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Residential Proxies

Residential proxy traffic exits through consumer or ISP connectivity rather than directly from the original operator. Mobile proxy traffic creates many of the same policy problems, but we label it separately because carrier routing and CGNAT change the false-positive risk. Compromised small-office equipment can also supply proxy infrastructure without becoming “residential” merely because it sits at the network edge.

That distinction matters because an exit may look like an ordinary customer connection while a real household or carrier address can 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.

Start Here

• What is a residential proxy?
• How residential proxy networks are formed
• What is residential proxy detection?
• Proxy signals and security decisions
• Proxy detection vendor evaluation

These pages own the stable definition, supply-chain, detection, policy, and procurement guidance. The articles below cover narrower questions and dated research.

2026 Proxy Takedown Research

Google's actions against IPIDEA and NetNut exposed how proxy supply, control infrastructure and reseller relationships overlap. Our three-part series separates what enforcement changed from what destination services still have to control:

1. IPIDEA and NetNut: What Two Residential Proxy Takedowns Actually Changed — enforcement, commercial impact and supplier accountability.
2. When a Proxy Network Dies but Its IPs Survive — what post-takedown IP overlap can and cannot prove.
3. A Proxy Takedown Is Not a Security Control — how application and fraud teams should rebaseline live controls.

Residential proxy learning cluster

• Types of proxies
• When to use proxies
• Datacenter proxies vs residential proxies
• 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
• 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.