Many proxy types and subtypes are created by providers to run their marketing strategies and boost sales. Whether it has any basis in technical specifications is a hotly debated topic, putting a burden on customers making a choice.
We will unravel one of the most often used types – premium proxies. Do they bring any real benefit for the price of the tag, and why might you need a premium proxy server yourself?
What are premium proxies?
Proxy servers act as middlemen between you and the target websites. Instead of connecting directly, you provide a request for the proxy server, then it visits the website on your behalf and later sends you back the needed data.
Like any other device on the internet, proxy servers have IP addresses identifying them. The website can only see the IP of a proxy, so yours remains unknown. So as the information the IP can betray to the website – your location and the name of the internet service provider (ISP).
Proxies can accomplish their function in many different ways. Some are optimized for the best price-to-performance ratio, while others aim to provide the best overall experience with little regard to the price. It’s where the label “premium” is used when describing proxies.
Premium (or elite) proxies come from the most well-known providers and include every best feature they have. Speed, stability, choice of locations, software and responsive customer support are among the most commonly included features.
Since you pay more for such proxies, you should expect more in return. However, there’s more to premium proxies than providers simply restricting the cheaper versions. It depends on how proxies provide access and how they source their IPs.
Premium proxies are dedicated
Proxy servers can provide access to varying degrees of users. If the number is unlimited, the proxies are shared. If IP addresses are given to a limited but multiple users, they are called semi-shared or semi-dedicated.
Premium proxies are high-quality proxy servers that offer advanced features, better performance, and enhanced security compared to their free or lower-tier counterparts. These proxies are typically provided by reputable proxy service providers and come at a cost due to the premium features they offer.
The best type is dedicated or private proxies, accessed by only one user. Premium proxies are only dedicated, and there are some serious benefits that come from them.
Dedicated proxies are faster than shared ones because no other people access the same connection. When you use shared proxies, the servers send and receive data for other tasks you can’t control. Most of the time, they significantly lower the performance.
If other users take on some traffic-intensive tasks, the server’s performance for you will suffer. Purchasing a premium proxy means you maximize the speed by having the connection to yourself.
Dedicated proxies are more stable because, with shared ones, you never know how many people are connected and what they are doing. The count of users and concurrent tasks is in flux. At one time, a shared proxy might work reasonably well, while at more popular hours, they are barely usable.
It isn’t the case with dedicated proxies. You are the only one using them and can expect the same stable performance with little to no downtimes. It’s valuable for anyone who values their time and doesn’t take any chances.
Dedicated proxies are less likely to have banned IPs, and it’s a common problem for shared proxies. As with bandwidth, you cannot know how other users will take care of IP addresses. If they are doing something illegal or against the website’s rules, the IP is banned through no fault of our own.
Since all premium proxies are dedicated, these benefits transfer to them by default. But there are even more benefits of using premium proxy servers with two further variations covering the needs of everyone.
Dedicated Datacenter Proxies
Dedicated datacenter proxies are probably the most popular proxy type. These are proxies unaffiliated with ISPs and come from secondary companies running data centers – facilities with many high-tier servers and superior internet connections.
Datacenter IP addresses are created virtually using cloud server technology, meaning that one device can house large numbers of IPs. But it doesn’t stop dedicated datacenter proxies from ensuring the best possible performance.
Since they are maintained by qualified staff in designated facilities, the downtimes are minimal. Having dedicated IPs with such supervision means that speed is always stable and remains top-notch through your experience with them. Dedicated datacenter proxies are in two scenarios:
- When you need to transfer a large amount of data, datacenter proxies are the fastest and most stable type that won’t make you wait long for tasks to be complete.
- When you need many IP addresses used concurrently. Since they are created virtually, it’s a common practice for providers to have millions of IPs available at all times..
Datacenter proxies are the most versatile proxy type applied to almost any task. However, in some scenarios, more legitimacy and location choice are required, so residential proxies are an option.
Residential proxies
Residential proxies are tied with the locations of physical devices because IP addresses originate from household ISPs. When you set up your home internet connection, you get the same residential IP address tied to your home. If you change places, your IP address is changed as well.
Residential proxies route your requests through an ordinary-looking IP address, so websites have a harder time noticing if you are web scraping or using bots. They are safer than datacenter proxies when it comes to avoiding bans.
Additionally, residential proxies tend to have a better and more accurate location choice. It’s a crucial feature for this type, and with connections to physical devices, they can have city-level accuracy.
However, residential proxies are generally slower than dedicated datacenter ones since no household connection can compare to the speed of a data center. At the same time, maintaining them is expensive because every IP must have a physical device.
Conclusion
It should be clear why you need premium proxy servers. The overall reliability is superior, even if a bit inflated by marketing. The choice of premium proxy type depends on your needs. If unsure, start with dedicated datacenter ones as they are more flexible.