Bandwidth
Bandwidth is the amount of data that can be transferred over a connection in a given time — and the most common way proxy and VPN usage is measured and billed.
Definition
Bandwidth is the maximum rate of data transfer across a network connection, usually measured in megabits per second (Mbps). In the proxy world the term is also used loosely to mean the volume of data you consume — gigabytes transferred — which is how many residential and mobile proxy plans are priced.
Why it matters
Data-heavy tasks like scraping image-rich pages or streaming burn bandwidth quickly. Because residential and mobile bandwidth is expensive, efficient scraping — requesting only what you need and blocking images — can dramatically cut costs.
Examples
A residential proxy plan billed at $8 per GB of traffic
Blocking images in a scraper to reduce bandwidth usage
Common Use Cases
Frequently Asked Questions
Keep Learning
All termsRotating Proxy
A rotating proxy automatically assigns a different IP address from a pool for each request or on a set interval, spreading traffic across many IPs to avoid blocks.
Read definitionMobile Proxy
A mobile proxy routes traffic through real 3G/4G/5G cellular connections, using carrier-assigned IPs that are the hardest of all proxy types to detect or block.
Read definitionResidential Proxy
A residential proxy routes your traffic through a real device with an IP assigned by an Internet Service Provider, so requests appear to come from a genuine home user rather than a server.
Read definition