Comparing ISP and Datacenter Proxies

Proxies are the ultimate time-savers when you need to hide your identity while running specific automation tasks. Market researches, multiple social media accounts management, web scraping and other duties are easier to complete when you equip yourself with a different residential IP.

However, different types of proxies exist, and it might be overwhelming for someone just getting started with their online anonymity. Luckily, today we will dive into two of the most common proxy types — ISP and datacenter proxies.

ISP Proxies — The Fundamentals

In short, ISP proxies, also known as static residential proxies, are valued for their reliability and fast speed. These are bought or leased static residential proxies directly from the ISPs (Internet Service Providers). IPs powered by ISP proxies are hosted by servers located in datacenters. However, websites identify ISPs as real internet users.

The requests are routed through datacenters, but the ISP proxies make fewer requests, thus shortening various tasks’ completion and crossing the finish line faster than most competitors. ISP proxies are also treasured for their ability to handle fewer simultaneous requests while successfully dealing with blocking mechanisms and complex website architecture.

What Are Datacenter Proxies?

Datacenter proxies are bulk-generated and operated through cloud servers. Bulk-generated and run directly through cloud servers, datacenter proxies offer relatively fast connection and network stability.

However, as most of the proxy providers offer a shared datacenter proxy pool, there is a high possibility that some of the IPs in the pool have been compromised and you might not be able to access specific websites.

If you use an automation tool, datacenter proxies are not the best choice. Nowadays, websites are equipped with various bot detection technologies and can spot a datacenter IP quite fast.

What Are The Key Differences Between ISP Proxies and Datacenter Proxies?

Although static residential (ISPs) and datacenter proxies seem similar, they are quite different and you should know a few points before getting one for yourself.

• Stability and connection speed. Datacenter proxies easily outperform ISP proxies for connection speed and stability. As static residential IPs are real devices, they might have slower internet connections or get turned off, while datacenter proxies come from large servers.
• Price is another thing to consider before you’re intending to buy proxies. As the datacenter proxies are typically sold in bulk, users can get many IPs at a lower price than ISPs. However, static residential proxies are assigned by internet service providers, and they only have a limited amount of available proxies in the server, making it a safer yet more expensive choice.
• Detection. Static residential proxies are great when planning to run repetitive tasks. Their success rate is a few times higher than the datacenter ones. Websites easily detect datacenter proxies, and users can get blocked on some websites due to using such proxies. As the ISP proxies belong to real devices, they are harder to detect and allow users to browse the internet without any hassles.

What Are the Use Cases of Datacenter Proxies?

Now that you are familiar with the fundamentals and key differences between datacenter and static residential proxies, you should also know the most common use cases for both proxy types. While for some, datacenter proxies might seem like a handy tool for fraudsters, they are entirely legal and offer tons of benefits not only for users running advanced automation tools online.

• Accessing geo-restricted content. As some services and websites only allow accessing content from specific regions, datacenter proxies often offer a long list of supported countries, making it easy to avoid geo-restrictions.
• Marketing campaign testing. Companies can switch locations to their target markets with datacenter proxies and ensure that their marketing campaigns are shown correctly.
• Avoiding IP bans. Suppose the original device IP has been blocked due to violations of the website policies, for example, running a web scraper on a single IP, datacenter proxies can help get back access to the website as they switch the IP addresses according to the user preferences.
• Market research — companies often use automation tools that extract specific information from their competitors’ websites to gain competitive advantage. Valued for speed and reliability, datacenter proxies are often paired with web scraping tools to help marketers monitor developments on rival sites.

What Are the Use Cases of Static Residential Proxies?

Static residential proxies are loved for their high level of anonymity and ability to perform automation tasks without getting flagged by the websites. As ISPs are real devices, they excel against protected targets when the user needs a consistent identity. Here are a few use cases of when static residential proxies come in handy:

• Managing multiple social media or eCommerce accounts is easy when you turn on an ISP proxy. As these websites often monitor fingerprinting of the user’s browser, the IP address has to have a good reputation. Providers like Metrow offer premium static residential proxies that are carefully vetted, ensuring maximum security and stability.
• Sneaker coping is another widespread use case for ISP proxies, as premium sneaker sellers often have advanced bot-tracking mechanisms. Static residential proxies are real devices that flawlessly mask bot activity and allow grabbing the freshest sneakers without getting an error message.
• Advanced web scraping can also be listed as one of the use cases of ISP proxies. If the company is running a throughout competitor research and needs a lot of data extracted from other websites, static residential proxies will do the job just right, taking longer but with a higher success rate.

Bottom Line

When asking yourself, “which proxy type is the best fit for me” try identifying the exact day-to-day tasks and tie them to one of the use cases listed above. We are sure you will be able to decide whether a static residential proxy or a datacenter proxy is a better match.

As proxy usage is rapidly growing every year, more sketchy providers are popping up, forcing users to drop their money and giving them compromised proxies from their pool of blocked IPs. So that’s why it is essential only to get ISP proxies or another preferred type from trusted providers.