What a Mobile Proxy Is, and When You Need One
A mobile proxy sends your requests out through a 4G or 5G modem on a mobile carrier's network, so websites see a carrier IP address: the same kind of address a phone gets. ProxyStream rents time on these modems on Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T, Three and O2, for anything from 4 hours to a month.
From $0.60 for 4 hours
How a request reaches a website
- Carrier networkVerizon, T-Mobile, AT&T, Three and O2
- SIM cardAn active line on that carrier
- 4G or 5G modemShared by several ProxyStream buyers
- Your loginUsername and password, or your whitelisted IP
- Your browser or scriptAnything that accepts a proxy
Why Sites Treat Carrier IPs Differently
Carriers have far fewer public IPv4 addresses than customers, so they share each one. A website that sees a carrier address is looking at a crowd.
Mobile carriers put subscribers behind carrier-grade NAT (CGNAT): many phones leave the network through one public address at the same time. Blocking that address risks locking out real customers along with the one a site wanted to stop, so anti-bot systems tend to treat carrier ranges with more care than datacenter ranges, which belong to hosting companies.
- One public address
- The address traffic leaves the carrier's network with. It is the IP a website records.
- Many subscribers behind it
- Carrier-grade NAT (CGNAT) lets a carrier serve many customers' connections from one public IPv4 address at the same time.
- The next address
- When the IP changes, the carrier assigns the device another address from its range, sometimes one it used before.
- The modem you use
- One SIM in one modem. Several ProxyStream buyers share each modem, so they share its public address too.
Mobile, Residential and Datacenter Proxies
The difference is the network the IP belongs to, which is also what a website can look up.
Where the IP comes from
- Mobile
- A carrier's cellular network, through a SIM in a 4G or 5G device
- Residential
- A home broadband line from an internet provider
- Datacenter
- A server rented from a hosting company
Who else uses the address
- Mobile
- Many phone subscribers at once, through carrier-grade NAT
- Residential
- Usually one household
- Datacenter
- Whoever rents that server or proxy
How the address changes
- Mobile
- The carrier reassigns it; a proxy can trigger that on a timer or on request
- Residential
- Pool services switch you between homes; one home's address rarely changes
- Datacenter
- It stays fixed unless you switch to another one
What a website can infer
- Mobile
- Traffic from a mobile carrier's network, like a phone's
- Residential
- Traffic from a home internet connection
- Datacenter
- Traffic from a hosting network, which is easy to tell apart from consumers
ProxyStream sells mobile proxies only. A residential proxy is the better fit when you need many countries or a fresh household address per request; a datacenter proxy is cheaper when the target doesn't ban hosting networks.
Four Choices Before You Buy
Each one has its own guide with the live servers that fit it.
Which country and carrier
The carrier owns the IP range a site sees. Pick it the way your target audience connects.
How the IP changes
On a fixed timer, or when you open a rotation link. This decides whether a session keeps one address.
How your tool connects
Every proxy takes HTTP and SOCKS5. Advanced ones also carry UDP, which HTTP/3 needs.
For how long
Rent a proxy for 4 hours, a day, a week or a month. You pay for time, not for data.
Configure a Mobile Proxy
Every server on sale right now. Pick a plan, carrier, location and how long you need it; you register or sign in to pay.
Proxy type
Standard mobile proxy
A fresh IP on a timer
Your IP rotates every 10–60 min, depending on the device, so every session starts clean. Rent it for as little as 4 hours.
- IP rotation
- Automatic, every 10–60 min
- Rent for
- 4 hours to 1 month
- Protocols
- HTTP and SOCKS5
From $0.60 for 4 hours. One payment.
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- Instant activation after signup
- No credit card required
What a Mobile Proxy Won't Do
Knowing the limits saves you a wasted purchase.
It won't hide your browser
You won't have the modem alone
It won't pin you to a city
It doesn't make a use allowed
Sources
Copy last checked 26 October 2026. Server lists and prices on this page load from the live catalog.
Test One Carrier Before You Commit
Four hours on the server you'd use for real is the cheapest way to see what your target makes of a carrier IP. From $0.60 for 4 hours.
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