Quick answer
How do you check that a UK or EU proxy is really residential or mobile?
Run an ASN lookup on the proxy's exit IP. Read the IP through the proxy, then look up its ASN with ipinfo.io or the free RIPEstat API. Compare the holder with eyeball networks such as BT (AS2856), Sky (AS5607) or Vodafone UK (AS25135). A hosting ASN means a datacenter IP. PontProxy, a no-KYC UK & Europe residential and 4G/5G proxy provider, sells residential IPs from $0.36/GB, paid in crypto.
ASN check: key facts
| What you check | The ASN (autonomous system number) and holder of the proxy's exit IP |
|---|---|
| Free tools | ipinfo.io (works without a token for light use) and the RIPEstat Data API (no key) |
| UK broadband ASNs | AS2856 BT · AS5089 Virgin Media · AS5607 Sky UK · AS13285 TalkTalk |
| UK mobile ASNs | EE via AS2856 (BT) · Vodafone AS25135 · O2 AS35228 and AS29180 · Three AS206067 and AS60339 |
| Outdated ASN | AS12576 "EE Limited" is registered but not announced (RIPEstat, 5 October 2026) |
| Datacenter signal | Hosting ASNs such as AS16509 (Amazon), AS24940 (Hetzner) or AS16276 (OVH) |
| Mobile IP sharing | Carrier-grade NAT (CGNAT): many subscribers share one public IPv4 address (RFC 6888) |
| PontProxy targeting | country, city and ISP/ASN targeting included at no extra cost |
| KYC and payment | No KYC — no ID, no selfie, no documents. Pay in crypto. |
How do you check if a proxy IP is residential or mobile?
You check the network that owns the IP, not the IP itself. Every public IP sits in a prefix announced by one autonomous system, identified by its ASN. Home broadband IPs sit in ISP networks such as BT or Sky. Mobile IPs sit in operator networks such as Vodafone or Three. Datacenter IPs sit in hosting networks such as Amazon or OVH.
The check takes four requests and a few minutes. You need curl or Python, plus your proxy username and password from the quickstart guide.
How to run an ASN check, step by step
Get the exit IP through the proxy
Send one request through the proxy to an IP echo service such as
https://ipinfo.io/json. Theipfield is the address websites see. Do not look up the gateway hostname: it is the entry point, not the exit IP.Look up the ASN and holder
ipinfo returns an
orgfield such asAS2856 British Telecommunications Limited. For a second opinion, ask RIPEstat which ASN announces the prefix (network-info), then read the holder name (as-overview).Compare with known eyeball ASNs
Match the ASN against the UK and EU tables below. An ISP or mobile operator ASN is consistent with a residential or mobile IP. A hosting or cloud ASN means a datacenter IP.
Check the prefix and the registry record
Some operators announce fixed and mobile ranges from one ASN. BT's AS2856 also announces EE mobile prefixes, so read the prefix and the RIPE
netname, for exampleEE-MOBILE.Repeat on several sessions
Rotate the IP and repeat the check 10 to 20 times. One clean result proves little. A consistent pattern across sessions shows what the pool really contains.
# USER format: USERNAME-country-{cc}-city-{city}-session-{id}-ttl-{minutes}
# Exit IP, country and ASN as websites see them (HTTP gateway)
curl -s -x "http://USER:[email protected]:7777" https://ipinfo.io/json
# Same check over SOCKS5; socks5h lets the proxy resolve DNS
curl -s -x "socks5h://USER:[email protected]:7778" https://ipinfo.io/json
# Only the ASN and holder
curl -s -x "http://USER:[email protected]:7777" https://ipinfo.io/org
# Example answer for an EE mobile IP (31.94.76.1):
# AS2856 British Telecommunications Limited# Which prefix and ASN contain this IP? (replace it with your exit IP)
curl -s "https://stat.ripe.net/data/network-info/data.json?resource=31.94.76.1"
