Glossary · Proxy types
Mobile proxy
A proxy that routes traffic through an IP address assigned by a mobile carrier to a phone or cellular modem, carrying the strongest trust of any proxy type.
A mobile proxy uses an address handed out by a cellular network, 4G or 5G, to a real SIM. It sits at the top of the trust hierarchy for a structural reason: mobile carriers put many subscribers behind a single public address through carrier-grade NAT, so one mobile IP can represent hundreds of genuine people at once. Blocking it risks blocking all of them.
That shared nature is the feature. Sites are extremely reluctant to ban a mobile address outright because the collateral damage is real customers, so mobile proxies survive on platforms that treat everything else with suspicion. It is also why a mobile IP that rotates on demand is prized for account-heavy work.
You pay for that trust in cost and speed. Mobile bandwidth is the most expensive to source and the most variable in throughput, so mobile proxies are the tool you reach for when nothing cheaper survives, not the default for bulk data collection.
Back to the full glossary.