Research note
Proxy: How Not to Get Caught by the Jade Leader. A Guide to Choosing a Proxy
This is a story about how to keep your data safe even under the gaze of the All-Seeing Eye.
Turtle Wei Xi and her neighbors are forbidden to use the Internet — the All-Seeing Eye wants to control every move of its subjects. Wei Xi knows very well that it is better not to cover tracks but to leave no trace — especially when it comes to the Jade Leader's close supervision. That's why she became a proxy expert.
Now she helps the other turtles go about their normal lives in a way that keeps them out of exile: working, scrolling through social media, getting any information from the internet.
The Essence of Proxy Servers
Proxies are intermediary servers between your computer and an external site you need to access.
A proxy does not connect you directly to a link — the server intercepts the connection and updates the content of the request, removing the incoming IP. HTTP proxies change the header, while SOCKS proxies redirect network traffic over a TCP connection. The web page then assumes that the request came from another computer and sends the data to the proxy instead of to you.
The data is sent to you only after the proxy server verifies it.
Users without a technical background are most comfortable using proxy services. Wei Xi started researching the market: by looking at ISPs' websites and reading studies. Here's what she found out:
Old-timer services are increasing their money turnover, while newcomers are growing their staff.
Competition between services is growing — yesterday's newcomers are becoming full-fledged competitors on the market.
Companies expand the range of services to offer them to a wider audience. Proxy providers are growing into ecosystems, for example, BrightData and Oxylabs provide not only proxies but also scrapers.
Wei Xi broke down the situations faced by her turtle neighbors and made a selection of the best proxies for them.
Situation 1: An SMM newbie trying to work in social media
Pei Ha has decided to take up SMM: now he has to hide from Jade Leader's watchful eye to surf social networks and post content daily. He is skeptical about proxies: his salary is only enough for a bowl of rice, and he can't pay for expensive tariffs.
For this case, Wei Xi offered several proxy options:
Asocks. With this service it is convenient to create accounts for maintaining channels — you need to pay only for the traffic used. If you disable autoloading of images and videos in the browser, you can save additional traffic. Pei Ha chose this option to avoid spending too much.
IPRoyal. It protects mail from data leakage if you have an NDA signed with your clients. You can use one IP-address for up to 7 days and not have to log in to all accounts every time.
Proxy6.net. It performs the same functions as Asocks and IPRoyal, but the price is way lower. You can also buy a single port: a perfect option when you're a week away from payday.
Asocks | IPRoyal | Proxy6.net |
- No need to communicate with tech support to pass identification. | - You only have to pay for the used traffic. - You can create sticky sessions with one IP address for up to 7 days. | - You can rent an IP address for a period of 3 days or more. |
Resident proxies are slower than mobile proxies. | Targeting by city is questionable, with few locations for mobile IP addresses. | Sometimes the service may not give the ordered geolocation. Sometimes the connection is interrupted, and there are blocked addresses. |
1 GB of traffic costs $3. Customers do not pay for the tariff plan but for the traffic consumed. | From $7 for 1GB with no monthly fees required. | From 2.88 ₽ per IPv6 port. The IPv4 port price for one month is 99 ₽. |
Situation 2: A businessman without access to an online store
Tortoise Bao Li has a business: he resells plums in his shop. He is rich and has a hundred turtles on his staff. Bao Li would have started ordering plums from the online store a long time ago and expanding his business, but he's afraid of getting caught by the Turtle Police for using international sites.
Wei Xi suggested that he use Bright Data and Soax services.
Bright Data. Not the most budget-friendly, but a cool proxy. It works stably, and you can use IP addresses of any region. There is a free 7-day trial for companies.
Soax. Suitable for collecting a large amount of data, for example, if you need to collect plum prices from several online stores. The minimum tariff of 15 GB is just what you need on a business scale.
Bright Data | Soax |
- You can buy IP addresses in the desired region. | - Convenient personal cabinet. |
In terms of conditions, it is more suitable for companies because of the high price. | The minimum tariff is as much as 15 GB — the platform is not suitable for small tasks. Due to high prices, Soax is often used by corporations. |
The price for 1 GB of resident proxies is $8.4, and for mobile proxies is $24. There is a free 7-day version for companies: they give 1 GB of data for corporate mail. | You'll have to pay $99 for 15GB of data and 300 ports. |
Situation 3: A student starts her own business
Cheng Ma, the turtle, is a student. She decided to start a small business — a shell jewelry brand. Cheng Ma has opened an online store, but due to restrictions, it only works within the lake she lives in. To expand her business, she needs to promote her store on land as well.
Wei Xi suggested trying these services.
Asocks. You can pay only for the traffic consumed — convenient for one-time tasks. The price is the same for all types of proxies and geolocations: Cheng Ma can work on land and underwater for the same price and not overpay for cool locations.
Proxy-Sale. There are free proxies for simple tasks. You can rent a server for a week or more for reasonable money.
SmartProxy. As in Asocks, you can pay for the traffic consumed instead of buying a monthly tariff.
Proxy-Seller. You can rent a server for a week.
Asocks | Proxy-Sale | SmartProxy | Proxy-Seller |
- Free targeting on ASN. | - More than 10 million IP addresses are constantly being added. | - It is easy to set up yourself, you don't need to write to tech support for this. | - Convenient registration: you can authorize via email, Google, Apple, or Telegram. |
No UPD protocol. | Sometimes users complain about the quality since IP geo positions may not match. | Sometimes the service shows incorrect traffic statistics. | Not the most convenient tariffs - you can buy proxies on one tariff only in one country. There are mixed IP tariffs for several countries, but you have to buy from 50 proxies. |
1 GB of traffic costs $3. Customers do not pay for the tariff plan but for the traffic consumed. | One week of IPv4 lease is $0.70. Mobile proxy is available for purchase for two days for $9. 200 Mb of traffic to resident proxies are available to test for $1.99. | There is a pay-per-use plan that costs $8 for 1GB of data. | IPv4 for one week costs $1.07. There is a trial version for three days for $1.99. You can pay by credit card, cryptocurrency, PayPal. |
The Bottom Line
There are many services to suit different needs and capabilities:
Large companies with big budgets are best served by BrightData and Soax. These are reliable proxy providers with stable connections and several tariffs to choose from.
For small tasks, Asocks with payment per traffic consumed is a perfect option — the service will be convenient to use for arbitrage or multi-accounting.
Now Wei Xi's neighbors can not be afraid of Jade Leader's disfavor and use the Internet in peace. If you want to do the same, try Asocks.