Flipnode Review

Recommended for: Pricing Monitoring, Ad Spying, Social media management, Web scraping & crawling

Flipnode is not just cheap but also comes with unlimited bandwidth. This had made this rather unpopular proxy provider start gaining ground.

Their focus on residential proxies only and their lean approach to provision of their service had made their proxies very easy to use. This had made them earn the trust of some big companies like Apple, Microsoft, and Spotify, among others.

Also interesting about Flipnode is their proxy network size and distribution. They have got a large pool of residential IP addresses of real devices with a presence in almost all countries in the world. Aside from this, it has got other important features that will make you stick with it and, likewise, some features that will make you have a rethink about them. Let dive into Flipnode reviews in detail.

To test their proxies, I ordered their, 100 premium backconnect residential proxy ports to test, okay here we go, to test and review Flipnode proxies.

Proxy types, features, and pricing

As I stated earlier, Flipnode is a residential proxy provider. It does not sell any other types of proxies. Interestingly, that’s the only service it offers. As a service only company, it does not offer any product or tool aside from the proxies – no add-ons (browser extension) or any other tool like other providers have. While you might see this as a deal-breaker, it is not. This makes it easier to use.

Flipnode proxies are cheaper compared to other premium providers in the industry. They have only one publicly available plan, which is sold for a price of $225. With this amount, you are given 10 ports to use for a whole month with unlimited bandwidth. While the consumable bandwidth that comes with this plan is unlimited, you are limited to accessing only 5 services (websites) with it, which is configurable from your dashboard. However, with some tricks, you can always access any website you want.

Their residential proxies are available in two variants. High rotating proxies and sticky IPs. For their sticky IPs, you are assigned an IP for a minimum of 5 minutes, after which it is changed to another. If you need to increase the session period, you can do that from the dashboard. Interestingly, they also have support for high rotating IPs that changes after every request.

Locations of proxy servers

The distribution of proxy servers is one of the key features proxy providers boast with especially for those with proxies in over 100 locations. Flipnode performs excellently well in this regard as it has proxies in about 195 countries. only a few proxy providers have such an amount of reach in the industry.

Their residential IP pool comprises of over 9.5 million IP addresses of real devices. These over 9.5 million IP addresses are distributed in these 195 countries with countries and regions such as the United States, Canada, Europe, Southern America, Asia, and Pacific having the largest share of these proxies. With this, we are free to say Flipnode is a force to reckoned with as far as the proxy server location and size are concerned.

Ping Test & Proxy Speed Test

In case you do not know, proxies generally reduce the speed at which you connect to the Internet and download information. For residential proxies, this is even worse because of the addition rerouting to residential devices and the effect of the Internet connectivity strength of these residential device’s Internet connection.

The more pings you have, the slower your Internet connection becomes. Let take a look at how Flipnode performed in our ping and speed test. Below is a screenshot of the test we did without using any proxy.

We used Speedtest.net to check the ping and test. With the above, we can then compare and contrast to see if Flipnode is a fast proxy provider or not. Below is a table showing 10 different IPs provided by Flipnode.

From the above table, you will see that there is a great difference between the speed of our Internet connection with and without proxies. This is how bad using residential proxies reduces your Internet speed. Had it been we are using datacenter proxies for this test; the result would have been different.

However, as residential IP proxies, the speed is OK and gets the job done. The ping result is also of major concern, but when compared to other residential providers, it can be said to be average and nothing bad here.

Geolocation Test / ISP Test

As I stated earlier, Flipnode has proxies in about 195 countries. mind you – I pulled this figure directly from their website. How do we know if they are telling us the truth or just playing a marketing trick here?

The answer is simple – subject their proxies to our geolocation test to see if their proxies are actually located in the countries they claim they are. Below is the result of the test.

Looking at the data above, one does not need anyone to tell him that Flipnode is saying the truth here. Our test proved that all the proxies are residential proxies. This then means that Flipnode is a reliable proxy provider that you can trust.

IP address compatibility Test

Aside from the speed test and the geolocation test, there is also one very important test result to take note of. This is the IP Compatibility Test. This is important because an IP someone used might not work in your case because they aren’t optimized for such. Again, sites are becoming smart, and you need to know if the site you have an interest in can detect Flipnode proxies before paying for them. Use the data below as a guide.

If you are conversant with residential proxies, you will know that they hardly get blocked by websites. As expected, Flipnode residential proxies were able to pass the test in most cases without any form of block. This makes them not only suitable for web scraping and crawling but also for social media management, ads verification, and sneaker copping, among others.

Features of Flipnode

Unlimited Bandwidth

Flipnode is one of the residential proxy providers that do not base their pricing and plans on the amount of consumable bandwidth, this is similar to Storm proxies and Microleaves backconnect proxies. For Flipnode, their pricing is based on proxy ports, and as such, you are allowed unlimited bandwidth usage.

Locations

The distribution of their residential IP addresses and their location coverage is one of the things that Flipnode takes pride in. In an industry where other providers have a presence in less than 100 countries, Flipnode has proxies in about 195 countries. This makes it one of the proxies with the widest coverage in the industry.

Session Control

In Flipnode, IPs are changed every 5 minutes by default. This means that you can retain the same IP for a period of 5 minutes. If you need to maintain a session for a longer period, you can configure it in from your dashboard.

Do not support rotate IP each request, So It’s a disadvantage if you want to find the proxies for web scraping.

Huge Residential IP Pool

Another win for Flipnode is the size of its residential IP pool. They have over 9.5 million residential proxies located in the 195 countries they have a presence in. This makes IP rotation easy and efficient.

Easy to use

When it comes to ease of usage, you have to give it up to Flipnode. Some will argue this because they do not have a browser extension to make it easier for newbies.

However, the simplicity and lean nature of their web site interface make them an easy to use option. The dashboard only has 3 navigation menus – proxy manager, profile, and support. With this, users will have less to see and click.

Using Flipnode is easy. Just go to the proxy manager section of your dashboard and click the IP:Port list and copy the proxies there. Take it to your preferred platform and authenticate it. Below are the ways to authenticate your Flipnode proxies.

Since the residential proxies are backconnect proxies, They change their IP address after every stimulated action or a time period. You can set the settings using the rsocks.net dashboard.

How to authenticate

There are basically two methods of authentication in the proxy industry – username/password authentication and IP authentication. Flipnode proxies support only the use of IP authentication.

To authenticate your right of access to Flipnode proxies, go to the Proxy Manager section of your dashboard and click on ‘configure.’ The first step for configuring your proxies will require you to enter your device’s real IP address. Only IP addresses entered here are allowed to make use of the proxies.

After entering your authorized IPs, click next and provide other settings as you progress with the authentication. If you try using the proxies with devices that their IPs are whitelisted, you are allowed access else; you will be denied.

Our Editor’s Verdict

Recommending a proxy provider and their proxies is not always easy because of their multifaced nature. Let take a look at key areas before drawing a final verdict.

Our Verdict

No doubt, Flipnode is a sure winner here. It comes with over 9.5 residential IPs from about 195 countries and has pricing that is worth it considering the fact that its connection is not metered but unlimited in terms of consumable bandwidth. Microsoft and Apple trust them, why won’t you?

User’s Reviews & Rating