In some cases, we need to hide our public IP address. One of our options is VPNs, which, in addition to providing anonymity, can increase security. They achieve this because our data seems to move through a tunnel, protected from cybercriminals and organizations that are watching us. In this aspect, using a VPN on public Wi-Fi is too much. Also proxies that provide the ability to hide our IP address through an intermediary server. There are usually two types of proxies: residential proxy online and data center. In this article, we will see the differences between them and which one we should choose.
Home agent or data center
They both have the same purpose, they were created to give you anonymity while surfing the internet. This avoids prohibiting or restricting visits to certain web pages or the use of certain services. In this aspect, changing the IP address is the means they use to achieve this goal.
When we use a proxy, our requests are not directed directly to the target server we want to access. In this case, the proxy server will act as an intermediary. So it takes note of our requests, forwards them to the Internet, and then returns a response. Its purpose is that no one knows who the real user is, and we achieve this thanks to the broker who is the agent. Instead, a residential proxy does the same thing, but uses different IP addresses assigned to real physical devices in different homes, and these IP addresses will mask ours. Residential IP addresses belong to Internet operators who serve users right at their homes.
The main difference is that the datacenter proxy allocates us a new IP address that was not provided to us by our ISP or ISP. Alternatively, with a residential proxy, it allows us to use different IP addresses assigned by the ISP to a real physical device in another house.
Differences in price, speed and security
As for the price criterion, it is easier to create a data center proxy because it does not use operator-assigned IP addresses. This means that it will have a lower price. On the other hand, a residential proxy will use different IP addresses that your ISP has assigned to different devices located in different homes. In this case, because it’s more complicated and requires an ISP, a local proxy will generally be more expensive. When it comes to speed in the case of a data center proxy, your internet connection is independent of other devices. Thus, this proxy works without the help of an ISP. On the other hand, housing involves the use of other devices and in some cases can slow down your connection. In short, we can say that a data center proxy is faster than a residential proxy.
From a security point of view, tracking residential proxies is more difficult because it uses the real IP address generated by your ISP. On the other hand, a data center proxy is quite secure and will provide us with more security than if we were browsing the Internet without using a proxy. Therefore, housing is considered safer as it is more difficult to choose as an alternative.
