Last Updated on January 20, 2024

VPN with Residential IP Address

Choosing the best VPN service can be a daunting task, especially if you don’t know what to look for! This blog post on the Ninja Proxy will outline the essential features of a good VPN service. We’ll also provide you with recommendations for the best VPN services on offer today. Along with this, we’ll give you some tips on how to choose between all of your options and find the perfect one that suits your needs.

For many people who just want to maintain their privacy online then most of the major VPNs will work fine. The mainstream providers are people like NordVPN, Surfshark, Cyberghost and PureVPN all supply a decent service. However for specialised and specific tasks these VPN services won’t be suitable. One of the biggest problems for many users is that although the data is secure, the fact that you are using a VPN is fairly obvious to most web security systems. This is because, all the major VPN providers use IP addresses registered in datacenters as opposed to a residential IP.

What’s a Residential IP VPN ?

A standard VPN service assigns you an IP address from a datacenter. This is because in order for the VPN service to provide access points in different countries this is by far the cheapest option. The problem with this is that it becomes very clear to any third party that you are using a VPN or proxy simply because of where your IP address is registered from. Your data is still secure but your anonymity is perhaps slightly more compromised. Many sites actually flag the use of VPNs when you access their sites, some even block access because they can’t identify your true location.

There are specialist VPN services now which have created a new service – residential IP VPN. There’s not many of them around but they offer arguably a whole new level of privacy and anonymity. This is because they use a residential IP address – one registered for use by residential customers.   Most websites cannot detect or block these addresses simply because all their customers use them, it’s likely you’ll need something like this to bypass the BBC VPN blocks soon.  These are normally allocated directly by an ISP (internet service provider) to home internet connections. However some VPN providers have access to these IP addresses and have created VPNs which use a residential IP address.

Here’s one of the companies –

Why Most VPNs Don’t Have Residential and static IP addresses

There is another caveat that you should be careful about when choosing a specialist VPN service like this. Residential IP addresses are difficult to obtain and unfortunately some firms use less legitimate sources than others. A large proportion of available residential IP addresses are obtained by distributing malware and viruses, or misleading people about free applications or services. Companies use pools of addresses from these sources usually without the knowledge of their owners.

It’s difficult to always spot whether the residential IP addresses you are offered come from a legitimate source. However one sign is when the addresses are frequently rotated without warning – this is because they cannot guarantee that a compromised host will stay online. If the target switches off their machine or stops using the affected application then you’ll lose access to that IP address. It should be noted though that one of the biggest, legitimate residential IP addresses – Bright Data uses a legitimate version of this method. Exchanging application use in exchange for limited access to a users’ IP address and bandwidth. So rotating addresses isn’t a guarantee of a shady practices in every case.

Dynamic and static IP addresses explained

You’ll often find confusion about another aspect of IP addresses used in both proxy and VPN services. It’s the difference between dynamic and static IP addresses.

Dynamic IPs are assigned to a device for the duration of that time they’re connected. That means you’ll generally have one IP address when browsing in your browser and another if you access email via POP, or run SSH on port 22. This is an efficient way of offering a large number of IP addresses at a reduced cost.

Static IPs, on the other hand, are assigned to a device for an extended period of time. This ensures that each network node will always have a definitive address and use can more easily track which devices belong where in their networks. You’ll typically only see these static IP addresses when you’re buying web hosting from someone or paying extra for a specialised service. One of the major benefits with a VPN is that you can manage and control access to that address with only you using it. You don’t have to be worried that it’s being spammed or abused before you make a connection with it.

Dedicated IP addresses and their advantages

So what’s the advantage of using a dedicated IP address? Perhaps the major benefit is that it’s a static IP address. Unlike an IP from your ISP, this will remain the same as long as you don’t disconnect and reconnect to the VPN service provider.

The other advantage is that you have exclusive access to it. This means you can ensure that the address is not abused and blacklisted. It’s perfect for high value access to social media accounts or for making e-commerce transactions.

I am using a static IP VPN but I’m still blocked ?

Here’s question I received shortly after this post was first created. Thought I’d answer it as it would expand the topic of the expectations of using a VPN with residential IP or indeed a static one.

If you’re blocked from a service or site then it’s likely to be something to do with your IP address. So why would you be blocked using a static IP VPN? Well firstly the VPN won’t always help with avoiding blocks and filters although it will obviously encrypt it.

The likely cause is the IP address that’s being used – in most aspects whether it’s static or not is fairly immaterial.

• IP address of VPN may be in wrong location – e.g. if IP address of VPN is from Germany and website is restricted to US only access, then the VPN will be blocked.  Need to access a British only site – then you may need a UK residential VPN to access.
• IP address of VPN may have been previously blacklisted. Often IP addresses have a history and if that has included spamming, fraud or hacking related incidences it may already be blocked. Often cheaper services use low cost IPs which have this sort of history.

Static IP VPN considerations

The most important factor is that you ensure that your fake IP address is located in the right place and it’s trusted. Avoid using IP addresses in obscure locations that aren’t linked with your market. If you’re buying from a US site use a US based IP address and so on. Don’t overuse the address, if you’re managing multiple social media accounts don’t use a single address for a dozen accounts. Never spam using your IP address, your identity will be protected but the address will become useless.

Best Residential VPN Services – (Static Residential IP VPN)

As mentioned previously forget the standard off the shelf VPN services if you want or need a residential IP with your VPN. These companies don’t cater to this market and all the ip-vpn addresses are registered with different datacenters. They’re perfect for many purposes but not for tasks that need you to look like a ‘home user’. If you want one of these I’d recommend the Nord VPN dedicated IP or standard option as a really cheap and reliable option.  Otherwise you should look at some of the best proxy providers who offer much more variety in their options.

There are in fact a couple of VPN providers who do provide this service and the one I can recommend is from these guys – iPBurger. Although the majority of their site refers to proxies, in fact every one of their advertised IP address configurations can be access using a VPN client too.

This is available for free download on their site when you subscribe to any of their plans.

You can choose dedicated or shared IP plans plus the location it’s from. So for example you could simply subscribe to a single UK IP address plan and then use the free VPN client to connect through it.   This would effectively give you a single UK residential VPN for your exclusive use. You can add more to your plan as you need them and have an exclusive extra digital identity for a few bucks a month.