Using a Residential IP VPN gives you a good head start, websites and Apps will assume you are a home broadband user based on the type of IP address and the Internet Service Provider (BT) we use.

However, Residential IP addresses are not immune to being flagged.

If you give a site/App a reason to flag a Residential IP, by mis-matched location signals, or how you use the service, this can and will still happen. There are some aspects that you need to control/hide on your end.

Listed below are some of the methods that can be used to determine your actual location and in some cases this will override the IP location, potentially causing even a Residential IP to be flagged as a suspected proxy.

If you are unsure on any of the below, or you have queries, please get in touch with our Support team before connecting and they will be happy to discuss risk mitigation with you.

• Usage
  • Should only be used in the same way your home broadband connection would be used
  • It is not suitable for running bots and/or other automated tools
    • Use our Mobile Proxy instead for such tasks
  • Illegal activity, of any kind, is not tolerated

• IPv6
  • Check if it is enabled: https://test-ipv6.com
  • If enabled, turn off on your device or router

• Time/timezone
  • Disable automatic and manually set to UK/London time and timezone

• GPS/Location Services
  • Disable on all devices, otherwise this will override the IP

• Mobile signal/data
  • Disable on all devices, apps can query this

• Browser Cache/Cookies
  • If you use different networks, VPNs, your device can be tracked across sessions
  • Clear browser cache/cookies before connecting/changing networks
  • Or, use a separate browser

• WiFi/Bluetooth
  • Both Google and Apple are known to use this
  • If you have WiFi/Bluetooth enabled, your devices can scan other wireless networks around them, even if they don't connect to them
  • Wifi networks have often been geolocated based on the WiFi BSSID (i.e local known home, public wifi networks, etc).
  • If possible, we recommend disabling both and use Ethernet cables only

• Canvas Fingerprinting
  • Devices can be tracked based on how they render images and websites, creating a unique ID, this then potentially allows sites/apps to track your device across multiple IPs, networks
  • This is especially problematic if you also use VPNs like Nord et al. which likely have a history of abuse, fraud, nasties, etc.
  • If you also run Nord et al. on a device, then connect to our Residential IP VPN, it's possible you can tarnish your own clean Residential IP by device association.

• Latency
  • Not much can be done on this point, the further away you are the higher the latency
  • Point to consider, mainly for remote workers who may have this queried by an Internal IT team
  • If queried, suggest acknowledging a 'problematic broadband or WiFi connection'

• WebRTC
  • Computer users, those without a VPN router, please install a WebRTC blocker plugin
    • Firefox
    • Chrome

Last but not least….

• VPN Checkers
  • DON'T continually check your IP against every VPN checker website!
  • The only people that repeatedly check their IP, are probably using VPNs! ;)
  • VPN checker websites use this against you, if you keep opening things like IPQualityScore, with the VPN connected
  • They can potentially track your device through Canvas Fingerprinting, cookies, etc, seeing you hop through different countries/IPs, in minutes - faster than you could physically travel - is not normal behaviour.
  • VPN Checkers sell their database, to sites that want to block VPNs. DONT GIVE THEM DATA UNNECESSARILY!
  • Again, only actual VPN users check IPs repeatedly ;)

If you want to check your IP:

• Connect the VPN
• Use the below to determine what your IP is:
  • http://icanhazip.com
• Disconnect the VPN, or use another device NOT connected to the VPN
• Go to your chosen VPN Checker website
• Copy/paste in the IP
• But, please, please DONT run checks continuously, or you will cause yourself problems!