Proxy servers are popular tools that increase users’ anonymity. Because of their features and available options, business users are hopping on the proxy bandwagon. Some of the most common tasks you can use proxies for include web scraping, avoiding geo-restrictive services, price monitoring, market research, and analyzing the competition.
If you do any of those jobs from your IP address, you might reveal the interest or be blocked in some cases. Proxy servers act as a middleman and provide alternative IP addresses. In addition, paid quality proxies offer different types of services like residential, data centers, and other variants that will help you finish your task.
Before you decide on the best provider, running a proxy server through a proxy checker would be good. Then, you can create your own methodology to test the proxy or use one of the available solutions.
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Why Do You Need To Check The Proxy Server?
You could skip this segment if you have ever visited free proxy providers. Proxies can be extremely helpful but could also cause problems if they don’t work correctly. Here are things you need to consider.
The obvious first thing is to check whether the proxy service is working correctly. For example, your business task might fail if it doesn’t hide your IP address or uses blocked ones.
Many proxy users utilize them with other software that collects data, buys limited edition sneakers, or for other purposes. Therefore, you will want to check whether a proxy is compatible with your dedicated software or tools.
Another essential thing is to check the location listings. If the proxy provider doesn’t offer an IP address in the desired country, there is no justification for buying the service.
For intensive tasks and most other use cases, speed is an essential trait for proxy servers. There are a couple of handy tools you can check the proxy speed with, like MultiProxy or ProxySpeed.
Testing Proxy With Ready-made Tools
If you don’t want to do the legwork, you can use one of many proxy tester tools. One of the trendy solutions is the free online proxy checker Proxyways. It has many helpful features, like checking multiple proxy providers simultaneously. In addition, you can look at how fast they perform, the locations, and if they work in the first place.
Another thing you can see with the great proxy checker is whether the IP is known as a proxy or is from the data center.
InfobyIP is another exciting solution that can assess the proxy server’s anonymity, response time, and whether it is working.
Other tools that check similar things are available as free and paid solutions, and some of them include Hide My Name and Proxy Verified.
Testing Proxies On Your Own
Users that don’t want to rely on third-party solutions can create their own proxy tester methodology. The main feature of a proxy server is hiding your IP address. As a result, the destination server sees traffic as though it comes from a different IP address. You can use an IP checker to see if the proxy is doing this primary function. These primarily free tools will show you the IP address and how others see where the traffic is coming from.
As proxy servers evolve, so do the detection tools on home servers. This results in IP addresses going to blacklists. You can use an IP database to see whether your proxy uses blocked IP addresses. Some tools let you check up to 50 addresses daily for free. Paid services can handle hundreds of IPs.
An IP database is helpful because it can show the IP address and location of the server. For example, you can reveal those IP addresses that are allocated to a specific domain. It can also detect the proxy type and whether it comes from residential or data center locations.
Bottom line
Whether you want to check proxies on your own with multiple tools or let a proxy checker solution give you detailed results at once, checking how proxy servers work is essential for all business uses.
Most reliable solutions are paid proxies, and to ensure your money is well spent, go through the basics of each proxy server. For example, make sure it has available IP addresses that are not on the blacklist, location in countries you want to use proxies in, and does the service work in the first place.
You won’t be able to scrap the web with blacklisted IPS or if the proxy provider offers extremely slow service. However, you can check proxies with various tools or even build your own proxy tester. GitHub has many proxy testing scripts and templates for you to work on.