How to Purchase A Proxy: Simple Step-by-Step Guide

August 1, 2024 By Janne Smith No Comments 7 minutes

A proxy can enhance your web security and privacy, grant you access to geo-restricted content, and enhance your network’s performance through caching or reducing bandwidth usage.

However, various companies are looking to win you over for their proxy subscriptions.

The question is: How do you cut through the clutter, stay focused, assert control over your decisions, and get that proxy purchase right the first time?

Note: While proxies and VPNs seem similar, they’re quite different. While the former can be a quicker alternative for accessing restricted sites, its primary purpose is to offer a new IP address, not privacy protection.

In contrast, VPNs offer premium cybersecurity features, like military-grade encryption, a strict no-logs policy, hundreds of servers, and much more. However, it’s crucial only to get a reliable VPN, like FastestVPN.

1. Pinpoint Your Needs and Prioritize Them

Why do you need a proxy? Perhaps you want to bypass your ISP’s limitations or scrape websites without worrying about IP blocks.

List out all the reasons you desire to get a proxy and prioritize the list. Why? Prioritizing helps you select a proxy type, as specific types of proxies fulfill specific objectives better than the rest. For instance:

1. Residential Proxies: Excel in reliably optimizing your web privacy and giving you access to geo-restricted content. This is because residential proxies assign your requests a residential IP. Generally, websites and other online services find it challenging to detect the use of a residential proxy.
2. Data Center Proxies: Are great for activities like online gaming, managing multiple social media accounts, and general browsing. They offer you faster speeds and efficiency for such activities. However, there is a great likelihood of websites blocking your IP address if it is from a well-known data center.
3. ISP Proxies: Combine the best of what residential and data center proxies have to offer. You get an ISP IP address to hide your identity and location and at the same time, your traffic goes through a data center.
4. Mobile Proxies: Offer a higher level of anonymity as your device’s requests use an actual mobile IP. Moreover, the IP changes from time to time. A mobile proxy shines in app testing, accessing mobile-specific content, and web scraping, as it is hard to track or block.

After digging deeper into the different types of proxies and what they have in store for you, select one. You can also select more than one. Each for a specific set of purposes.

2. Understand Proxy Pricing Models

Before you buy proxy servers, you ought to master pricing terminologies to understand what you’re paying for and maximize the value you obtain from the proxies. You can also compare plans and accurately estimate costs, eliminating unexpected expenses.

Here are vital pricing concepts to learn:

• Free Trial: A provider may offer you a free test run before committing to a paid plan. Check the limitations and duration of the free trial, though. This helps you evaluate the performance and quality of a proxy effectively.
• Pay-As-You-Go: This is a payment model that allows you the liberty to pay per the amount of data you use. It is also an ideal way to get a feel of the provider’s proxy servers. Remember, you pay for what you use for a specific period, nothing more. This is greatly cost-effective if you occasionally need to use a proxy.
• Pay-Per-IP: This model allows you to pay for the desired number of IP addresses. You can upscale or downscale as desired. This is the plan to consider if you are web scraping or operating more than a single social media account.
• Yearly/Monthly Access Subscription: In this case, you pay a fixed amount for unlimited or limited monthly or yearly access to a specific proxy. The provider specifies the number of proxies and data you can use. It would be great if you consistently used various proxies. Some proxy providers do include discounts to encourage long-term commitment.
• Pay-Per-GB: Compared to pay-on-demand, the provider can define a fixed amount of data per proxy. So, you use the proxy until the defined data amount runs out.
• Shared vs Dedicated Proxy Access: The provider can also set aside proxies for exclusive access. If you get one of these, you get to use it alone and enjoy enhanced security and performance. However, they are usually pricey. On the other hand, shared proxies are affordable. Nonetheless, performance may decline during high-demand periods.

3. Choose a Dependable Proxy Provider

With all the rapid changes in the proxy leasing market, it is fast becoming challenging to select a reliable and dependable proxy provider. A 5-star rated proxy provider may lose touch overnight and drop to a 2-star level.

Moreover, testimonials and reviews are subjective, reflecting personal opinions based on user-specific needs like streaming, web scraping, or gaming. Sometimes, the proxy providers pay to have any random person write them a fake online review or testimonial.

So, how can you navigate all these to select a dependable provider? Consider the following factors:

• Performance and uptime: Check whether the provider has a service level agreement (SLA) in place. An SLA assures you a certain level of service uptime. The provider should also disclose their performance scores to help with decision-making.
• Security: Review the security measures put in place, including the encryption of your data. A reliable provider should also have a no-log policy to maximize security.
• Policy transparency and adherence to regulations: Ensure the provider’s policies are clear about data handling, risk management, usage, and billing. The provider should also comply with legal and regulatory standards to ensure they are operating within ethical and lawful boundaries.
• Round-the-clock customer support: 24/7 availability is critical to minimize disruptions and downtime. You should have access to a knowledgeable support team to assist you in setting up the proxy, troubleshooting issues, and optimizing usage.
• Pricing transparency: The provider should clearly define the costs associated with every type of proxy offered. This helps you budget efficiently and avoid hidden fees or surprises.

4. Make the Purchase

At this point, you’ve selected a specific type of proxy, settled on a suitable payment plan, and figured out the provider to give a chance. Now, peruse the provider’s website and find the page to purchase the proxy. Once there, click on your desired payment plan. If the provider offers a free trial, you can start with that.

Clicking or selecting the payment plan should prompt you to create an account. Fill in the necessary details and submit the registration form. Remember, some providers may require you to verify the account through email.

Once your account is up and running, you are supposed to provide your payment details and fulfill the payment. Before finalizing the transaction, review your order to ascertain that everything is correct. Then, you can complete the payment.

After a successful transaction, the provider grants you access to the proxy server details and setup instructions. Then, you can configure and test the proxy. If you have any trouble, you can reach out to the support team.

Final Words

The proxy purchase journey starts with a desire to access geo-blocked content, augment privacy, or even bypass ISP limitations. Wait until you realize the overwhelming number of proxy providers working to catch your interest with a compelling plan or offer.

Worry not! Here’s a straightforward step-by-step guide to help you select a suitable proxy and confidently make a desired purchase on your first try.

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