PacketStream

PacketStream is an American proxy provider established in 2018 by Ronald Bell that created one of the first bandwidth sharing marketplaces. The provider offers residential proxies as its only product, sourced from people who voluntarily share their bandwidth by installing the PacketStream app. PacketStream advertises seven million IPs covering over 100 countries, though the pool has been consistently dropping and is now nearly 70% smaller than in 2022. The provider offers rotation on every connection request or to keep the same IP until the source goes offline, with unlimited threads and ports as long as there's traffic available. PacketStream uses gateway servers to route requests through end user devices, supporting HTTP, HTTPS, and SOCKS5 protocols with user:pass authentication. The provider uses a pay-as-you-go model charging $1 per GB of traffic, though you must buy at least 50 GB at a time. PacketStream has experienced serious issues with overcounting traffic use by eight to ten times since December 2022, which still wasn't fixed over a year later. The provider offers a simple dashboard for both traffic sellers and proxy users, though it lacks usage reports and quick access to customer service. PacketStream provides basic documentation including code samples, FAQ, and setup instructions, though there's no start guide or troubleshooting. The provider offers email-only support with average response times of 12-24 hours, though it claims 24/7 support. PacketStream is considered lean with impressive pricing but seems to be on life support with serious issues affecting its proxy pool and customer service.