Protecting your identity is essential for any business managing multiple accounts. And your IP address is first. In this article, we will guide all you need to know about hiding your IP and using another IP. From information consistency to data center solutions, from proxies to more.

How to hide your IP address
How to hide your IP address

What do you want to hide your IP address for?

Websites track multiple browser fingerprints daily, such as cookies, canvas fingerprints, Javascript objects, font lists, and many others. However, the first thing that websites log and look at is your IP address when tracking your computer because it is easily obtainable and can reveal a lot of information about you, such as your internet service provider and physical location. These two can deduct many other data points. It will know that all accounts will likely belong to the same person if you use the same IP address for multiple accounts on the same platform.

Using different and unique IP addresses to protect your multiple identities is essential. A computer can’t have more than one IP address at once. Other solutions exist to channel your traffic through a remote machine with a different IP address than yours.

Before learning to implement those solutions, you must read the difference between the data center and residential IP proxies. 

IP information consistency

Now, when you know the differences between the data center and residential IP addresses and understand the importance of hiding your actual IP address, let’s introduce the concept of IP information consistency. Modern popular web platforms know that users tend to choose memorable passwords easily or use the same password all over the internet. This naturally makes hacking into accounts not difficult. Web platforms record connection information and browser fingerprints they receive from users’ computers to protect users from the hacking threat. When unexpectedly this information changes to a great range, web platforms throw in additional security checks like phone verification or a secret question. Although designed for protection, this can make multiple managing profiles more difficult.

Usually, the easiest way to trigger the security checks is to access an account with an IP address that belongs to the area it was never previously accessed. Thusly, the rule of thumb will be to keep the same IP address for any particular account as long as possible when accessing your multiple accounts.

Of course, keeping the same IP address for an account is impossible if you use a dynamic IP address, which usually belongs to the ranges of residential IPs. In this case, ensure you access the account with IP addresses corresponding to the same city or state.

It sums up the theoretical part. Please continue to learn how to set up different solutions to hide your IP address.

Datacenter IP solutions

VPN (Virtual Private Network)

VPN stands for a virtual private network, a connection type often used by companies to protect their sensitive data while transferring it over the internet. However, VPN can also change your IP address and make you seem like you are accessing the website from a different location and service provider. You can either subscribe to a service or set up your VPN server to get a VPN. If you are going for the service option, your provider will give you access to their client software, which you install on your computer. Thus, you will then use this client to connect to a selected VPN server and get a new IP address.

Pros – Cons of VPN for multiple account management

Pros:

  • Access to hundreds or even thousands of unique IP addresses within the same comparatively cheap subscription
  • The connection is encrypted. Your internet service provider won’t be able to track you.

Cons:

  • You will not be able to open multiple profiles with unique IP addresses simultaneously. You will have to work on one profile at a time, which can be time-consuming.
  • In most cases, a VPN server is used by hundreds or thousands of users together. Some abuse web platforms, causing the server IP being grey- or blacklisted.

Conclusion: using a VPN service might be beneficial in some cases when you need affordable access to an immense pool of IPs located in different countries. However, VPN exit nodes are mostly known to web platforms and often blacklisted due to other users abusing the service.

Proxies

A proxy server is another machine with a different IP address, which acts as a hub between your computer and the rest of the internet. When you connect to websites through a proxy server, they will see the proxy server’s IP address as your IP. Like VPN, you can buy proxies or set up your own. In both cases, you will have a list of IP addresses, ports, and authorization methods you will use to connect.

Proxy properties

  • Type of Authentication

When connecting to a proxy, it is necessary to authenticate your access. You don’t want everybody to be able to connect to your proxy. Usually, there are two types of authentication to access a proxy: IP authentication or Username & Password authentication. We recommend using Username & Password, as this solves the problem of having a dynamic IP connection and constantly needing to update your computer access IP address.

  • Type of Access

For the most part, proxy providers offer three types of proxies: Public, Shared, and Private. Technically they are primarily alike but can be used by different audiences. Anybody can access public proxies – these proxies usually get blacklisted very quickly. A certain number of people can only access shared proxies. Only you can access private proxies. Beyond any doubt, some proxy providers offer the so-called “virgin proxies.” According to their claims, virgin proxies have never been used with the web platform of your interest before. We recommend using Private proxies – as it drastically decreases the chance of that IP being blacklisted or blocked on some particular website. Regardless of what anybody says or claims, always perform your testing to see which proxy servers work best for your purposes.

  • Type of Connection/Protocol

In terms of connection or protocol, proxies are also categorized on SOCKS and HTTP proxies. Both work equally well when used for accessing multiple accounts through browser applications.

Data center IP proxies for multiple account management

 Pros:

  • Easy to manage multiple accounts
  • You will be able to open various profiles with unique IP addresses simultaneously from one PC
  • IP information consistency is perfect. Your accounts are always accessed from the alike IP address
  • Cheaper compared to other residential IP

Cons:

  • No encryption. Your traffic can be seen by your internet service provider.
  • Proxies you buy are not always trustworthy. They can stop working, and you’ll need a replacement. Test multiple providers to learn which one is better
  • Websites might be able to discover that you use a data center proxy to connect.

Conclusion: Use data center proxies if you want to keep your multiple accounts for more extended periods and access them daily. Datacenter IP proxies are cheaper than residential IP ones, which come at the price of a less natural-looking connection. Both types of proxies are more convenient to use with Multilbrowser than VPN.

In-house solution

When using proxies offered as a service, you are essentially putting yourself at risk of two things:

  • The proxies can be blacklisted on the website you are trying to access
  • The proxy server goes down either temporarily or permanently

To mitigate both risks, you may create your new proxy server with a clean IP. This method is more expensive than buying from proxy providers. However, it puts you in charge of your proxies and removes the chance of your proxies being blacklisted because of abuse by other people.

Summary

Too much to digest? Let’s recap what we have learned in this article. Initially, we mentioned that your IP address is usually the first thing that websites log and look at because it is easily obtainable. It can reveal a lot of information about you. That is why we must understand how to hide your IP address correctly.

  • VPN and proxies are the two post-famous data center IP solutions to hide your IP address.
  • Both VPN and proxies can be bought from external providers or created on your own
  • You can easily set up your proxy server by getting a VPS and following the instructions from above or running our custom script.
  • Proxies are the most popular and convenient way of changing the IP address for Multilbrowser users. They are great if you want to keep your multiple browser profiles for more extended periods and access them daily.
  • VPN exit node IP addresses are mostly known to popular web platforms and can often be blacklisted due to other users abusing the service. However, VPN can be beneficial in some cases when you need access to an immense pool of IPs worldwide for a relatively low price.
  • An ADSL connection with a dynamic IP address as a residential IP proxy solution remains inconsistent in implementation across multiple users due to problems with IP renewal.
  • Using a mobile 3G or 4G connection is more practical than ADSL because it allows better control over IP renewal. You can control IP releases remotely by using two Android apps. Also, you can quickly turn your 3G/4G mobile connection into a back-connect proxy by getting a VPS and following the instructions from above or running our custom script.

If you are looking for a solution to access different accounts using residential or data center proxies, check out Multilbrowser. The software utilizes state-of-the-art counter-fingerprinting technology, ensuring your online accounts’ privacy regardless of what solution you use to change your IP address.