Daniel - November 20, 2020
What Are Mobile Proxies?
In this post, we will answer the question – what are mobile proxies? Read on.
Mobile phones remain the most common devices used to access the internet, staying ahead of desktop and tablet devices. If you’re a regular internet user, you might have been forced to use a proxy to browse in one instance or another.
There are different types of proxies available, and the type of proxy you’ll use will depend on what you intend to do online and how you want to do it. In this article, however, our focus is on mobile proxies.
I will be explaining what mobile proxies are and more. First of all, let’s start with what a proxy is all about.
What Is A Proxy And How Does It Work?
Proxy in simple English refers to a person, function, or office that acts as a substitute for another. It’s the same meaning when it comes to the web and networks.
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Proxies are computers or servers that acts on behalf of other computers. They send and receive web requests, files, etc., on behalf of these devices.
For example, you’re trying to browse information on a person from Wikipedia; you type in www.wikipedia.com -and send. Your request is received by the proxy, which then forwards it to Wikipedia’s server. When the server sends back the page’s content, it gets received by the proxy, which then forwards it to your device.
The intermediary activities will make it seem like a long process but it isn’t. You browse just as fast as your internet connection allows. Some proxies with high-speed servers even boost your internet speed.
Since the proxy is acting on your behalf, the webserver reads none of your information, i.e., your true info is masked. It only reads the proxies’ information and this is one primary reason people use proxies; to hide their real identity. ,
Furthermore, with a proxy, you don’t have to deal with geo-restrictions. Due to certain factors, some web contents are exclusive to some countries. By masking your browsing information, geo-blocked websites won’t read your IP address, which is how they decipher your browsing location.
They’ll only be able to read the IP address of the proxy you’re using. Thankfully, proxies feature millions of IP addresses. You just need to use the IP address of a country where the blocked website can be accessed, and you can access it too.
While these are the primary uses of proxies, they still have specific functions relating to particular web activities.
What Is A Mobile Proxy?
Mobile proxies are just proxies that exclusively utilizes mobile IP addresses from internet service providers (ISPs). These mobile IP addresses were designed to allow continuous internet connectivity and seamless browsing. Usually, you use a mobile IP address on your phone from your ISP whenever you browse.
Do you know that your IP address changes from time to time as you browse with your mobile phone? When the change occurs, the IP address you were using gets assigned to some other customers while you’ll be assigned a new IP address previously used by another customer. And that’s how the cycle continues.
Despite this, you hardly get flagged by website servers that are undoubtedly noticing your constant IP address changes. This is because mobile proxies enjoy a high level of trust; hence, web services can hardly block them. This implies that mobile proxies with mobile IP addresses are very reliable.
There are two popular types of mobile proxies – 3G and 4G proxies, just as we have 3G and 4G technologies on mobile devices. Also, relatively, 4G proxies are faster for browsing than 3G proxies.
Most of these proxies are virtual, and web-based i.e. you connect to them online like you would connect a datacenter or residential proxy. To connect to a 3G mobile proxy, for instance, you must have a 3G supported SIM from your ISP, 3G supported device, and be in an area that had 3G coverage. The same applies to 4G proxies.
Some mobile proxies are mobile devices, similar to your Mi-Fis and modems. If you’re browsing with your mobile phone but with a Mi-Fi, the IP address you’re using is that of your Mi-Fi as that’s where the traffic goes through.
It’s the same for mobile proxy devices. You set an IP address of choice, connect your device to the proxy like you would connect a modem, and then browse using the proxy’s IP address while masking yours. However, mobile virtual proxies are more common than mobile proxy devices.
Difference Between Mobile Proxies And Regular Proxies
Several factors differentiate mobile proxies and regular proxies. However, the major difference is the trust level; websites and web servers trust mobile proxies more than regular proxies.
Take your social media platforms, for example. If you’re logged in to your account on a desktop, and you make constant IP address switching, with a regular proxy or even a VPN, you’ll be asked to verify that you’re human. Possibly complete a CAPTCHA.
On the other hand, your social accounts can remain logged in on your mobile device for years so long as you didn’t log out, no matter how long your ISP changes your IP address. That illustrates just how much these social media platforms trust mobile IP addresses.
The social media platforms cannot flag any of your mobile IP addresses because they are not technically yours. Some other customers might receive them the next minute, and if the IP address is blocked, they’ll be the one to suffer while you get assigned an unblocked IP address from another user. Besides, an IP block affects all users of that ISP.
Regular proxies, on the other hand, don’t function that way. With a regular proxy, you’ll get a list of IP addresses to be used statically. You change the IP addresses when you want to although you can set them to rotate by default.
Since you alone (or a limited number of persons using the same proxy service) uses the IP addresses, websites can block them if they notice any irregularities. Furthermore, data center proxies use virtual IP addresses linked to cloud servers and not ISPs. Once detected, they get blocked.
Regular residential proxies, even though sourced from ISPs are rented. They are real, but they are linked to locations, and there can be thousands (if not millions) of browsing devices – including mobile, desktop, and tablets – from a particular location. In the same vein, mobile proxies are linked to mobile devices instead.
Check out our full Range of Mobile Proxies
Why Do You Need Mobile Proxies?
As mentioned earlier, the reason why you would need mobile proxies is to avoid being flagged. Some internet activities can hardly be completed without using a proxy. This includes web scraping activities, purchasing items using bots, accessing multiple social accounts, automating forum comments, etc.
There are some other activities you want to engage in that require total anonymity. Mobile proxies are not ideal for their high trust level alone and because they can protect your personal information.
With a mobile proxy, no website can collect your data via cookies so that you can stay free of trackers. Furthermore, your browsing will be fast and optimized as they’ll be no caches to slow it down.
Which Mobile Proxies Should You Use?
If you’re going to use mobile proxies, you must purchase them. Never settle for free mobile proxies as they are not trustworthy. Hackers could provide them to steal the private information you want to protect.
Furthermore, you’ll be better off with a 4G mobile proxy. As mentioned earlier and as you must have noticed with your mobile phones, 4G is faster than 3G. You should only consider 3G if you’re in an area that doesn’t have 4G coverage.
There are several top proxy providers to purchase mobile proxies from. However, I recommend ProxyRack. This proxy service offers high-speed 3G and 4G mobile proxies with unlimited IP switching. They have one of the largest private proxy networks globally, with over 1 million IP addresses.
You can purchase rotating, dedicated, or shared mobile proxies. Check out their subscription plans below:
Check out our full Range of Mobile Proxies
Bottom Line
In terms of reliability, mobile proxies are one of the best types of proxies you can use. As their IP addresses are issued by ISPs and linked to a particular mobile device, they are hardly detected and flagged by websites.
A difference you’ll notice between mobile proxies and regular proxies is the price. Mobile proxies cost more than regular proxies, but as they say, quality isn’t cheap.
