Where do our residential and mobile proxy IPs come from?

How are residential and mobile proxy IPs produced?

A residential or mobile proxy sends your request through an IP address that an ISP or a mobile carrier assigned to a real subscriber. The industry obtains these addresses in four main ways:

• Opt-in apps and SDKs. A device owner installs an app, or an app that embeds a proxy SDK, and agrees to share idle bandwidth. Some networks pay for it: Decodo, for example, says it obtains explicit consent and pays peers per GB shared. Proxyway's 2026 research says Android devices are the main hosts of residential proxies.
• ISP-assigned server IPs. Some "ISP" or static residential proxies use address ranges registered to consumer ISPs, but run on servers. The address looks residential, while the hardware sits in a data centre.
• Carrier modems and phones. Proxyway notes that mobile proxies are either crowdsourced from people's phones or built as SIM-card farms. Carriers put many subscribers behind one public address with carrier-grade NAT (CGNAT, RFC 6888).
• Malware and hidden SDKs. The bad source: software that turns phones, PCs or TV boxes into exit nodes without real consent. This is what the 2026 takedowns targeted.

What happened to residential proxy networks in 2026?

2026 showed how much of the market rests on a few shared pools. Three events matter to anyone who buys proxies:

• IPIDEA disruption, 28 January 2026. Google's Threat Intelligence Group announced that it had disrupted IPIDEA, which it called the world's largest residential proxy network. Google found more than 600 apps and 3,075 Windows binaries that connected to IPIDEA's command-and-control domains. In one seven-day period in January, it saw more than 550 threat groups using IPIDEA exit nodes.
• Millions of devices removed. Google said its action cut the operators' device pool "by millions". Proxyway reported that more than nine million devices were expected to drop off the network.
• NetNut and Popa, 2 July 2026. Krebs on Security reported that the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation seized domains tied to NetNut and the Popa botnet. Krebs says Popa hit at least two million devices, mostly TV and streaming boxes.

Google also noted that residential networks share devices through reseller and partnership agreements, so exit nodes overlap across providers. Proxyway estimates that only 10–15 companies run their own residential networks. A reseller's IPs can therefore only be as clean as the pool it buys from.

What do we require from the networks we resell?

We only resell from partners who meet every requirement below. Each one is a condition of working with us, and we require partners to confirm each one in writing:

1. Documented consent. Every residential device owner opted in knowingly, through a clear disclosure, and can withdraw at any time.
2. No hidden SDKs. The partner does not embed proxy code in apps without telling the user, and does not rely on proxy software pre-installed on consumer devices.
3. No excluded sources. Nothing in the pool comes from the IPIDEA brands or SDKs above, or from a network whose domains law enforcement has seized.
4. Controlled mobile hardware. Mobile ports run on modems and SIM cards the partner controls, or on phones whose owners opted in.
5. Resale permission. The partner allows resale, including our no-KYC model combined with our Acceptable Use Policy.
6. Abuse handling. The partner has an abuse contact, acts on reports we forward, and accepts our list of blocked targets.

When a partner breaks a requirement, we stop sending traffic through it and switch to another network where one is available. Changes that affect service appear on our status page.

What can't we promise about sourcing?

A reseller has real limits, and we state them plainly:

• We do not run the devices. We rely on partners' written terms. We cannot inspect every phone, router or modem in a pool.
• Pools overlap. Because exit nodes are shared across providers, an IP we route may also carry traffic for other networks, before or after us.
• We cannot see an IP's past. An address may have been misused before it reached our gateway, by its owner or by another provider's customer.
• No certification. We claim no third-party sourcing certification. If your compliance team needs one, the Ethical Web Data Collection Initiative (EWDCI) issues an "EWDCI Certified" designation and lists members such as Oxylabs and Decodo.
• Upstream records. Partner networks may log connection metadata under their own policies, which we do not control. Our privacy policy covers only what Nameless Proxy holds.

ProxyGoat LLC, the company that runs Nameless Proxy, is accountable for these requirements.

Why doesn't Nameless Proxy name its partners?

Our partner agreements are commercial and confidential. Naming a partner on this page would also read as a promise about infrastructure we do not run.

We publish the rules partners must meet instead, and we act on them: a partner that fails a requirement loses our traffic. Questions about a specific session or IP go to [email protected]. Legal requests are handled under our Terms of Service, as described on the abuse page.

Why does IP sourcing matter when you buy proxies?

Sourcing affects your own work in three ways:

• Continuity. Google said its IPIDEA action could affect affiliated entities downstream. A reseller whose pool is disrupted can lose service overnight.
• Blocks. IP-based security systems block or throttle addresses after misbehaviour, and Cloudflare notes that the effect can hit everyone who shares the address. Mobile IPs are not immune: Cloudflare measured that CGNAT addresses are rate-limited three times more often than other IPs.
• Your own risk. Traffic through an infected device uses someone's connection without real consent. Lawful projects such as web scraping or SEO tracking do not need that risk.

A price far below the market deserves caution. Proxyway's 2026 research says that in the grey market a gigabyte can cost $0.30 or even less. Our grid starts at $0.53/GB on the 1 TB pack; see pricing.