The Ultimate Guide On The Best Ways To Test Proxies In 2022
This article shares the best practices from experienced users that will become handy the next time you use proxies. This article also explains the best ways to test proxies, including the parameters you should consider. It also provides you with all the tested and thus reliable tools to use, regardless of their complexity, ensuring you are anonymous and can access whatever sites you need.
Guru Insights on the Best Proxy Solutions
The use of proxies can protect your personal information by hiding your unique IP address. They are also used to geo-target particular countries and overcome access restrictions.
Today, there are many proxy providers you might want to try. The primary idea behind using proxies is not to fail in leaking your original IP address and avoid being banned by sites you access. Also, using proxies to perform specific tasks can be slower than usual with unreliable ones.
Most companies that need to perform web scraping operations should be 100% sure their proxies run correctly and work effectively. Irrespective of how you found a list of proxies, it is always better to test them before you start using them.
Most providers guarantee 100% satisfaction and offer a money-back guarantee. At the same time, many proxies are active for a limited time, and in many cases, it results in less bandwidth you buy.
In other words, it makes sense to know what you buy since it will save your time, effort, and money in the long-term perspective.
One of the best possible ways to test whether your proxy operates appropriately is using a specific in-house script. In parallel, there are more ways to test proxies and be confident that you don’t need extra technical experience.
3 + 1 Primary Elements You Should Know to Test Proxies
Whenever you need to test proxies, you should consider three primary elements: location, speed, and uptime.
Location
For instance, if you need to access US-only sites, there is no way to use Canadian or UK proxies. Instead, you should take advantage of a US proxy with specific US IPs for whatever location you need.
Some require hosting providers in particular countries. However, in reality, you will never find them. For this reason, it makes sense to ensure your location is the one you need.
Speed
Some proxies are pretty slow. It applies merely to shared ones because many people use them simultaneously. For example, you need to perform a web scraping task or purchase anything using a sneaker bot. Such providers will not allow you to complete such operations.
As a result, it will take you lots of extra minutes on multiple tasks that usually take seconds. So, make sure you test how fast they are before you purchase them. Besides, the fastest ones are the best.
Uptime
Imagine your proxy has an ideal location and operates as fast as possible, but what about poor uptime. In many cases, you can perform a task, and your proxy could go offline, thus leaking your IP address. Overall, it always includes any other personal information you prefer to keep private.
Many providers claim 99% uptime. However, it is not so for most of them. Therefore, take your time to test-drive your best solution with a minor task. It will allow you to examine the overall performance of the proxy provider and an overall uptime you could have.
Browser
Your browser is one more element you should use to ensure you can test your proxy and be 100% sure it operates fine. In most cases, you set up proxies in your browser to check their activity. The vast majority of users take advantage of Chrome, so you should examine this browser’s settings in more detail.
Top 11 Ways to Test Your Proxies Effectively
Many different tools, databases, scripts, testers, and checkers are there to ensure you use the best proxy to match your needs. The tools below could serve as the steps you can take to test and find the best solutions available. So, we highly recommend using at least some of them:
- Nmap
Nmap is a recommended free network mapping tool to test your options. It requires the proxy’s IP address along with your host provider and some additional characteristics.
The given tester is adjustable since it uses different advanced network mapping procedures. It is a powerful instrument to handle massive proxy networks. Meanwhile, it is an easy-to-use tester that can match your most sophisticated needs.
Nmap is also portable, and it easily supports most desktop operating systems, such as Linux, Windows, Mac OS X, and Solaris. In parallel, you can use it with many other systems, including but not limited to IRIX, FreeBSD, HP-UX, OpenBSD, NetBSD, Amiga, and SunOS.
- Angry IP Scanner
It is a famous, swift, and user-friendly network scanner used by over 29 million people globally. Its primary advantage is that using Angry IP Scanner allows you to export your results in different formats after scanning the proxy’s IPs.
Having the Angry IP Scanner as your proxy test tool can help you collect feedback on uptime, comprising its host region and even ports in use. Its command-line interface will make it easier for you to take advantage of the given tester. Besides, you can add more functions with data fetchers.
It is also crucial that the Angry IP Scanner tool is free and open source. So, you should not install any software. Instead, download the application and use it on Mac, Windows, or Linux operating systems.
- Proxy Verifier
Proxy Verifier belongs to Yahoo Network products, and you can also use it to test HTTPS-based proxies. Besides, it is also an open-source tool you can use to improve testability and reliability.
