There are different options to be able to browse the Internet with greater privacy and hide the IP address and real location. One of them is to use a proxy. In this article we are going to talk about how it works, how it helps privacy and how you can configure it. We will also see the advantages and disadvantages that it has compared to a VPN, which is another widely used program to encrypt the connection when surfing the net.
What is a proxy
We can say that a proxy is an intermediary between your connection and the server you are trying to access. For example, if you are going to open a web page, you have to go to the server where it is hosted. The proxy is going to be an intermediary , so the connection will go through it first and then arrive at the destination.
Your browser or device will be the client, while the server will be a web page or some online platform that you are trying to access. The proxy, therefore, is going to be an intermediary between the client and the server. You will enter that service through the proxy’s IP address and not your real one.
Keep in mind that there are different types of proxy . They can work at the software level, through a program for example, but also as a physical device. In addition, there are web, caching, NAT or reverse proxies. Each of them has its peculiarities and uses, but they share the main thing.
But the fact that the connection is going to go through the proxy is also going to mean a loss of speed. There are different options to configure this type of service, since there are both free and paid ones, so you should always make sure that you are using one that works as well as possible and thus avoid outages.
what is it useful for
Now, what is a proxy server really used for? What can you do with this kind of services? We are going to show what the main utilities and benefits are when your connection goes through this type of tool and how it can help or protect your browsing.
What such a server does is hide the real IP address . Therefore, we are going to navigate through your IP that may belong to a server that is located in another country. This way you can enter a page or application that is blocked in an area of the world, even if you are not really there.
Although it mainly serves to avoid censorship in one place, it has also grown as streaming video platforms have done, which usually have restrictions of this type.
Filter content
A proxy can also filter content when browsing the web. They can be configured so that they do not return a request if, for example, you try to enter a certain website that is blocked by that server. This will depend on which one you use, but it can be configured to block content related to a theme or simply certain pages.
This can be useful for security . For example, it could block content that has been classified as dangerous because it contains malware or is a website created solely to carry out Phishing attacks. By filtering access, we may be improving our protection on the network.
Hide IP address
Without a doubt, another very useful point is that we can hide the real IP address. This will provide greater privacy, which in turn will also help security. It will also help hide the location, since through the public IP they could know where we are exactly.
A proxy allows you to hide the IP since when browsing through its servers, the address that is actually displayed is that of the proxy. For example when entering a website or opening any program on the network. We will be protected in this sense.
Store cache
A proxy server will also act to store cache. This is very useful if we want to access an online service faster , for example. Instead of sending the request and waiting to receive the response, the proxy will store the content and we will be able to access it through this service.
For example, think of a web page that you access for the second time. That content may already be cached and you will receive it more quickly. It can be static type content, such as HTML, CSS, images… It is an interesting option to be able to navigate faster in certain circumstances.
Steps to set it up on Windows
There are many proxy servers on the Internet. You can use both free and paid. Some work simply through a web page, which what it does is redirect traffic through its server. You can also see lists of proxies, such as at ProxyScrape or ProxyNova . Of course, you must make sure that the option you choose works well and with good speed.
You can easily set up a proxy server in Windows. To do this, the first thing you have to do is go to Start , access Settings and Network and Internet . There you have to click on Proxy, which is one of the options that will appear in that window.
Once you have clicked on Proxy, you have to click on Settings, in the Use proxy server section.
When you sign in, it will appear disabled by default. You simply have to click on the box to activate it and fill in the corresponding data with the proxy’s IP address and port . In addition, you can configure it so that it does not act on certain addresses.
You will have to obtain this data from the proxy server that you are going to use. For example, you can make use of some of the services that we have shown. You simply write down that information, put it in the Windows configuration and hit Save. From that moment you will navigate through a proxy.
Differences between proxy and VPN
At this point you may be wondering how different it really is from a VPN . In a way, you may also get what you need with a VPN. For example hide the IP address or bypass geo-blocking. But there are some differences and we are going to show what they are.
Web traffic encryption
A very important difference is in the encryption of web traffic. A VPN will encrypt all traffic . This is very interesting if, for example, you are going to connect from a public Wi-Fi network that may be insecure. This way you will prevent them from stealing your data when making an online payment or logging in to a site.
Instead, a proxy will only encrypt web traffic. The proxy works mainly through the browser. For example, if you use a proxy in Chrome, it will only act on the pages you visit from the browser and not on the entire Internet connection, as a VPN that you have installed would do.
Velocity
Both a proxy and a VPN are going to affect speed. After all, our connection will go through an intermediary first. That will slow it down, although the difference can be important between one server and another, which is why we must always choose correctly which one to use.
However, a proxy is usually slower than a VPN. Of course, you can find a proxy that is very good and works better than a free VPN that does not work properly. But in general, a proxy will be slower and you will have more problems being able to browse the Internet or download files.
Security
In both cases you will be able to have security and privacy problems if you use a bad service, since they could sell your data. However, if we take into account that both are correct and that your objective is to improve security, in this case there is undoubtedly a notable difference in favor of the VPN.
A proxy will not improve security, as it will not encrypt your entire connection. What we mentioned before can happen, that you are connected to an insecure network and your data can be compromised. A VPN, on the other hand, does encrypt the entire connection and makes the information travel in a kind of tunnel.
In short, as you have seen, a proxy is a server that acts as an intermediary when you access a web page, for example. There are differences compared to a VPN, but it will also serve to hide the IP address or avoid blocking that may exist when using an online service.