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Residential Proxies

Residential proxies route traffic through IP addresses associated with consumer or mobile networks. That can make simple IP-based controls unreliable: a proxy exit may look like an ordinary residential user, while a real household, mobile carrier, or CGNAT address can also be shared by many legitimate users.

This section treats residential proxies as a security and fraud problem, not as an operating guide. The focus is how these networks are formed at a high level, why IP quality and reputation data can drift, how proxy traffic appears to defenders, and how to make proportionate block, challenge, review, or logging decisions.

Core residential proxy explainers

• What is a residential proxy?
• Datacenter proxies vs residential proxies
• What is residential proxy detection?

Residential proxy learning cluster

• Types of proxies
• When to use proxies
• How residential proxy networks are formed
• DIY residential proxies
• IP quality
• IP reputation databases
• Can you block residential proxies?
• Mobile proxies and CGNAT
• Residential proxy vs VPN vs Tor
• Residential proxies and anti-detect browsers
• Residential proxies for credential stuffing
• Residential proxies for ad fraud
• Proxy score and fraud score
• Proxy detection vendor evaluation
• Proxy signals and security decisions
• Legal and ethical residential proxies

Defensive use

Residential proxy signals should rarely be used alone. They are more useful when combined with network fingerprinting, device and browser context, behaviour, account risk, route consistency, rate patterns, and reviewable evidence. The goal is to reduce abuse without blanket-blocking shared residential and mobile networks that also carry legitimate users.

For production decisions, Peakhour's Residential Proxy Detection, IP Intelligence, and Bot Management product pages cover how those signals fit into edge policy and traffic decisions.