Proxy Verifier operates in a bi-directional manner. It records traffic to and from your proxy by stimulating client and server computers. In other words, you can test your selected options for specific criteria using this tool.
It has an intuitive dashboard environment for ease of use. So, you can run configuration transactions once and repeatedly based on the number of times you need.
- Oxylabs Proxy Manager
One more accessible way to ensure your proxy runs smoothly is using a manager. It is a perfect match if you need to use different proxies simultaneously, especially when you need to switch between them conveniently.
It is time you should benefit from the Oxylabs Proxy Manager since it is one of the managers you can use quickly and effortlessly to address most of your needs.
- InfobyIP
Proxy Checker is one of the best and most used tools at InfobyIP arsenal. Such a tool can mainly check the availability and anonymity of your proxy server. In addition, it supports both HTTP and SOCKS5 proxies.
It is web-based and straightforward in use. All you should do is specify whether you test HTTP or SOCKS proxy and enter the proxy details in IP-Port format. Besides, the InfobyIP Proxy Checker is a free tool available in different languages.
- Hide My Name
It is the best tester used to inspect different proxies quickly. The Hide My Name Proxy Checker uses intelligent algorithms that examine proxies at 64 threads.
Hidemy.name checker can automatically provide you with a list of proxies based on the website information across the internet. It even collects the data from private databases. So, everything you should do is enter your proxy list in a specific field.
Such a tool can provide you with reports on different parameters, including ping, anonymity, connection, and speed. Afterward, you can easily export your results using flexible settings. For instance, you can filter the parameters you need and get them in an easy-to-use format.
The Hidemy.name checker allows you to check SOCKS, HTTPS, and HTTP proxies. It is freeware with some limitations on advanced features, which you can unlock using a premium subscription.
One of the most essential features of hidemy.name is the level of anonymity. In other words, you can check whether your actual IP address is hidden and whether there are any chances for the destination server to question if you are using the right server.
The anonymity categories of the given tester are as follows:
- No anonymity
The particular server you need to reach knows your actual IP address and that you are using a proxy.
- Low anonymity
Any remote server knows you take advantage of a particular provider. At the same time, your actual IP address remains hidden.
- Average anonymity
You can trick the destination server as if it knows your actual IP address. On the contrary, the IP address you show is not accurate. Meanwhile, the server knows you benefit from using a proxy.
- High anonymity
The server you reach has no idea of your actual IP address similarly as it does not know whether you use any providers or not.
One more element you should consider while testing your proxy is whether it is blocked from particular websites or not. Regardless of the situation, the only way to ensure your proxy is blocked is to check it directly on a specific website.
At some point, your IP address could be marked as suspicious. Nevertheless, it will take time to send numerous requests before it is blocked.
- What Is My Proxy
Taking advantage of online IP checkers can help you see if everything is working fine. You can access them on the Internet. What Is My Proxy is one of the best tools to see the overall logic behind using such options.
To make the most use of this particular tool, go to their website, and see how it can immediately expose your actual IP address and your specific location. It also includes access to the information on the software HTTP headers you use.
Even though some IP testers see your actual IP and whether you benefit from a particular proxy, the functionality of such tools is quite limited. In other words, you will need to use additional tools to have advanced options of using your proxies.
- IP2Location
Some websites have third-party IP location databases. One of them is IP2Location. It is required to understand the types of users who visit the site and test whether they are real.
To do so, you should check your IP address status and your usage type. In fact, IP location databases, such as IP2Location, use their individual methods to define whether your IP is residential or belongs to the particular data centers.
The most effortless way to test your proxy status is by using the website of ip2location. Its IP address database is known as one of the most accurate ones since it allows you to check various details on your particular IP address, including your usage type.
Imagine your residential proxy is identified as a data center by such a database. In this case, there are more chances your target websites will recognize similar information and could block your proxy, including your particular residential IP address.
Besides, the given scenario takes place much faster for many users all over the Internet. Also, such IP databases can define your type of proxies and store them for the future.
- FOGLDN Proxy Tester
To examine the speed of your particular proxy, you should take advantage of the tool called FOGLDN Proxy Tester. Its primary advantage is that it enables direct ping times to almost any site globally.
The given tools can show you how much time it will take to connect, and thus you can monitor the latency of your particular provider. Such a checker can help you test any type comprising the rotating proxies.
On the contrary, using the FOGLDN Proxy Tester has its specific disadvantages. For instance, if your test results in a failure, you will not have any information explaining its reasons.
