The internet world is getting more complex every day with different proxy service providers. Today, both the web-developing and web-marketing world, including proxy users, know what a 4G mobile proxy and what a residential proxy means. 

For many people, the difference is not well spelled out, and in most cases, these two terms are wrongly used to mean the same thing. And more importantly, they don’t know which of these proxies is the best for their marketing or developmental projects.

Understanding the difference between these proxies, choosing the one that best suits users’ marketing needs, and knowing the basics of these types of proxies, is vital. As such, in this article, you will discover what 4G proxies are and what makes them different (i.e. if there is any) from the more popular residential proxies.

What are residential proxies?

Residential proxies are the more popular proxies, and they have been in the market before the mobile proxies surfaced. These types of proxies help users to connect to regular home broadband connections. When forwarding users requests to web servers, residential proxies use laptops and PCs via a residential ISP or mobile device connected to a home WI-fI.

The only difference residential proxies have over other types of proxy servers is the ISP. 

Residential proxies use a residential Internet Service Provider like BT (the ISP you use will depend on where you live). When a user uses a residential proxy, the request will show its activities from a regular home connection-just like your real home connection from your laptop.

When you buy unlimited rotating proxies you choose from a variety of locations to be able to reach your desired IPs at a lightning speed.

What exactly is a 4G mobile proxy?

Mobile proxies are specially dedicated proxies from real portable mobile devices that offer an IP (Internet Protocol) address from smartphones or smart tablets while you access the web. 

When a user uses to a 4G mobile proxy service, the ISP (Internet Service Provider) address blocks the user’s mobile device’s real address and makes it undetectable by web servers. Thus, making a user appear as a resident of the country he chose to operate from.

Simply put, 4G mobile proxies mask users’ requests from web servers when used from portable smartphone devices-its as simple as that! It helps to handle users’ requests just like a regular private proxy does. The only difference in this case is that a mobile proxy uses a mobile ISP such as AT&T, Vodafone, Sprint, etc.

What’s the difference between 4G mobile and residential proxies

There is no significant difference in what these two proxies do to users’ requests. They both handle their user’s requests and help them mask their IPs and geolocations to web servers. 

A mobile proxy will show a mobile 4G Provider address, while a residential proxy will display a regular ISP address to web servers so as to understand where the request is coming from in a straightforward manner.

This is the only remarkable difference you will observe between a mobile proxy and a residential proxy. 

Also, “the difference again boils down to what you want your webserver to see when you connect to the web”. For example, most social media marketers use dedicated proxies to work on their marketing campaigns, especially on Instagram. 

Remember that Instagram users use mobile app to connect to the platform. This is why some marketers will instead use a mobile ISP to connect to IG (Instagram) servers when using automated social tools like Followliker or Jarvee.

There is no other significant difference between these two proxy types in a simple term-apart from the ISP addresses shown to web servers.

The main advantage of using these types of proxy IPs

Requests made through residential or mobile proxies are quite difficult to track, and they are hard to detect. This is a notable benefit for companies thinking of managing their agency under the radar. 

Also, using real IP from ISPs makes target websites treat you as a regular person surfing the web. That means users will enjoy all the advantages of high speed browsing and also enjoy the benefits of appearing like a real person. This anonymity gives you the power to access and log in to “multiple” accounts, view restricted content, perform ad verifications, and much more. 

By using these Internet Protocols, your connection looks more real, and the risk of getting your account blocked is significantly reduced.

The main disadvantages of using a 4G proxy and a residential Network include:

Residential and 4g mobile proxies are quite expensive to purchase. This is why they are both usually referred to as the ‘Porsche’ of proxies, and these types of proxies are top-notch quality with the highest price tags. 

However, the reason these proxies are quite expensive is that the bandwidth from these providers is sourced via a ‘rent and acquire’ process, and this rent comes at a price.

Which proxy network is best to achieve data collection goals

What matters most when choosing a proxy network between these two IPs is what you want to achieve using the proxy-the efficiency in terms of cost and effectiveness in terms of results. 

However, it’s important to state that both residential and 4G proxy providers allow for more complex and straightforward data collection requests. They hide your real IP, thus making it very difficult for the web server to detect your originality via your connection’s address and location.

Summing it up

Knowing the right proxy to use between the 4G mobile and the residential proxies can be a daunting task if you do not understand how these proxies work. However, understanding each server’s pros and cons gives users an informed and educated guess on what proxy is ideal for your business type. 

Each of these providers has unique capabilities for every business and industry. Therefore, understanding and isolating your goals using any of these proxies is highly recommended. Once you can clearly define your objective, it will become easier to decide to move your business forward in the most beneficial way possible with the right proxy IP.