How to Test Proxies
Daniel Tarasov
Daniel Tarasov Published: 2024/05/31

When starting a new project that calls for proxies, you may wonder whether your servers are functioning correctly and according to your expectations. Luckily, the current market can offer lots of tools for proxy testing in different conditions. In the following paragraphs, we’ll learn how to test proxies and what software is most suitable for this purpose.

What do You Need to Test Proxies?

Using a few easy commands within the system’s terminal, you can begin monitoring your servers performance. In this manner, you’re able to confirm that basic proxy connectivity functions as intended. Under certain conditions, the proxies can be tested within the browser when you are employing specialized proxy management extensions. All of the essential data required for connection will be visible to you there. This also covers the question of what is proxy testing.

In many cases, users employ specialized stand alone proxy management apps to seamlessly switch proxy servers while working. Usually, these apps have functions for testing basic parameters. Plus, you’re able to monitor your traffic statistic or collaborate on proxy servers.

How to Check If a Proxy is Working

On Windows or MacOS, the ping command is capable of performing basic proxy checks. The proxy host must first be pingable via the terminal. The proxy documentation from your provider will list the required host. 

Ultimately, you ought to get a response that includes fundamental details, such as response time. Based on this information, you can see how well your server is performing at the moment.

What are the Key Metrics for Proxy Testing?

When conducting proxy tests, there are certain important metrics that you should be monitoring. The latency parameter is the most crucial one. When carrying out proxy tests, one of the first things to check is the speed at which your server responds. This shows the time it took for the server to respond to your requests.

Low speed servers can cause a series of problems, starting with a laggy surfing experience and increased load times. You send the server multiple requests and note the time it takes to get a reply in order to measure this quantity. When responding to time-sensitive tasks like video conferences or streaming, proxies with low latency are essential.

In addition to latency, you must also take into account the server’s reliability and dependability. This value indicates the proxy’s ability to maintain a consistent connection and uptime. Long-term servers ought to be accessible at all times of the day. According to the settings you provide, the proxy monitoring tool has the ability to record its evaluation of connection stability and make any required changes.

The last and most important step is to verify proxy anonymity. Proxy servers hide your true IP address, so you need to control how the server displays and hides your personal data. An assessment of the anonymity of a proxy is necessary to make sure it successfully conceals the user’s real IP address and upholds a high standard of security and intimacy.

For this task, a proxy tester can confirm that your IP address is not really hidden. To figure out whether the IP address you have entered masks yours in the correct sequence, the database of IP addresses will search through all known locations.

The Best Proxy Testing Tools

The modern market can offer lots of different tools and software options for testing proxy servers. To start with IP lookup tools, you’re able to browse the IP Extra site, which can provide you with every pertinent detail about your current connection with one click. This tool can show you information about both the IP and DNS settings for your connection. You’ll also have the opportunity to learn more about your plugins, mime type, and HTTP headers.

Another tool for testing static residential proxy or any other servers is the Fogldn app. With this useful tool, you can measure the latency, stability, and speed of your connection. By loading most of the servers, you can quickly determine which one best suits your needs.

Another free online proxy verification tool is provided by Hidemy.Name. Through your web browser, this application can track the speed, anonymization, and ping of multiple proxy servers. Similarly, TestMyProxies can allow you to confirm all important details, like speed and anonymity.

If you are particularly worried about the confidentiality and anonymity of your server, you’re able to look into the Proxy-Checker tool. You can test up to ten proxy servers simultaneously with this website, which specializes in using IP concealment to confirm your anonymity. 

We will talk about an angry IP scanner as our last tool. This app can measure parameters for your servers up to a port and specific range. More than this, the scanner can evaluate your parameters in comparison to several IP records.

Top Tips for Proxy Testing Best Practices

Selecting an appropriate testing tool is a crucial step in proxy checking that will yield the greatest impact on performance. From this point of view, you must consider how and where you’ll be employing your proxies. In accordance with the responses, you must select an application that can test proxy in similar conditions.

For instance, it’s possible to guarantee that the majority of the sites will accept residential proxies as clean ones if you intend to use them. Thus, you should concentrate on measuring the response times and speeds. On the contrary, when employing a datacenter proxy setup, speed is usually a given, but you might face unwanted blocks, so make sure to first test this feature.

In the same way, you must evaluate the datacenter rotating proxy or any other server’s effectiveness over a longer distance with constant checks. This is especially important when you run a large-scale or high-performance project. Additionally, this may be pertinent if you are using a rotating proxy to monitor whether the rotational requirements you need are fulfilled.

Then you’re able to look at the report-storage options to track any and all results from the tests. Having accurate documentation facilitates the comparison of various proxies and provides a historical record of performance over time. You can also perform additional troubleshooting and optimization because you have access to all the data.  

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IP checkers

Using a specialized IP checker is among the simplest and most straightforward methods for checking whether the proxy server is operating correctly. Most of them are accessible through your internet browser. 

You only need to use an IP checker to view all of the basic information about your active connection and visit the necessary website in order to use this method of proxy server verification. This method’s primary advantage is its quick response time; without any prior settings, you can always obtain all the pertinent data.

Usually, these sites can show your current IP address, location, and HTTP headers. For more detail, you will need to use more complex and sophisticated tools.

IP databases

Lots of web sites use special databases of IP addresses to track and block activity from suspicious IPs. This database helps identify if the site is used by a real user or bot. To make this possible, databases compare the real location and IP address to make sure which IP belongs to the datacenter and which one is used by a regular household.

The most simple way, in this case, to check your IP address is to visit ip2location. This database contains extensive numbers of addresses and compares them pretty accurately. If the residential proxy that you use is identified here as the dataceneter one, there are high chances that at least some of the sites will block your connection.

Conclusion

An array of tool sets is available to you for the evaluation and assessment of your proxy servers’ efficacy. You’re able to utilize the built-in basic checkers for IP addresses in your browser, but in this particular case, you’ll only receive the most basic data.

Your own testing script is going to be the most user-friendly and versatile among all the proxy checkers available. The code can be customized to perform every one of the necessary checks that are particular to your use case.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Please read our Documentation if you have questions that are not listed below.

  • What is proxy testing?

    Proxy testing can be described as the process of examining proxy server performance in different aspects. For example, you can check the current server's ping, speed, and stability.

  • What proxy server should you test?

    Proxy testing is an overall good practice for any servers that you have. If you use some servers over a long period of time, you can track if the performance of the proxy is changing and tune your setup accordingly.

  • What kind of proxy servers can be tested?

    You can test any proxy server that you have or planning to purchase. Some of the server parameters may require specially tuned tools, but you can check basic information straight from your browser.

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