Mobile Web Unlocker on 4G/5G carrier IPs

Web Unlocker · mobile tier · carrier IPs shared by real phones

The Mobile Web Unlocker runs the same unlocker logic on 4G/5G carrier IPs: browser TLS fingerprints, retries on a fresh exit, and a real browser for JavaScript challenges. Use it for the sites that refuse residential ranges, where the residential tier reports ip_reputation.

# same proxy, mobile exits: add -tier-mobile
curl -k \
  -x http://unlock.quantumproxies.io:9000 \
  -U "unlock-XXXX-country-us-tier-mobile:PASSWORD" \
  -H "x-qp-session: job42" \
  https://example.com/

# REST: the same switch is one field
{ "url": "https://example.com/", "tier": "mobile" }
Mobile Web Unlocker on 4G/5G carrier IPs

Why carrier IPs get through where residential ranges do not

Mobile operators put thousands of phones behind a small pool of public addresses with carrier-grade NAT. One carrier IP is therefore shared by many real people at the same time, and blocking it would lock out paying customers of the site. Anti-bot systems know this and treat carrier ranges with far more caution than residential or datacenter ranges.

That is the whole difference between the tiers. The unlocker logic is identical; only the exit network changes. The Mobile Web Unlocker is for the sites whose problem is the IP range itself, not the fingerprint or the JavaScript challenge.

When the residential tier tells you to switch

Every refused request comes back with a block class. ip_reputation means the site refused the exit before any challenge: rotating to another residential IP rarely helps, and the unlocker's hint for that case is to try the mobile tier. In our 29 September 2026 test, Home Depot, DoorDash and eBay were reported as ip_reputation on the residential tier.

Other classes point elsewhere. js_challenge and fingerprint are what the browser escalation and fingerprint rotation are for, on either tier; captcha means an interactive challenge that neither tier solves.

Same features as the residential tier

Everything the residential unlocker does applies here: six browser TLS fingerprints rotated on retry, up to three TLS attempts on fresh exits, escalation to a real browser for JavaScript challenges, POST sent exactly once, and blocked pages reported with x-qp-unlocker-blocked and a block class instead of a silent 200.

Sticky sessions work the same way with the x-qp-session header, and the forward proxy and REST endpoint are the same host and path. Switching tiers is a one-word change, so you can route per site in your own code.

The trade-off: speed and cost

Carrier networks are slower than residential lines and carrier IPs cost more per GB. Keep the residential tier as your default and send to the mobile tier only the domains that the residential tier reports as ip_reputation. Because each tier has its own prepaid balance, the mobile GB are spent only where you route them.

A simple routing rule covers most scrapers: plain request first, residential unlocker on a detected block, mobile unlocker when the residential verdict is ip_reputation.

Targeting and sessions on the mobile network

Set the exit country with -country-xx in the username or the country field in REST. The mobile network covers 194 countries, with city-level targeting in the larger markets. A pinned session keeps one carrier exit for its lifetime; carriers may still rotate the underlying address, which is normal on mobile networks and one reason these IPs are trusted.

If you need plain mobile proxies without the unlocker logic, for example for an app or an antidetect browser that handles fingerprints itself, use the mobile proxy plans instead.

Mobile Web Unlocker on 4G/5G IPs

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a mobile web unlocker?

A web unlocker whose requests leave from 4G/5G carrier IPs instead of residential ones. It keeps the unlocker logic, browser TLS fingerprints, retries on fresh exits and a real browser for JavaScript challenges, and adds the trust that shared carrier addresses get from anti-bot systems.

Are mobile proxies more reliable than residential proxies for scraping?

For sites that refuse residential ranges, yes, because a carrier IP is shared by many real phones and blocking it hurts real users. For most other sites residential is enough and cheaper. Use the block class the unlocker reports to decide per site instead of paying mobile prices everywhere.

Do mobile IPs reduce CAPTCHAs?

They reduce the refusals that come from IP reputation. They do not remove interactive captchas that a site shows to every visitor, and the unlocker does not solve those on either tier; such requests are reported with block class captcha.

How do I switch a request to the mobile tier?

Add -tier-mobile to the proxy username, for example unlock-XXXX-country-us-tier-mobile, or send "tier": "mobile" to the REST endpoint. Everything else, host, port, headers and sessions, stays the same.

Is the mobile tier slower?

Yes. Carrier networks add latency compared with residential lines, and pages that need the browser take longer on any tier. Route only the sites that need carrier IPs to the mobile tier and keep the rest on residential.

Can I use my mobile proxy plan GB for the unlocker?

No. The Mobile Web Unlocker has its own prepaid GB balance, separate from mobile proxy plans and from the residential unlocker, so each product is metered on its own.

Sources

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