Now offering SOCKS5 and HTTPS proxy service, free with all paid accounts!

Uncategorized

We now offer 2 more ways for you to connect to your paid FoxyProxy account:

This is in addition to the previous ways we already offered:

  • HTTP proxy
  • PPTP VPN
  • OpenVPN

SOCKS5 Proxies

SOCKS5 is an internet protocol which sends data between you and your destination (e.g. facebook.com) using a proxy server. For users of HTTP proxy servers, this is nothing new.

proxyserver

So what’s different about SOCKS5? Why bother with it?

Why should I use a SOCKS5 proxy server instead of HTTP(S) proxy servers?

Using SOCKS5 is a great option if the main goal is downloading torrents/P2P or the use of other software that is not web-based like browsers… for example, uTorrent, deluge, transmission, and instant messenger software like Skype.

There are many benefits of using SOCKS proxy servers. We list some of them here:

All kinds of traffic can be accommodated

Unlike HTTP proxies which only work with webpages, SOCKS5 proxies work with any kind of traffic. This is because SOCKS5 proxy servers bundle or wrap any kind of internet traffic from any program.

Better performance with Torrents and P2P

Compared to HTTP and HTTPS proxy servers, SOCKS5 can offer faster download speeds and overall performance for smaller bits of data

[tech] SOCKS5 proxies implement full UDP, they enable users to connect to all the peers in a swarm, which results in better download speeds and overall performance.

If the SOCKS5 proxy server were to be interrupted, your P2P/torrent process would stop communicating… keeping your IP address secure.

Better performance than HTTP Proxies

The performance for some HTTP proxies can suffer because the proxy server rewrites data packet headers. SOCKS5 proxy servers do not rewrite data packet headers, so there is less overhead and faster connection times.

Reliable and efficient connections

SOCKS5 proxy servers use both TCP and UDP protocols . TCP is an internet protocol that forms a connection between a client and a server, making sure that all the packets arrive from one side to the other. It requires fitting the content into a fixed format so that it can be transferred easily.

UDP is an internet protocol that does not focus on whether all packets from a client or a server reach to the other side and in the same order. Therefore, UDP is more efficient than TCP in that it does not waste time in converting the data packets into a proper stream or fixed packets that are sent upon establishing a connection. A combination of these two means that a user is guaranteed a reliable and efficient performance from his internet connection. This is what your normal internet connection gives your — and what SOCKS5 proxy servers give you, but not an HTTP or HTTPS proxy server.

HTTPS proxies

You already get HTTP proxy servers with you paid FoxyProxy account. So what is an HTTPS proxy?

Security

When you use an HTTP proxy server, the data sent between you and the proxy server is unencrypted…even if you visit a website like https://facebook.com. The data between the proxy server and the https://facebook.com IS encrypted… but not the data between you and the proxy server.proxyserver

HTTPS proxy servers encrypt the data between you and the proxy server: 1.1.1.1 and 2.2.2.2 in the diagram. The data between 2.2.2.2 and the destination website is encrypted when the browser bar shows https:// or has a green padlock. So, using an HTTPS proxy server is more secure than using an HTTP proxy server.

How to use it?

Unfortunately, support for HTTPS proxy servers with authentication is limited in web browsers today. It’s quite complicated to configure them. But we’re working on step-by-step instructions for those who google the process and can’t follow along with the instructions that are already out there. The key point here is that authentication is required in the browser so that you can enter a username/password to access your paid FoxyProxy account.