PacketStream Review – Can You Really Make Money Selling Your Bandwidth?

One of the weirdest passive income ideas I've ever come across on WebMonkey is selling your internet bandwidth for extra cash.

Companies like Fluidstack let you turn your computer and network into an extra source of income by harnessing your computing power.

Similarly, Honeygain lets you make money by selling extra bandwidth through your smartphone or computer.

Now, there's actually plenty of other companies in this space, with one of the most popular ones being PacketStream.

So, if you want to learn how to make money with this residential proxy network, be sure to read our PacketStrea review until the end!

Want Other Easy Passive Income Ideas? Checkout:

• Nielsen Mobile & Computer Panel: Earn $50+ per year for sharing your data.
• Swagbucks: Lets you earn gift cards and PayPal cash by watching ads, playing games, and more!

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What Is PacketStream?

Packetstream is a residential proxy network that's powered by peer-to-peer sharing.

In simple terms, this means Packetstream lets people and companies use the internet from different IP addresses by accessing a network of nodes in their network.

So, on PacketStream, you either buy extra bandwidth to use the internet from different IP addresses, kind of like a VPN.

In contrast, you can sell your bandwidth on PacketStream, letting people from around the world use your bandwidth.

You might be wondering: why would people ever need to use my internet? What's wrong with their provider?

Well, some common reasons people want to use PacketStream include:

• Bypassing Geographic Content Restrictions, This is similar to using a VPN.
• Verifying Content. Companies like Google check to make sure content appears the same for every user around the world and that webmasters aren't doing anything shady.
• Social Media Marketing. Useful for finding local insights.
• Brand Protection. Companies check for copyright infringements but often do this at a geo-specific level.
• Price Comparison. You can sometimes save money when shopping online by comparing prices across different states/countries since some companies use dynamic pricing!

So, these are the main reasons people would want to buy PacketStream's services.

Plus, since PacketStream uses residential IP addresses rather than a VPN's network, the IP addresses haven't been flagged by companies like Netflix or other websites, so you can access content a VPN service might normally get you banned for trying.

According to its website, PacketStream has over 7 million residential IP addresses and 5,000+ clients, so clearly, this platform is in demand!

However, in our PacketStream review, we're going to dive into how you can make money online with this company and if it's worth your time.

How Does PacketStream Work?

If you want to sell your extra bandwidth with PacketStream, getting started is quite simple!

1. Sign Up

The first step in making money with PacketStream is just to sign up as a ‘Packeter.”

The sign up form just asks for your username, email, and password.

That's all there is to it; no need for a Facebook account or anything payment information to just check out how PacketStream works.

2. Download the PacketSTream App

Like other bandwidth sharing companies, you have to download some software to start making money with PacketStream.

Currently, the PacketStream app works with:

• Windows
• Mac
• Linux (requires Docker)

You have to download the app to start using PacketStream since this is how you get integrated as a residential proxy node and actually let people use your IP address.

The app is under 100MB.

3. Run PacketStream

All you have to do to begin making money is to open the PacketStream client and begin sharing your internet.

Now, just because you open the program, doesn't mean your internet is going to get swarmed with requests and bandwidth consumption.

How much bandwidth people use largely depends on where you live since PacketStream clients typically want to use the internet from a specific country or region.

Typically, North America has the most demand for bandwidth, so your earnings will be highest here. Europe and Asia are also alright.

4. Make Money

According to PacketStream, you earn $0.10 for every Gigabyte (GB) of data you sell on the platform.

A $0.10 payment per GB is pretty competitive, although if you have a powerful Linux setup, you'll probably make more money with a company like Fluidstack.

In any case, if you have unlimited internet and sold 50GB per month, you would earn an additional $5…not very much, but a humble source of beermoney basically.

But, if you can get into a few hundred GBs per month, you're looking at $10 to $50 or more…so hopefully there's demand in your area!

5. Cash Out

PacketStream lets you cash out once you reach $5, and a 3% transaction fee also applies.

You can only cash out with PayPal; no free gift cards, Stripe payments, or direct deposits with this company.

Honestly, PayPal cash is the best reward possible with these sorts of websites, although the 3% fee is a bit annoying.

How Much Does PacketSteam Pay?

Alright, time for our PacketStream review to get to some numbers.

The truth is that many users don't make much money with PacketStream since they can't sell enough bandwidth.

Again, this largely comes down to where you live and how often you run the client.

If you do some searching on Reddit, you'll find posts like this quite often, where this Reddit user states they only earn a few pennies per day:

I did a lot more searching online, and I also found some payment proof from other Reddit users that had a bit more luck with PacketStream.

In this screenshot, you can see this user earned $8.84 with PacketStream.

This user said it took 3 weeks to earn $8.84 and that they run the client 24/7 in the background.

So, I think PacketStream has an earning potential of basically $0 to maybe $10 to $15 per month depending how lucky you get.

If you bundle this with other passive income apps like Mobile Performance Meter and UpVoice, your earnings can add up.

However, as a standalone earner, I wouldn't expect to quit your day job anytime soon!

But, as with any passive income idea, you have to have realistic expectations and test what works best in your area.

Extra Reading – How To Make $200 A Month.

Is PacketStream Safe?

PacketStream is a safe platform that lets you sell your extra internet to make money. And the company uses numerous protocols to ensure customers use the internet correctly and aren't doing anything illegal on you IP. However, I still think there are some risks to using websites like PacketStream.

