Residential IPs 101

You may need a residential IP address for a variety of reasons. It could be to unblock a streaming site of another country, conceal your own IP address, or just hide your online activities. Thankfully, getting one is easier today than it was in the last decade. What do we know everything about residential IPs? How do they work and why are they better compared to non-residential ones?

Here’s a quick primer on everything about residential IPs in a Q&A format. Find out everything from its operating principle to usage to applications to benefits. Here goes.

What is a residential IP?

A residential internet protocol (IP) address is generated by an internet service provider (ISP) and registered to a resident of a region. It is typically assigned to a home address, which is how it gets its name. For example, when you get a home broadband connection from an ISP like Verizon or AT&T, the connection that you get via a cable or wirelessly has a residential IP. Its distinguishing quality is its registration to a domestic address as compared to a data center or server room.

How does a residential IP VPN work?

A residential IP VPN works the same way as traditional VPNs with the only difference being that it provides residential IPs to its users. This is done via a pool of IPs that are contributed to by users who receive another IP in return for their own. For example, a user in the US exchanges their residential IP in return for another in Japan. This is how the free options work.

Paid VPNs, on the other hand, have other procurement techniques that do not require you to share your residential IP address. 

What are the advantages of using a residential IP?

A VPN that offers residential IPs is a great website unblocker as it is not typically blocked by sites. Such IPs can also be used to stay anonymous, bypass national censorship, and access geo-restricted content across sites and applications.

How do I know if my IP address is 100% residential?

You can do a Whois lookup to check if your VPN gives 100% true residential IPs. If the IP attached to your VPN is registered to a residential address, you can confirm it. Otherwise, it will be a data center IP.

What is the price range of a residential IP VPN?

TuxlerVPN’s paid plan costs $7.99 per month. Depending upon the provider, the price range may differ. Make sure you subscribe to a service offered only by reputed providers like TuxlerVPN.

Why is a residential IP better than conventional server IPs?

A residential IP does not usually get blacklisted like regular VPN IPs. This makes staying anonymous and unblocking sites easier and more effective. 

Can I buy batches of residential IPs?

No. TuxlerVPN does not sell standalone residential IPs. You can download and install our desktop apps or browser extensions to use. We also have a free version.

Will I land in trouble if I pledge my own IP address?

No. It is unlikely that you will ever land in trouble for sharing your IP address which is abused by someone else. In the rare case that your IP is used for any illegal activity, there are systems in place to pinpoint the abuser. In our years of service, we haven’t faced any complaints from our users.

Use TuxlerVPN to Get Residential IP Addresses

Buying residential internet protocol (IP) addresses is not exactly an over-the-counter purchase event. You certainly cannot go to an ISP and ask them to sell you a couple of IPs for personal use. Even if you do manage that, the legality of such a transaction falls in a gray area. It is in your best interests to stay out of such transactions.

Thankfully, residential VPNs like TuxlerVPN offer a convenient solution. With TuxlerVPN, you can get unlimited residential IP addresses at an affordable price.

Once you sign up for the free or premium plan of TuxlerVPN, you can start using our VPN client to get 100% residential IP addresses. You can choose either the desktop or app client or our browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox.

In the free TuxlerVPN plan, you essentially pledge your own residential IP address for another. For example, if you are in the US, you can borrow a residential IP from India, the UK, Australia, or a country in the Middle East. In other words, your tunneling happens through a residential IP of another user’s internet connection in another country. With over 70,000 locations available worldwide in the TuxlerVPN network, there is an abundance of free residential IP addresses for both personal and business use. This community-powered approach is what we pioneered back in the day, which is now better known as residential virtual private networks.

The advantage with TuxlerVPN Premium is that you don’t have to share your own IP address. At just $7.99 per month, you can enjoy unlimited bandwidth, thousands of residential IP addresses, and military-grade encryption.

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