With a backconnect proxy you configure one host and port, and the provider decides which address each connection leaves from. Your client settings never change; the rotation happens on the provider's side. Most rotating residential networks work this way, because handing every customer a list of individual consumer addresses, which come and go by the minute, would be unmanageable.
The alternative is a list of per-IP endpoints, where you connect to each address directly and the address you dial is the address the website sees. ProxyHive's ISP and datacenter IPs work that way: each IP is its own endpoint. Residential is a rotating pool; copy its host, port and credentials from your order in the dashboard at https://app.proxyhive.io.
How to see the rotation
The gateway's own address tells you nothing about your exit, so ask an IP echo service through it a few times:
for i in 1 2 3; do
curl -s -x http://USERNAME:PASSWORD@HOST:PORT "https://api.ipify.org?format=json"
echo
done
Three requests through a rotating gateway usually print more than one address. Three requests through a static IP print the same one.
Common confusion
- The gateway is not the exit node. Allowlisting or geolocating the gateway address is meaningless; the target only ever sees the exit.
- Holding one exit is a separate feature. Providers that support a sticky session usually control it through the credentials. For residential session options on a ProxyHive order, see the options on your order in the dashboard.
- Backconnect is plumbing, not a proxy type. The pool behind a gateway can be residential, ISP or datacenter; rotating vs static proxies covers when rotation helps.