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Residential IP VPS: myth, scam, or just very expensive?

VPS Hosting by olya 27 replies 3.8K views
olya

Member OP

Always Free

8 #1

I've spent three months mapping this space for a side project. Here's what I found.

1. True residential IP VPS providers barely exist. What you find instead:
- Datacenter proxies with ASN spoofing (detected in 30 seconds by IPQS)
- Compromised IoT devices sold as "residential endpoints"
- Legit but absurdly priced business plans from ISPs

2. The compromised IoT angle is worse than I thought. I traced one "provider" — let's call them GreenCloudVPS Residential — and found their "IP pool" was mostly cheap webcams and routers in Vietnam and Brazil. Same default creds, same firmware version, same heartbeat pattern. These aren't partnerships. This is a botnet with billing.

3. The ethical line: even if you just want to scrape prices or watch geo-locked content, you're funding someone who's actively pwning grandma's doorbell camera.

Pro tip: If you genuinely need residential IP, talk to your ISP about business fiber. Heads up: expect $200+/mo and a contract.

I have packet captures and Shodan queries if anyone wants details. Not sure I should post them publicly.

licensing is a suggestion
SA

Member

#2

Asking for a friend who values privacy

Also if we're naming names, half these "residential" shops only exist to wash crypto anyway

lee_mcr

Member

#3

Right then olya, you've gone and done proper detective work there

We looked at adding "residential" IPs years back. Turned out to be either:
- proper ISP lease lines at £400+/mo
- some bloke in manchester with 50 virgin media routers in his shed

We went with neither. Cheers lads

Honey badger don't care... about downtime
AN

Member

#4

Olya very very cheap hos ạ I find one on telegram only 5 dollar for ten ip ạ but now I read your pos I think maybe bad hos ạ thank you for warn ạ

lookuppierre

Member

8 #5
olya said:
Compromised IoT devices sold as "residential endpoints"

This is the "grey market" yes? Oui I mean yes

The GreenCloudVPS you mention — I know this the Provider, they approached me for "bandwidth partnership" on my the Strasbourg flat. I said no. They did not like this.

Random Idea: maybe we need the Registry for "verified clean" residential IP? But who pays for that Verification?

prix fixe infrastructure: €5/mo
DI

Member

#6

50 routers in a shed sounds like a fire hazard, not a business model

lee_mcr

Member

3 #7
lookuppierre said:
Registry for "verified clean" residential IP

Registry sounds lovely until you need a solicitor to register your flat's broadband. Nobody's paying £50/year to prove their home IP isn't nicked.

The shed lads are still out there though. Mate of mine in Salford got approached same as Pierre, wanted to "lease" his Virgin line for "CDN testing." Offered £80/month. He noped out.

Honey badger don't care... about downtime
Lagos

Member

#8

I have used Luminati/brightdata for legit scraping. $8 per GB. For that price I can buy three proper VPS and rotate through them.

The "residential" label is just markup. Same IP quality as my aunt's MTN router in Ikeja.

pauloserver

Member

9 #9
olya said:
Mostly cheap webcams and routers in Vietnam and Brazil

This I believe. I see the "residential proxy" resellers on Brazilian forums, they offer IP from Claro, Vivo, Oi. Always the same cities: Manaus, Fortaleza, places with cheap fiber and no tech press.

I stay with Hetzner and Vultr. At least I know which building burns.

chill infrastructure for chill people 🦫
lookuppierre

Member

7 #10
lee_mcr said:
Mate of mine in Salford got approached

Same script they use with me. "CDN testing" "bandwidth partnership" "edge compute." I ask for company registration, they send me PDF with Comic Sans logo. Professional.

I report to ANSSI but they have bigger problems than fake CDN.

prix fixe infrastructure: €5/mo

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