As an intermediary between your network and the website you are visiting, a local proxy server can help increase the productivity of your broadband connection, recover requests on the network that have problems and in some cases can help protect your network from malware infections.





What is a proxy?

"Proxy" means alternative. On computers on the local network, proxies are another way to connect directly to the Internet by providing users with different IP addresses. There are various types of proxy servers. For example, a Web proxy server saves a copy of the web page you just accessed on the hard disk.





When you visit the page, the proxy accesses the cached version if it's updated. This is faster than downloading a static file from the site.





Why do people use proxy servers?

You might be tempted to disable proxy settings in your browser to display the sites your boss likes during business hours. However, to ensure that all users on the network use a proxy to access the Internet, system administrators often block all Internet access in their firewalls, except for traffic that enters or is sent to the proxy. So to access anything outside the local network, you need to use a proxy.

Forcing everyone to use a proxy gives the system administrator considerable control over what the user can access. Parents and those who just want to improve home security can use the same principle.





If you encounter an unexpected access attempt in a firewall log file on a proxy-protected network, it is likely to come from malware that does not know how to test a local proxy and tries to connect directly to the Internet.

Public against private agents

Although there are many types of agents, as we have said, they can be classified into two categories: general agents and private agents. As the name suggests, public agents are free and open to the public, while private agents only use one person.

Because of user entry, public proxies are often less effective than private proxies. This is even more dangerous, because proxy operators can see your web traffic and potential network piracy.





Configuring proxy on Windows is fairly simple, because the latest Windows software automatically detects proxy settings.





To set up a proxy on Windows 10 just open the Settings screen and open the Network and Internet sections. From there, click the Proxy tab and choose from the list of available proxy settings.





Configuring proxy on Windows 8 users, the steps are slightly different. Start by opening the Computer Settings app and clicking the Network Proxy icon. You'll see a choice of proxy servers to choose from. Enter your proxy URL and save your settings.





If the Windows network cannot detect the proxy automatically, you can set it manually by entering the proxy IP address specified and the proxy port number. The provider must have this information if you use a personal or commercial agent.





(Note that you can check the list of popular proxies here.)













Configuring proxy on Mac

take advantage of easy-to-use proxy services. To configure a proxy server on your Apple Mac, start by opening System Preferences and clicking the Network icon.





On the left, click the Proxy tab. You will see a list of different proxy protocols.













You can check the Proxy auto-detect box if you want your Mac to check if a proxy is needed and configure its settings automatically.





To manually set a proxy, select the type of proxy you want to use and type the appropriate address and port number in the Open field. If the proxy is password protected, check the Require proxy password box and enter your user name and password in the box provided.





After choosing the proxy server, enter the address and port number in the space provided, click OK and adjust.





Proxy type

You will see a series of different proxy protocols in the network settings, each with different servers. The three most common protocols include:





HTTP: The most common type of protocol, which is mainly used for web browsing, this type of proxy is not secure, so you should avoid using it for sensitive sites.

HTTPS: Secure HTTP version. Select this option when you want to send and receive confidential information such as passwords, credit card numbers, etc.

SOCKS: A more flexible form of HTTP, SOCKS can handle multiple types of Internet traffic and is often used for torrenting. Because of its popularity, it is usually much slower than other proxies. It also supports HTTPS.









Use a proxy to open a web site

Because the proxy redefines your IP address, you can access content that may not be available in your geographic area yet. For example, anyone in the United States can use a proxy to connect to networks in the UK. Locations and services in the UK will be available.





Of course, there are always privacy issues when dealing with agents. If you want to surf the web anonymously, you can use VPN better.













Proxy vs VPN: Which is better?

When it comes to privacy, convenience and ease of use, VPN always wins. While the proxy includes only the specific web browser you are using, VPN encapsulates the entire network.

By connecting to a secure VPN server, you can retrieve another IP address while encrypting your entire network, while providing more options for browsing, streaming, and downloading without worrying about network exposure.



