Targeting · glossary

CGNAT

Carrier-grade NAT (CGNAT) is the network address translation that mobile and some fixed-line operators perform at scale, sharing one public IPv4 address between hundreds or thousands of subscribers. For websites it means that a single mobile IP represents many real people, so blocking it would block them all; that is the root of the high tolerance mobile proxy exits enjoy, and the reason mobile IPs rotate naturally as devices move between gateways.

1 min read Also called carrier-grade NAT, large-scale NAT Updated

Mobile proxies All terms

Consequences for detection#

  • Per-IP rate limits must be generous on mobile ranges or legitimate users get blocked.
  • IP reputation is diluted: one abusive subscriber cannot stain the address for long.
  • Geolocation is coarse: the address maps to the carrier's gateway city, not the phone's position.

Consequences for proxy users#

A dedicated mobile device shares its public address with other subscribers of the same cell even though the device is yours alone; that is by design and part of the camouflage. Rotation asks the carrier for a new address, which is another CGNAT pool address, not a fresh dedicated range.

How it works at ProxShift#

Every ProxShift mobile exit, in the rotating pool or on a dedicated device, is a real carrier CGNAT address: the same kind of address the platform's ordinary users arrive from.

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