellular web has become more important. As users due more and more on their phones, mobile proxy IPs are growing in demand. And the supply, as always, must track the demand.
Key features of mobile proxies
Figuring out whether you need a mobile proxy and choosing the right provider depends on a few fundamental features of this type of proxy. Here is what you need to be aware of when looking into mobile IPs for proxying:
- Mobile proxies are almost exclusively rotating. Although, in theory, static mobile proxies are possible if sourced from a mobile farm, most providers will offer only rotating mobile proxies. This is due to the fact that mobile service providers rotate IPs from time to time. The goal is to find a provider that can offer the most seamless and instant rotation.
- Top mobile proxy providers will support options for all of the most common networks, including 5G, 4G, 3G, and LTE. This allows for greater applicability and mimicking the activity of mobile users with different network access.
- As with other proxy IPs, mobile proxies can be shared among multiple proxy users or dedicated to just one. Having a private mobile proxy is more secure and ensures that you get all the bandwidth, while shared proxies cost less.
Naturally, deciding whether rotating mobile proxies are what you need depends on particular tasks as much as on these features.
What are rotating mobile proxies used for?
There are many different applications for mobile proxies both for private users and companies. For the former, mobile proxies are first and foremost about security and anonymity.
This is where the growing mobile usage is once again important. As increasingly more people do their daily tasks on phones, staying safe on mobile networks is crucial. Especially with the growing cybersecurity concerns that go along with the world turning more digital. Mobile proxies help users hide their real IP address and browse websites filtering their data through a proxy.
The online security benefits of rotating mobile proxies are also crucial to businesses. Additionally, companies make use of rotating mobile proxies for various activities that directly advance their business goals.
For example, firms that develop apps turn to mobile proxies for testing. In this case, mobile IPs from service providers in different regions ensure that the app works just fine all over the world. Furthermore, businesses can use mobile proxy infrastructure to constantly check the mobile versions of their websites.
Another crucial task for many businesses is scraping data from public websites. Mobile proxies allow benefitting from mobile website data by supporting large-scale automatic extraction. Mobile proxy rotation comes especially in handy here. Rotating IP addresses ensures that websites are not overloaded with requests from a single IP and thus decreases the chance of getting IP bans which delay the scraping process.
In short, mobile proxies allow you to feel confident and secure when performing your usual online tasks on cellular networks. Whether it is just anonymity you are looking for or you need proxies to, for example, manage multiple social media accounts, rotating mobile proxies are the solution for you.
Make sure it is ethically sourced
Before you go, a word of caution is due. Many mobile proxy providers use unethical practices to source mobile IPs for their proxies. For example, someone might inadvertently agree to allow their bandwidth to be used when downloading an unrelated app. While technically, they agree with the app’s terms and conditions, we can probably agree that this is not the way to get permission from the users.
Luckily, there are proxy providers that source their IPs having the full knowledge and consent of the user. Some will even compensate the user for giving access to their unused mobile bandwidth. Turning to these providers you make sure that everybody wins. You can stay safe and anonymous online, while the actual owners of the mobile IPs you use can make some money.
Thus, when looking for a rotating mobile proxy provider it is advisable to inquire into how they source their mobile IPs. After all, we are all in the same both when it comes to browsing the web. No one wants someone else jumping on their mobile IPs without their knowing consent.