Mobile Proxy Glossary

Fourth-generation cellular technology (LTE = Long-Term Evolution). The most widely deployed mobile network standard, providing the carrier IPs behind most mobile proxies today.

Fifth-generation cellular technology offering lower latency and higher throughput than 4G. 5G mobile proxies provide the same carrier-IP trust benefits with improved speed where coverage exists.

Checking that ads display correctly to real users in target markets, detecting fraud and cloaking. Mobile IPs see ads exactly as real mobile users do, exposing publishers that hide content from datacenter IPs.

A modified browser (Multilogin, GoLogin, Dolphin Anty, AdsPower) that gives each profile a unique, internally consistent fingerprint plus isolated storage. Paired with one proxy per profile, it makes each account look like a separate device.

A globally unique identifier assigned by IANA/RIRs to a network operator. Every IP address belongs to an ASN. Anti-bot systems classify the ASN before inspecting the request — datacenter ASNs (AWS, Hetzner) get auto-flagged, while carrier ASNs (T-Mobile, Verizon) can't be bulk-blocked without harming real subscribers.

An architecture where you connect to a single gateway address, and the gateway routes each request through a rotating pool of exit IPs behind the scenes. Simplifies rotation — you never manage individual IPs.

The volume of data transferred through a proxy. Many providers meter and charge per gigabyte. MobileProxies.org offers unlimited bandwidth, so high-volume scraping isn't throttled or surcharged.

A composite identifier built from your browser's characteristics — canvas hash, WebGL renderer, fonts, screen size, timezone, and more. Unique enough to track you without cookies. Anti-bot vendors use it to link sessions and detect automation.

A fingerprinting technique (Mowery & Shacham, 2012) where the browser draws text/shapes on a hidden canvas and hashes the pixel output. GPU, driver, and OS differences make the hash device-specific.

A challenge (reCAPTCHA, hCaptcha, Cloudflare Turnstile) used to distinguish humans from bots. Triggered by low IP trust, suspicious behavior, or rate limits. Solving services and high-trust IPs reduce how often you hit them.

A mobile network operator (T-Mobile, Verizon, EE, KPN) that owns spectrum and assigns IPs to subscribers. Carrier ASNs are the source of mobile proxy trust because they front millions of real users.

Defined in RFC 6598, CGNAT lets mobile carriers share a single public IPv4 address among thousands of subscribers simultaneously. This is the foundation of mobile proxy trust: blocking one CGNAT IP would block thousands of real phone users, so websites avoid it.

A proxy hosted on a server in a datacenter (AWS, Hetzner, OVH). Fast and cheap, but the ASN is instantly recognizable as non-residential, so anti-bot systems flag them aggressively.

A proxy IP (or modem slot) reserved exclusively for one customer. No reputation contamination from other users; full control over rotation and sessions.

When DNS queries bypass your proxy and resolve through your real ISP's resolver, revealing your true location even though your IP appears proxied. A common inconsistency that anti-fraud systems flag.

Selecting proxy IPs from a specific country, region, or city so a website sees your traffic as originating from that location. Used for localized pricing, ad verification, and accessing region-specific content.

Forcing the modem to reconnect to the carrier (e.g., airplane-mode cycle or radio reset), which makes the carrier assign a brand-new IP from its pool. Distinct from session-based rotation — this is a genuinely new carrier IP.

A proxy that understands and forwards HTTP/HTTPS traffic. It can read and modify headers, which makes it ideal for web requests but unsuitable for non-HTTP protocols. Defined in the HTTP spec (RFC 7231 and successors).

A score assigned to an IP address by databases like MaxMind, IPQualityScore, Spur.us, and IP2Proxy, based on whether it's a known datacenter, VPN, proxy, or residential/mobile IP, plus its abuse history. Lower reputation triggers CAPTCHAs and blocks.

An authentication method where the proxy only accepts connections from a list of pre-approved source IP addresses, instead of (or in addition to) username/password credentials.

