Sure...according to Google themselves (and multiple other search engines), there is absolutely no difference between IP-based hosting and virtual/shared IP hosting. The whole Class C IP thing has been debunked by the search engine folk many times over. Multiple IPs have absolutely no connection to SEO, or ranking. These myths have made SEO hosts wealthy, and that's about it. In fact, most of the SEO stuff out there is pure crap. Save the money you would spend on hundreds of IP addresses and work on your site's content and making it a popular site. That's what will improve your SEO.
I agree and would avoid anyone that says different as they will try to take advantage of your lack of knowledge.
Class C IP's won't help you with your SEO. Instead try more traditional methods like backlinking, blog commenting, social bookmarking, guest blogging and custom content creation for your own site which people will like and link to naturally.
I agree that for SEO purposes it is useless. even sometimes it could harm your websites, sure if you aren't going to use black hat
It seems to me aseohosting services will be the best way out for you, the OP. They provide stable services at competitive rates. Uptime is high.