---
title: "Why are residential proxies more difficult to detect than traditional VPNs?"
type: "faq"
url: "https://docs.spur.us/knowledgebase/faqs/why-are-residential-proxies-more-difficult-to-detect-than-traditional-vpns"
category: "Anonymizing Infrastructure"
product: "general"
publishedAt: "2026-08-07T15:06:00.000Z"
updatedAt: "2026-08-12T19:30:30Z"
---

# Why are residential proxies more difficult to detect than traditional VPNs?

Residential proxies route traffic through real consumer internet connections, causing activity to appear as if it originates from legitimate users. Because the IP addresses belong to trusted ISPs rather than known hosting providers, traditional reputation and geolocation controls are often less effective.