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Daniel - May 18, 2021
How To Test Proxies
How do you know if the proxy you’re about to use is reliable or not? It’s simple, you have to test it. I’ll be discussing how to test proxies in this article.
Proxies help protect your online identity by masking your original IP address. They also help you geo target specific countries and bypass restrictions. There are lots of proxy providers out there that you can patronize.
The last thing you want is for a proxy to fail you. That could leak your original IP address and in most cases cause it to be banned by the websites you’re accessing. You can also be performing tasks you need to be done fast but an unreliable proxy will keep slowing you down.
What Do You Need To Test Proxies?
When you test proxies, there are three main things you have to look out for – the proxy location, speed, and uptime.
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If you need a proxy to access a US-only website for example, then, you cannot use a Canada Proxy, UK proxy, or any other country. What you need is a US proxy with US IP addresses. This goes for any location.
Some proxies will claim to be hosted in a particular country but when you check them, you find out that they’re not. This is why testing to confirm the proxy location is important.
Some proxies can be very slow. This is most especially for shared proxies since they are being utilized by many users. If for instance, you’re carrying out web scraping tasks or purchases with a sneaker bot, such slow proxies will not work.
You’ll end up spending several minutes on tasks that’ll take just seconds. When you test proxies, scan to know how fast or slow they are. The fastest proxies are always the best.
Finally, uptime. A proxy might be in your ideal location and be fast but have poor uptime. You can be performing a task and the proxy will go offline leaking your IP and every other private detail you’re masking.
Most proxies will claim 99.9% uptime but that’s not true for all of them. You’ll have to test run the proxy with a minor task and see just how it holds up with time.
How To Test Proxies
You can test your proxies using proxy tester tools. There are many of such tools available and here are some I’ll recommend;
1. Nmap
Nmap is a free network mapping tool that you can use to test your proxies. It simply needs the proxies IP packets/address and the host provider and several other important characteristics.
This proxy tester is a flexible one as it features several advanced network mapping techniques. It’s also a powerful tool as it can handle huge proxy networks. Not to mention it’s an easy to use proxy tester.
Nmap is portable and it supports all the major desktop operating systems out there. This includes Linux, Microsoft Windows, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Solaris, IRIX, Mac OS X, HP-UX, NetBSD, Sun OS, Amiga, and more.
2. Angry IP Scanner
This is a popular fast and friendly network scanner which has been downloaded more than 29 million times. The advantage with Angry IP Scanner is that after scanning the proxy’s IPs, you can export the results in different formats.
Using Angry IP Scanner, you get feedback on a proxy’s uptime status, host region, ports, etc. With its command-line interface, you’ll find this proxy tester easy to use. You can extend its functionality using data fetchers.
The Angry IP Scanner tool is open source and free. You don’t need to install any software; simply download the application and run. It will work on Windows, Mac, and Linux computers.
3. Proxy Verifier
Proxy Verifier is a Yahoo product. It can be used to test just HTTPS based proxies and it is open source. The tool was developed by the Yahoo Developer’s Network to improve reliability and testability.
Proxy Verifier works in a bi-directional manner. It tracks traffic to and from the proxy by stimulating both client and server computers. You can test proxies against specific criteria with this tool.
Thanks to its intuitive dashboard environment, you’ll find Proxy Verifier not difficult to use. This proxy tester allows you to run configuration transactions once or repeatedly depending on the number of times you set.
4. Hide My Name
Here’s an ideal proxy tester if you want to test multiple proxies quickly. The Hide My Name Proxy Checker features smart algorithms that check proxies at 64 threads. All you have to do is to enter your proxy list in the specified field.
The tool will give reports on different parameters including the proxy connection speed, ping, and anonymity amongst others. You can export the results and there are flexible settings to filter only the parameters that you’re interested in.
With the Hide My Name proxy checker, you can check both HTTP and SOCKS proxies. It is free to use although there are limits you can only unlock with a premium subscription.
5. InfobyIP
One of the tools from InfobyIP’s tool arsenal is a Proxy Checker. The tool majorly checks the anonymity of a proxy server and it’s availability. It supports SOCKS5 and HTTP proxies.
It’s web-based and very simple to use. Simply specify if it’s a HTTP or SOCKS proxy you’re testing and enter the proxy details in IP:Port format.
The InfobyIP proxy tester tool is free to use and available in multiple languages.
Bottom Line
Testing your proxies to see if they work is very important especially when you have a serious task to do. Doing that isn’t difficult and you can use any of the proxy testers listed in this article. They are reliable and are all free; you don’t have to pay any money.
Nevertheless, if you want reliable proxies, you should consider getting them from ProxyRack. We have an ever-expanding pool network of proxies spread across the world to suit your needs.
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