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Proxy Selection Guide

Meshbrow supports multiple proxy types. Choosing the right one impacts detection rates, speed, and cost.

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Proxy Types at a Glance

TypeSpeedDetection RiskCostBest For
ResidentialMediumVery Low$$$E-commerce, social media, general scraping
ISPFastLow$$$$Long sessions, account management
MobileSlowVery Low$$$$$Mobile-only sites, highest trust score
DatacenterVery FastMedium$High-volume, low-detection targets

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Residential Proxies

Real IPs assigned by ISPs to homeowners. Rotated from a pool of millions. 
const session = await client.sessions.create({
  proxy: {
    type: 'residential',
    country: 'US',
    city: 'New York',
  },
});
Pros:
  • Appear as real users
  • Large IP pools (low ban risk)
  • Good geo-targeting
Cons:
  • Slower than datacenter
  • More expensive
  • IPs rotate (not sticky by default)
Best for: General web scraping, e-commerce monitoring, ad verification, SEO tools.

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ISP Proxies (Static Residential)

Datacenter-hosted IPs registered under real ISPs. Combines speed with residential trust. 
const session = await client.sessions.create({
  proxy: {
    type: 'isp',
    country: 'US',
    sticky: true, // Same IP for session duration
  },
});
Pros:
  • Fast (datacenter speed)
  • High trust (residential ISP)
  • Static IPs (same IP every time)
Cons:
  • Smaller IP pools
  • Most expensive residential option
  • Limited geo coverage
Best for: Account management, long-running sessions, login-dependent workflows, social media automation.

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Mobile Proxies

IPs from real mobile carriers (4G/5G). Shared among thousands of users naturally. 
const session = await client.sessions.create({
  proxy: {
    type: 'mobile',
    country: 'US',
  },
});
Pros:
  • Highest trust score
  • Nearly impossible to ban (shared IPs)
  • Perfect for mobile-first sites
Cons:
  • Slowest option
  • Most expensive
  • Very limited geo options
Best for: Social media (Instagram, TikTok), mobile-only APIs, sites with aggressive anti-bot.

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Datacenter Proxies

IPs from cloud providers. Fast and cheap but easier to detect. 
const session = await client.sessions.create({
  proxy: {
    type: 'datacenter',
    country: 'US',
  },
});
Pros:
  • Fastest option
  • Cheapest
  • Unlimited bandwidth
Cons:
  • Higher detection risk
  • Often pre-blocked by sites
  • IPs in known datacenter ranges
Best for: Low-security targets, internal tools, high-volume non-sensitive scraping, development/testing.

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Decision Flowchart

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Geo-Targeting

All proxy types support geographic targeting: 
// Region-level (cheapest, most available)
{ type: 'residential', region: 'us' }

// Country-level
{ type: 'residential', country: 'US' }

// City-level (most expensive, limited availability)
{ type: 'residential', country: 'US', city: 'New York' }
More specific targeting = smaller IP pool = higher cost. Use the broadest targeting that meets your requirements.

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Sticky vs Rotating

ModeBehaviorUse Case
Rotating (default)New IP on each sessionHigh-volume scraping
StickySame IP persistsAccount management, multi-page workflows
// Sticky session - same IP throughout
const session = await client.sessions.create({
  proxy: { type: 'isp', country: 'US', sticky: true },
});

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Cost Optimization Tips

Many sites don’t have anti-bot. Test with datacenter first — only upgrade to residential if you get blocked.
City-level targeting costs 2-3x more. Most use cases only need country-level.
Residential proxies charge per GB. ISP proxies are often flat-rate for the session.
Launch fewer, longer sessions rather than many short ones. Session setup has overhead.

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BYOP (Bring Your Own Proxy)

Already have proxy subscriptions? Use them with Meshbrow: 
const session = await client.sessions.create({
  proxy: {
    type: 'custom',
    host: 'proxy.yourprovider.com',
    port: 8080,
    username: 'user',
    password: 'pass',
  },
  stealth: 'max', // Still get full anti-detection
});
This lets you use Meshbrow’s stealth features with your existing proxy infrastructure.