One of the main concerns people have about companies like PacketStream is that you're letting other companies and people use your IP address to access the internet.

Personally, this is why I stopped this side hustle category after trying apps like Honeygain temporarily.

To me, the effort and risk isn't worth the extra cash, so I advise you to really consider how much some extra beermoney is worth to you.

Now, in fairness, here's PacketStream's response regarding how they ensure security for residential proxy IPs:

In other words, PacketStream states:

• They filter all IP requests/internet usage first
• Accounts engaging in illegal activity get deleted
• IP address activity can't result in you getting charged with something (I don't fully understand how it works in every country so do the research).

This sounds like a decent process, and it's reassuring that their servers review IP requests first before you have to handle them.

Although, after more searching on Reddit, some users also complain about getting banned from their favorite GPT sites after selling internet with companies like PacketStream.

Additionally, there are still concerns over some PacketStream customers using the platform for some somewhat sketchy behavior:

So, all in all, here are my thoughts.

I think PacketStream can let you make money on autopilot without any effort, which is pretty cool.

However, I personally stay away from any side hustle idea that requires sharing my IP address, and I recommend thinking about all of the pros and cons before using any company that requires sharing your IP with others.

If you make a lot of money with micro task websites, I'd also avoid this niche money-maker since there's a chance some GPT sites ban your IP from what I've read on Reddit.

Is PacketStream Legit?

PacketStream is a legit website that pays you for selling your internet as part of a residential proxy network. However, some users report getting banned from their favorite survey sites after using PacketStream. Ultimately, I think you need to decide if the extra bit of income is worth any of the potential risks.

Pros & Cons

If you're still on the fence about making money with PacketStream, here are some pros and cons to consider:

The Pros:

• Completely passive income
• Cash out for free PayPal cash
• Low cash out requirement
• Decent referral program if you sign up with some friends

The Cons:

• Earning potential can be low or extremely variable
• Security and privacy concerns have been voiced on Reddit
• Potential to get banned from GPT sites

Ultimately, do some thinking and consider if you want to sell your IP address to others or not!

Other PacketStream Reviews

One great way to tell if a side hustle is worth using or not is to see what other users have to say about it and their experiences.

In this PacketStream review,  YouTuber TechHustler explains how the website works, how much traffic he was able to sell, and his total earnings from the platform.

In the review, he explains how PacketStream isn't going to make you rich, but he is able to still earn some easy passive income with the website without any effort.

The Best Apps & Websites Like PacketStream

Personally, I'm not going to use PacketStream, Honeygain, or similar apps at the moment since I'm traveling and also don't think they pay enough to justify some of the risks.

Thankfully, there are tons of other passive income apps and websites you can use to still get paid to do nothing!

Some of my favorite PakcetStream alternatives include:

• Nielsen Panel: Earn up to $50 per year for sharing your data!
• Cash Magnet: Turn your phone into an autosurfing device and earn passive income.
• MobileXpression: Share you data and get free gift cards every month.
• Pogo: Automatically earn small amounts of cash for sharing your purchase data.

Again, you can use apps like PacketStream, Honeygain, and others to sell you internet for cash. But I personally prefer other types of passive side hustles that don't let people use your internet.

Frequently Asked Questions

I wanted to also include a section with some common questions about PacketStream in case you want to try out this platform for yourself.

1. How Many Devices Can I Use?

You can use the same PacketStream account across as many computers as you want.

However, according to PacketStream: “If all the computers are connected to the same network then there is a chance of diminishing returns for your earnings as a Packeter. Because unique IP addresses are compensated more you may not see a “linear” growth in the amount of revenue earned per computer within the same network.”

2. What IP Addresses Can I Use/Sell?

You can use the following types of IPs:

• Residential
• Mobile
• Cafe
• School
• Portable Hotspot

PacketStream also states business, library, and datacenter/hosting IPs are going to be supported in the future.

3. What Countries Does PacketStream Work In?

From what I've read, people sell internet with PacketStream from over 110 countries.

However, your hourly earnings are also inflluenced by where you live, so keep this in mind.

4. What Is The PacketStream Referral Program?

PacketStream's referral program pays you 20% of whatever your referrals earn for their entire time on the platform.

Final Thoughts

At the end of the day, I love covering weird ways to make money on WebMonkey.

However, I've only experimented with selling my internet for a brief period of time before abandoning this side hustle.

Honestly, if I was still phone farming and back in college, I'd probably YOLO my student house or resident building's IP address just to earn some extra beermoney.

But, now that I'm working and making money with other online ideas, I personally won't be trying any IP-sharing side hustles moving forwards.

I think PacketStream is a legit company, and depending where you live, it can be a fun source of extra income for you.

If you think about it, the company is also incentivized to keep their IPs clean; otherwise, everyone would get banned/ISP complaints and the company wouldn't have any suppliers, so I think it's a case of being mostly clean and maybe a few bad apples slipping through sometimes.

But, like I said, this isn't the side hustle for me.

Whatever you decide, consider all of the pros and cons, do your research, and make the decision that's best for you.

I try to keep my reviews here objective, especially when I haven't dived fully into a side hustle, so again, do what's right for you! Hopefully, my PacketStream review helps make the decision easier.

If you're looking for other passive income ideas, I also suggest reading my post on things you can rent out for profit!