# -> "data": {"asns": ["2856"], "prefix": "31.94.0.0/16"}
# Who holds that ASN, and is it announced on the internet?
curl -s "https://stat.ripe.net/data/as-overview/data.json?resource=AS2856"
# -> "holder": "BT-UK-AS British Telecommunications Limited", "announced": true
# RIPE registry record for the range (look for netname)
curl -s "https://stat.ripe.net/data/whois/data.json?resource=31.94.76.1"
# -> {"key": "netname", "value": "EE-MOBILE"}# asn_check.py: print the exit IP, ASN and holder of a proxy
# pip install requests (pip install "requests[socks]" for socks5h)
import requests
# USER format: USERNAME-country-{cc}-city-{city}-session-{id}-ttl-{minutes}
PROXY = "http://USER:[email protected]:7777"
RIPESTAT = "https://stat.ripe.net/data"
UK_EYEBALL = {
2856: "BT (fixed) / EE (mobile)", 5089: "Virgin Media", 5607: "Sky UK",
13285: "TalkTalk", 25135: "Vodafone UK (mobile)", 35228: "O2 UK",
29180: "O2 UK", 206067: "Three UK", 60339: "Three UK",
}
# 1. Exit IP, fetched through the proxy
ip = requests.get("https://ipinfo.io/ip",
proxies={"http": PROXY, "https": PROXY}, timeout=20).text.strip()
# 2. Prefix and origin ASN, fetched directly from RIPEstat
net = requests.get(f"{RIPESTAT}/network-info/data.json",
params={"resource": ip}, timeout=20).json()["data"]
asn = int(net["asns"][0]) if net["asns"] else None
# 3. Holder name of that ASN
holder = None
if asn:
holder = requests.get(f"{RIPESTAT}/as-overview/data.json",
params={"resource": f"AS{asn}"}, timeout=20).json()["data"]["holder"]
print(f"IP: {ip}")
print(f"Prefix: {net['prefix']}")
print(f"ASN: AS{asn}")
print(f"Holder: {holder}")
print(f"Match: {UK_EYEBALL.get(asn, 'not in the UK eyeball list - check the holder')}")Which ASNs belong to UK home broadband and mobile networks?
These are the main UK eyeball ASNs, the networks that serve homes and phones. We checked every holder name and announcement status with RIPEstat on 5 October 2026. We do not list IP counts, because IP databases disagree on them.
| ASN | Holder (RIPEstat) | Network | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| AS2856 | BT-UK-AS British Telecommunications Limited | BT broadband; EE mobile | Also originates EE mobile prefixes such as 31.94.0.0/16 and 149.254.0.0/16 |
| AS5089 | NTL Virgin Media Limited | Virgin Media broadband | Home broadband |
| AS5607 | BSKYB-BROADBAND-AS Sky UK Limited | Sky broadband | Home broadband |
| AS13285 | OPALTELECOM-AS TalkTalk Communications Limited | TalkTalk broadband | Home broadband |
| AS25135 | vodafone_uk_asn Vodafone Limited | Vodafone UK mobile | Originates the mobile range 212.183.128.0/20 |
| AS35228 | O2BROADBAND Telefonica UK Limited | O2 UK | Telefonica UK, the O2 company within Virgin Media O2 |
| AS29180 | O2-ONLINE-AS Telefonica UK Limited | O2 UK | Originates 82.132.128.0/22, among others |
| AS206067 | H3GUK Hutchison 3G UK Limited | Three UK mobile | Three is part of VodafoneThree (Vodafone and Three UK, merged 31 May 2025) |
| AS60339 | H3GUK Hutchison 3G UK Limited | Three UK mobile | Second Three UK ASN |
Why do some guides list AS12576 as EE's ASN?
Because AS12576 is still registered to "EE Limited", but it is not announced on the internet. RIPEstat returned "announced": false for AS12576 on 5 October 2026. EE mobile prefixes such as 31.90.0.0/15, 31.94.0.0/16 and 149.254.0.0/16 are originated by AS2856, BT's network. Guides that still name AS12576 as EE's ASN are out of date.
In practice, an EE mobile IP shows AS2856 and a BT holder name. To tell EE mobile from BT broadband, read the prefix and the RIPE netname. The range 31.94.0.0/16, for example, carries the netname EE-MOBILE. See our EE proxy page for EE ports.
Which ASNs belong to the main ISPs in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy and Poland?
