What is a proxy server? How do they work?

Proxy servers are an often misunderstood technology. If all you read is the marketing copy, you might assume that they let users browse the web anonymously and beat every geographic restriction. The truth is that while proxies are useful in certain situations, for most people, their advantages are few and far between.

We’re here to help cut through the confusion. Our experts have decades of combined experience in computer networking and are uniquely suited to explaining exactly when you should (and shouldn’t) rely on a proxy server. More importantly, we’ll break things down in a beginner-friendly way so that you know exactly what you’re paying for.

What are proxy servers and how do they work?

Normally, there’s a direct connection between your device and the websites, apps and services you use. They can find out all sorts of information about you, including where you are, your device’s unique IP address, and who your Internet Service Provider is.

A proxy server acts as a middle man who sits between you and the website. All of your web traffic is routed through the proxy server, which is located somewhere else in the world. Sites only see the location and IP address of the proxy server, and not your actual location.

When might I use a proxy server?

Businesses use proxies all the time. Being able to route all of your employees’ internet traffic through a server you control has several major advantages. For instance, you can easily limit the type of content they can access, keep an eye out for signs of suspicious activity, and get a rough idea of where everyone is. It’s also possible to cache frequently-used sites for faster access or automatically manage traffic so that your network never gets overwhelmed with requests.

Sometimes, you’re forced to use a proxy due to hardware limitations. Certain devices (such as Smart TVs) don’t allow you to install security tools like VPNs, so you might settle for a proxy server instead.

Are there any disadvantages to using proxies?

When properly-configured, proxy servers are still useful in certain situations. That said, if you don’t have complete control over the server (for instance, if you’re using a free proxy), there are several major issues to be aware of.

Data security

Whoever controls the proxy server can see everything you get up to online, all unencrypted data that you send and receive, and your true IP address. Free proxies often don’t support HTTPS traffic, either, which means you might not be able to use the most secure versions of websites designed to prevent this kind of snooping from happening.

Running a proxy server isn’t cheap. The owner has to pay for bandwidth somehow, which is why they almost always have ads or premium plans available. However, there’s no guarantee that they aren’t selling details of your activities without your knowledge. To make matters worse, snooping is near-impossible for the average user to prove (and may even be specifically mentioned in the terms of use), meaning there’s next to nothing you can do about it.

Internet speeds

Proxies add an extra step to the path your traffic takes across the internet. As a result, they’ll always reduce your speeds somewhat. Free services have a couple of extra bottlenecks that can worsen this problem. First, they usually only have a few servers, and the further away they are, the higher your latency will be. Additionally, with thousands of users relying on these servers at any given time, the network is prone to congestion. In other words, the proxy may struggle to keep up, resulting in drastically-reduced performance.

They’re fairly easy to detect

Websites have a vested interest in blocking proxies. After all, spoofing your location messes up their audience metrics and streaming sites like Netflix only have the rights to show certain movies in specific countries. You’ll need a VPN for Netflix to overcome this easily.

Unfortunately, proxy servers aren’t great at flying under the radar. If a site notices a huge amount of traffic coming from a single IP address, they can just block it, rendering that server effectively useless. Sites could also cross reference your connection’s latency with nearby users to see if you’re noticeably slower, which could indicate proxy use. Alternatively, sites can just check the request’s headers, which often say that the traffic has been forwarded by a proxy.

Proxies may break certain websites

Plenty of websites (including Facebook and YouTube) use custom scripts to show different content to each user. However, some proxy servers, particularly web-based ones, don’t support JavaScript, which is required for these sites to work properly. You may also find that certain sites, such as online banking services, only work on HTTPS connections. Because HTTPS often isn’t supported, many proxies simply won’t work. That said, due to their aforementioned security risks, we strongly advise against using proxies for sensitive tasks.

Proxy servers: Frequently Asked Questions