The round-trip time for a request through the proxy, measured in milliseconds. Mobile proxies typically have higher latency than datacenter proxies due to the cellular radio link, but the trust trade-off is usually worth it.

A proxy that routes traffic through a real mobile device on a 4G/5G carrier network, using a carrier-assigned IP shared via CGNAT. The highest-trust proxy type because the traffic is indistinguishable from real phone users at the network layer.

The physical hardware device (containing a SIM) that connects to a carrier's cellular network. Real mobile proxies route through banks of physical modems, not virtualized or emulated connections.

Operating multiple accounts on one platform without them being linked. Requires one proxy per account plus fingerprint isolation so the platform can't correlate them by IP or device.

The numeric endpoint on the proxy server you connect to. Providers typically expose separate ports for HTTP and SOCKS5. Each proxy object from our API includes http_port and socks5_port fields.

Tracking competitor or retailer prices over time, often across regions. Mobile proxies enable accurate geo-specific pricing data without being blocked by e-commerce anti-bot systems.

How a proxy verifies you're authorized to use it. Two common methods: username/password credentials (sent in the proxy URL or headers), or IP whitelisting (only pre-approved source IPs can connect).

Restricting how many requests an IP or account can make in a time window. Exceeding the limit returns 429 errors or blocks. Distributing requests across rotating IPs and using exponential backoff avoids it.

A proxy using an IP assigned by a home ISP (Comcast, BT, Deutsche Telekom) to a residential connection. Good trust, but residential pools are often sourced via SDK injection and can face restrictions on strict platforms.

A proxy configuration that assigns a different IP for each request or at fixed intervals, distributing traffic across many IPs. Ideal for large-scale scraping where each request should look like a different user.

Extracting search engine results (organic listings, featured snippets, People Also Ask, local pack) at scale for rank tracking and SEO intelligence.

A proxy IP used by multiple customers simultaneously. Cheaper, but you inherit the reputation effects of other users' activity on the same IP.

The card that authenticates a device to a carrier network and ties it to a subscriber account. Each modem in a mobile proxy fleet has its own SIM and carrier subscription.

A protocol-agnostic proxy standard (RFC 1928) that relays raw TCP and UDP traffic without interpreting it. Supports any application protocol, including DNS, QUIC, and gaming. The UDP ASSOCIATE command enables UDP relay.

A proxy that keeps the same IP across many requests (also called a dedicated or sticky IP). Used for account management and sessions that must stay on one identity.

Keeping the same proxy IP for a defined duration (e.g., 10-30 minutes) so a login session or multi-step workflow stays on one identity. Essential for social media account management.

A hash of your TLS ClientHello packet (cipher suites, extensions, curves). JA3 (Salesforce, 2017) and its successor JA4 (FoxIO) identify the client before any HTTP content transmits. Cloudflare exposes JA4 for WAF rules.

A composite measure of how much a website's anti-bot system trusts an IP and session. Mobile carrier IPs score highest (90+) because of CGNAT sharing; datacenter IPs score lowest (under 30). Higher trust means fewer CAPTCHAs and blocks.

A string your browser sends identifying its name, version, and OS. Anti-bot systems cross-check it against TLS and TCP fingerprints — a mismatch (e.g., iPhone UA with a Linux TCP stack) is a strong bot signal.

Programmatically extracting structured data from websites. Mobile proxies prevent IP bans during large-scale scraping by distributing requests across high-trust carrier IPs.

Identification based on GPU vendor and renderer strings exposed via the WebGL API (gl.getParameter, WEBGL_debug_renderer_info). Reveals your exact GPU model and is highly entropic.

WebRTC uses STUN over UDP to discover IP candidates for peer connections. Since HTTP/HTTPS proxies only tunnel TCP, WebRTC's UDP traffic can escape the proxy and expose your real IP via JavaScript.