Rotating Proxies

Static proxies work for account management. Rotating proxies work for scraping. The IP changes automatically to avoid rate limits and bans. Here's how to configure rotation.

What Are Rotating Proxies?

Regular proxies give you one IP address. Rotating proxies give you access to a pool of IPs that cycle automatically.

Each request can use a different IP. Or you can stick to one IP for a session then rotate.

This prevents:

• Rate limiting (sites limit requests per IP)
• IP bans (scraping too fast from one IP)
• Connection tracking (sites correlate activity by IP)
• Geographic blocks (rotate through different regions)

Rotation Methods

Two main rotation strategies: session-based and time-based.

Session-Based Rotation

You get one IP for the entire browser session. Close the browser. Reopen. New IP.

How it works:

1. Launch profile → Proxy assigns IP from pool
2. All requests during session use that IP
3. Close profile → IP returned to pool
4. Launch again → New IP assigned

Advantages:

• Session consistency - same IP throughout session
• No mid-session IP changes that break logins
• Sites see normal user behavior
• Perfect for account management

Use cases:

• Managing social media accounts
• E-commerce seller accounts
• Ad account management
• Any platform tracking device persistence

This is the default mode for most residential proxy providers.

Time-Based Rotation

IP changes every X minutes while browser stays open.

Common intervals:

• 5 minutes: Aggressive rotation for fast scraping
• 10 minutes: Balanced for moderate scraping
• 30 minutes: Conservative for account work

Advantages:

• Can scrape for hours without IP bans
• Distribute load across many IPs
• Bypass hourly rate limits

Disadvantages:

• Mid-session IP changes break some sites
• Logged-in sessions might get kicked
• Sites detect suspicious IP hopping

Use cases:

• Price monitoring across thousands of pages
• Large-scale web scraping
• Data extraction projects
• Bypassing strict rate limits

Sticky Sessions

Sticky sessions keep the same IP for a set duration even with time-based rotation.

Example: 10-minute sticky sessions.

1. First request → Get IP 1.2.3.4
2. All requests for next 10 minutes use 1.2.3.4
3. After 10 minutes → Rotate to new IP 5.6.7.8
4. Next 10 minutes all use 5.6.7.8

Implementation:

Most residential proxy providers use session IDs in the username:

username: your-username-session-abc123
password: your-password

Same session ID = same IP. Change session ID = rotate to new IP.

To force rotation:

• Change session ID in username
• Or wait for timeout period

Configuring Rotation in Multilogin

Rotation happens at the proxy provider level, not in Multilogin. We just route traffic through your proxy.

For session-based rotation:

1. Use provider's rotating residential endpoint
2. Don't include session ID in username
3. Each profile launch gets a random IP

Example: Bright Data rotating endpoint:

Protocol: HTTP
Host: brd.superproxy.io
Port: 22225
Username: brd-customer-yourID
Password: yourPassword

For sticky sessions:

1. Add session ID to proxy username
2. Multilogin remembers proxy config per profile
3. Same profile = same session ID = same IP (until timeout)

Example with 30-minute sticky session:

Username: brd-customer-yourID-session-profile001
Password: yourPassword

Each profile gets a unique session ID. Profile 1 uses "profile001", Profile 2 uses "profile002".

IP Pool Management

Residential proxy pools typically have millions of IPs. But you can narrow the pool:

Geographic Filtering:

Username: user-country-us
Username: user-country-us-city-newyork

ISP Filtering:

Username: user-carrier-verizon

ASN Targeting:

Username: user-asn-7922

Check your proxy provider's documentation for exact syntax.

Monitoring Rotation

Check if rotation is working:

1. Launch profile → Visit whatismyipaddress.com → Note IP
2. Close profile → Relaunch → Visit again → Check if IP changed
3. If IP same = not rotating, check proxy config
4. If IP changed = rotation working

Your proxy provider dashboard shows:

• Number of unique IPs used
• Current active sessions
• IP rotation statistics
• Bandwidth per IP

Rotation Best Practices

For account management:

• Use session-based rotation only
• One profile = one proxy = one IP per session
• Don't rotate IPs mid-session
• Keep same IP for days/weeks if possible

For web scraping:

• Start with 10-minute sticky sessions
• Reduce to 5 minutes if hitting rate limits
• Increase to 30 minutes if getting "suspicious activity" blocks
• Monitor ban rates and adjust

For automation:

• Match rotation to site's rate limit window
• If limit is 100 req/hour, rotate every 30-60 minutes
• If limit is 1000 req/day, session-based is fine