The table lists the main consumer ISP and mobile operator ASNs in six EU markets. Holder names come from RIPEstat (as-overview, 5 October 2026). Many operators carry fixed and mobile users on the same ASN, so confirm the prefix and netname when the network type matters.
| Country | ASN | Holder (RIPEstat) | Brand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | AS3320 | DTAG Deutsche Telekom AG | Telekom |
| Germany | AS3209 | VODANET Vodafone GmbH | Vodafone |
| Germany | AS6805 | TDDE-ASN1 Telefonica Germany GmbH & Co.OHG | o2 |
| Germany | AS8881 | VERSATEL 1&1 Versatel GmbH | 1&1 |
| France | AS3215 | AS3215 Orange S.A. | Orange |
| France | AS15557 | LDCOMNET Societe Francaise Du Radiotelephone - SFR SA | SFR |
| France | AS5410 | BOUYGTEL-ISP Bouygues Telecom SA | Bouygues Telecom |
| France | AS12322 | PROXAD Free SAS | Free |
| Netherlands | AS1136 | KPN KPN B.V. | KPN |
| Netherlands | AS50266 | Odido Odido Netherlands B.V. | Odido |
| Netherlands | AS33915 | TNF-AS Vodafone Libertel B.V. | VodafoneZiggo |
| Spain | AS3352 | Telefonica_de_EspaNa TELEFONICA DE ESPANA S.A.U. | Movistar |
| Spain | AS12479 | UNI2-AS Orange Espagne SA | Orange (MasOrange) |
| Spain | AS12430 | VODAFONE_ES VODAFONE ESPANA S.A.U. | Vodafone |
| Spain | AS57269 | DIGI-ES DIGI SPAIN TELECOM S.A | Digi |
| Italy | AS3269 | ASN-IBSNAZ Telecom Italia S.p.A. | TIM |
| Italy | AS30722 | VODAFONE-IT-ASN Fastweb SpA | Fastweb, ex-Vodafone Italia |
| Italy | AS1267 | ASN-WINDTRE WIND TRE S.P.A. | WindTre |
| Poland | AS5617 | TPNET Orange Polska Spolka Akcyjna | Orange |
| Poland | AS12912 | TMPL T-Mobile Polska S.A. | T-Mobile |
| Poland | AS39603 | P4NET P4 Sp. z o.o. | Play |
| Poland | AS8374 | PLUSNET Polkomtel Sp. z o.o. | Plus |
What is CGNAT, and why do many users share one mobile IP?
CGNAT (carrier-grade NAT) lets an operator put many subscribers behind one public IPv4 address. Each phone or modem gets a private address. A NAT in the operator's network translates its traffic to a shared public address and port. RFC 6888 sets the requirements for these devices, and RFC 6598 reserves 100.64.0.0/10 as shared address space for them.
Address sharing changes how websites can treat an IP. Cloudflare wrote in October 2025 that one IPv4 address "may represent hundreds or even thousands of users" behind CGNAT. Blocking that address also blocks every real user behind it. RFC 6269 describes this collateral damage for login limits and blocklists.
This is a mechanism, not a guarantee. The same Cloudflare study found that CGNAT IPs are rate-limited three times more often than other IPs. A mobile IP can still be challenged or blocked, especially after heavy automated use.
You will never see a 100.64.x.x address in an exit-IP check. That range exists only inside the operator's network. A modem may show it as its own WAN address, while websites see the shared public IP.
How do datacenter, residential and mobile IPs look in a lookup?
No single field proves the IP type. Read several signals together.
| Signal | Datacenter | Residential | Mobile (4G/5G) |
|---|---|---|---|
| ASN type on ipinfo | Hosting | ISP | ISP (mobile operator) |
| Typical holders | Amazon AS16509, Hetzner AS24940, OVH AS16276, DigitalOcean AS14061 | BT, Sky, Virgin Media, TalkTalk | EE (via BT AS2856), Vodafone, O2, Three |
| RIPE netname | Usually a hosting or cloud name | Usually the ISP's name | Sometimes names the mobile service, e.g. EE-MOBILE |
| Users per public IP | One server or customer | Usually one household | Often many subscribers behind CGNAT |
| How the IP changes | Rarely | When the router reconnects or the lease changes | When the modem reconnects or is told to rotate |
| At PontProxy | Not sold | From $0.36/GB | From $1.50/GB rotating, or $4.50/day per dedicated port |
ISP proxies (static residential) are a special case. The IP is registered to an ISP, but the server sits in a data centre. An ASN check shows the ISP holder, so it cannot tell the two apart.
What are the limits of an ASN check?
An ASN check tells you who owns the network. It cannot tell you everything:
- It names the network, not the device. It shows that an IP belongs to BT or Vodafone, not how a provider gained access to the line behind it.
- Databases disagree. ipinfo, RIPEstat and other sources can show different holder names or locations for one IP. RIPEstat's
network-inforeflects routing data from RIPE RIS. - Shared IPs are not proof of mobile. Some fixed-line ISPs also use CGNAT.
- City data is an estimate. Geolocation comes from IP databases and can be wrong for a given IP.
