Using a proxy server is essential for your online activity, as it helps keep you safe and secure. To truly understand the importance of a proxy server, it is important to understand what they are and how they work. Knowing this information will help you decide which proxy server is best suited to your individual needs.
What Are Proxy Servers?
A proxy server acts as an intermediary between your device and the Internet, routing your web requests and receiving responses from the destination website. The proxy also masks your true IP address and location, granting you complete online anonymity and privacy. Using a proxy with a physical location in Canada, for example, will make it appear as if your online activity is coming from Canada.
Reasons to Use Proxy Servers
People use proxies mainly for privacy and businesses use them for security and network purposes, but there are plenty more benefits from using a proxy server. The most important ones include privacy, security, speed, avoiding geo-restrictions, compiling data, and shopping.
Privacy: Proxies hide your real IP address and show websites another IP address when accessing them, preventing them from tracking your online activity and providing you with online privacy.
Security: Proxies encrypt your data before sending it to web servers, thus protecting your sensitive data and preventing hacker and malicious attacks.
Speed: Premium proxies don’t affect your internet speed, which can be really helpful when performing any online activities that require speed.
Avoiding Geo-Restrictions: Proxies can make it appear as if you’re located in a different region or country by giving you an IP address from that region, helping you access websites that are not available in your country.
Compiling Data: Businesses and marketers use proxies for web scraping. With a proxy server, you can use a different IP for each request, thus making it appear as different users are making the requests and not a bot.
Shopping: Proxies can help you purchase limited-edition items. With a proxy, you can use a different IP for each request, making it appear as if different users are making the requests and not a bot.
What Proxy Server Should I Use?
Residential proxies are the go-to for activities like web scraping, as they are almost impossible to detect and ban due to their IP addresses coming from real devices. Datacenter proxies are recommended for activities that require speed, such as playing online games or accessing geo-restricted streaming content. These are usually hosted on cloud servers, and are cheaper as they are used by multiple people at the same time. Mobile proxies are best for social media activities, such as managing multiple accounts from the same device and avoiding ad fraud. These proxies are authentic and will give you a different IP address for each account, helping to avoid bans. It is important to pick a reliable proxy provider, such as ProxyCompass, for high-quality, secure, and fast residential, datacenter, and mobile proxies. Free proxies should be avoided as they are unreliable and unsafe, and can lead to data leaks and bans.