Also, it doesn’t show the location, including your usage type and your level of anonymity. Eventually, you do not have the option to control the number of requests you make, including their frequency.
Such a checker is easy to use for most users. So, the shortest way to test your options using the FOGLDN Proxy Tester is by following the steps below:
- Download the given tool.
- Add the number of proxies you need to test. In case you need to use a rotating gateway address, you can check it numerous times.
- Enter the URL you need to test.
- Select the ‘TEST PROXIES’ button and see the test results.
- Custom Software
One more way to test your providers is through the script or software you write on your own. In this way, you can use all the available options to test your proxies. In other words, you can evaluate all the possible aspects you need.
It will allow you to select various targets, such as the testing duration and connection concurrency settings. Taking advantage of an IP database will provide you with even more information about your locations, including types, and additional details, such as the IPv4 or IPv6 protocol or subnet class of your proxies.
You should also acknowledge that such an option usually takes much time and effort. So, the fundamental approach is to create a scraper, which could take a proxy as a list and use it to pull information from an easy-to-use static website that collects a minimum of retrieved data.
The initial step you should consider taking is to understand if your chosen solution responds in any possible way. The best way is to check the content of your body. You can do so by checking a specific string in HTML output. It also makes sense to check the content size in case you have static content.
You can also check the status code in response headers. For example, an HTTP status code 200 will show that the proxy operates fine and you managed to retrieve the content. At the same time, it is more reliable to check the actual output.
Each request always has a reasonable timeout set up. For instance, it could be ten seconds for a data center proxy and around thirty seconds for a residential proxy. If you see no content in return for a particular amount of time, it means your proxy is not operating the right way. In other words, you should not use this option for any of your purposes.
Also, you should invest more time in checking the logs and the amount of time required to complete every single request. Besides, some requests could not show timeout. Instead, they could still be slow to use them for real-life scenarios. Overall, such data should be recorded in your database and printed to examine the outcomes for the future.
Ultimately, it takes a lot more time and resources to run your own tests. The same applies to your commitment and effort. So, this option fits a large enterprise, whereas it makes more sense to use other ways to verify whether the particular proxy is the one you need to address all your purposes as an individual.
- Proxy Bros
At times, it makes sense to use specific online solutions that could help you test proxies in the best possible way. Proxy Bros is one of such online solutions. Its fundamental advantage over alternative methods and steps to test your proxy is that it benefits from a proven success formula consisting of research, test, and protection.
It is a community of experts that is loyal to its target users and those who are devoted to the given service. The use of such an online service allows you to experience secure usage grounded on years of expertise, in-depth analysis, and a team of professionals.
Altogether, the service provides you with access to the top ten premium providers with unique features and a significant network of IP addresses supported by an excellent reputation.
In addition, the company provides educational content to help you choose the best solution to meet your every need. Thus, you can find a lot of handy content on the company blog and experience the best ways to utilize the service more effectively.
Proxy Bros is user-oriented in terms of delivering merely the best options for its target audience, including both free and paid ones. The list of offers comprises the ten best SOCKS5 proxy services, the best mobile, YouTube, and the best rotating proxy. It also offers the best proxy for Android, which is the most preferred solution for the vast majority of clients.
Overall, do not hesitate to use a service created by experts to establish the most friendly user experience.
YouTube Tutorials
Today, videos take the first place in helping people collect information about various aspects of their lives. The same applies to selecting the best solutions for different purposes. Refer to a list of three YouTube videos that could help you understand how to test proxies in different ways. See the videos for details below:
- Sneaker Handbook
- Dev Odyssey
- Refactored
Concluding Remarks
Today, many different tools could help you to test proxies. Overall, everyone who needs a proxy should invest time in testing it properly before using it.
The primary idea is to ensure it works as you need while performing specific tasks. The testing process is straightforward, and the steps you should take using the testers examined in this article will surely help you.
You can use online IP checkers while sharing your HTTP headers, location, and your software’s IP addresses. For example, IP databases, such as IP2Location, can help you to check your proxy’s IP status along with its usage type.
In parallel, FOGLDN Proxy Tester can make it easy for you to test the proxy types. It also allows you to monitor the latency of your solutions. The Hidemy.name proxy checker can help you identify your anonymity level online.
Irrespective of the number of testers and checkers in the target market, the most efficient and reliable way to test your proxies is through the script. The one that could send requests to particular sites, get responses, and count the time required to complete your request.
Besides, all the tools offered are reliable and free. So, you can save time and money. Reliable solutions deserve more attention, and you should test them properly to suit your needs in the best possible way.