- A consumer ASN does not prove ethical sourcing. IPs from infected home devices also show consumer ISP ASNs. Ask providers how they source IPs; our answer is on the sourcing page.
How does this apply to PontProxy proxies?
You can run this check on any PontProxy IP before you rely on it. PontProxy, a no-KYC UK & Europe residential and 4G/5G proxy provider, offers country, city and ISP/ASN targeting included at no extra cost. UK residential ISPs include BT, Sky, Virgin Media and TalkTalk. Dedicated 4G/5G ports run on EE, Vodafone, O2 and Three, and carrier choice included at no surcharge.
If a dedicated port does not match the carrier you chose, email [email protected]. Our refund terms: unused residential or rotating-mobile traffic credited back to your balance within 7 days of purchase; a dedicated port that does not work as described credited back within 24 hours; balance itself is never refunded. See pricing for current plans, UK residential proxies and UK mobile proxies for coverage.
ASN check: frequently asked questions
What is an ASN?
An ASN (autonomous system number) identifies a network that routes its own block of IP addresses on the internet. Regional registries such as the RIPE NCC assign them. For example, BT uses AS2856 and Vodafone UK's mobile network uses AS25135. Looking up the ASN of a proxy's exit IP shows which operator owns that address. It is the quickest way to tell residential, mobile and datacenter IPs apart.
Which ASN does EE use?
EE mobile IPs are originated by AS2856, BT's network, as of October 2026. RIPEstat shows EE prefixes such as 31.94.0.0/16 and 149.254.0.0/16 announced by AS2856. AS12576, registered to "EE Limited", is not announced, so a lookup will not return it. To separate EE mobile from BT broadband, check the prefix and the RIPE netname, such as EE-MOBILE.
Can a datacenter IP pass an ASN check as residential?
Not in a normal lookup. Datacenter IPs belong to hosting ASNs such as AS16509 (Amazon) or AS24940 (Hetzner), and ipinfo labels them as hosting. The exception is the ISP proxy, also called static residential. Its IP is registered to an ISP but runs on a server. An ASN check shows the ISP, so you need other signals, such as how the IP behaves over time.
Why does my mobile proxy IP change?
Mobile operators assign public IPs dynamically, and a modem often gets a new shared address when it reconnects. On a dedicated PontProxy port you control the change: a new IP on demand by link or API, or automatically on a timer. Each new IP should still show the same operator ASN, such as AS25135 for Vodafone UK. If a new IP shows an unrelated network, email [email protected] with the IP and time.
Is ipinfo.io free to use for this check?
Yes, for light use. A request to ipinfo.io/json returns the IP, country and an org field with the ASN and holder, without a token. For regular or automated use, check ipinfo's current limits and use an access token. RIPEstat's Data API is also free and needs no key. It returns the prefix, the originating ASN and the registered holder.
Does a residential ASN prove an IP was sourced ethically?
No. An ASN shows which network owns an IP, not how a proxy provider gained access to the line or device behind it. IPs from infected home devices also show consumer ISP ASNs. Ask every provider how it sources IPs and whether users consent. PontProxy explains its approach on its sourcing page, and its rules in the Acceptable Use Policy.
Test a UK or EU IP yourself
Buy 1 GB for $0.95 (paid from a $25 minimum top-up; the rest stays on your balance — never expires, non-refundable), run the ASN check, then scale up. No KYC — no ID, no selfie, no documents. Pay in crypto.
Sources (10)
- RIPEstat Data API: network-info endpoint — RIPE NCC (2026-10-05)
- RIPEstat as-overview for AS12576 ("announced": false) — RIPE NCC (2026-10-05)
- RIPEstat network-info for 31.94.76.1 (prefix 31.94.0.0/16, AS2856) — RIPE NCC (2026-10-05)
- RIPEstat network-info for 212.183.128.1 (prefix 212.183.128.0/20, AS25135) — RIPE NCC (2026-10-05)
- AS2856 British Telecommunications Limited — IPinfo (2026-10-05)
- RFC 6598: IANA-Reserved IPv4 Prefix for Shared Address Space — IETF (2012-04)
- RFC 6888: Common Requirements for Carrier-Grade NATs (CGNs) — IETF (2013-04)
- RFC 6269: Issues with IP Address Sharing — IETF (2011-06)
- Detecting CGN to reduce collateral damage — Cloudflare (2025-10-29)
- VodafoneThree — Wikipedia (2026-10-05)