Kurt's Guide to Proxies
I'm not an expert with proxies, so take this info and add to it, or adapt it, as you learn more.
A proxy is simply a way to "borrow" an IP address other than the one given by your ISP to us while surfing the Net.
Normally you connect like this:
PC => ISP => Net
Using a Proxy:
PC => ISP => Proxy => Net
With most proxies, they're just an IP address, followed by a "port number, and in the case of a private/paid proxy a password/ID number may be added.
IP:
98.145.205.216
Port:
8085
How you'd enter a proxy in most programs:
98.145.205.216:8085 (note the : between IP and port)
And some service or programs may add a user name or number at the end:
98.145.205.216:8085:password
There's various kinds of proxies and ways to get and use proxies:
Free/public
Private
Browser based
Switching software
Free/public
These are posted on various sites and forums. A simple Google search for "free proxy list" + "fresh" will return tons of places to get free proxies.
Scrapebox has a great proxy scraper and tester. And you will need a program to check your proxies to make sure they work. Scrapebox does this as well, and there are other programs, google "free proxy checker" or "free proxy tester".
BAD
Slow
Don't last
Not all that private (this isn't a big deal as we're not doing anything terribly wrong like hacking or child exploitation)
Shared with others and can already be over-used and banned by many services.
Expect a high failure rate with public proxies.
Use when creating tons of stuff.
Private/paid
These are proxies you pay for that are dedicated to you alone. They are like having another ISP for each proxy IP.
They generally cost about $3 per month per proxy, with bulk discounts.
Good proxy services will let you test and switch proxies, as well as choose geographical locations.
However, even paid proxies dedicated to you NOW may have been used and abused by someone else before you, so you need to check these.
Many will use proxies for a month, then trade them in for others.
I tend to use mine more "gently". For example, I want to keep mine to protect different assets. For example, Twitter seems to allow about 10 accounts per IP. (I'd use about 6-8 Twitter accounts per proxy).
And each block of 6-8 Twitter accounts have a dedicated IP/proxy. This proxy is entered into software that auto-feeds tweets as well as friend requests/deletes.
When the software moves on to another block of Twitter accounts, it uses another IP address.
I can't recommend any services as it's really hit and miss even with the same service. If you read a good recommendation at a forum, chances are a lot of others jumped on the same services and used the IPs before you.
My biggest recommendation is to look for services that accept Paypal subscription so it's easy for you to cancel.
Browser/script based
Here's a cool exploit you won't find a lot of other places...There's a couple of free perl/php scripts that let you start your own private browsing service. I've posted one in this forum before.
You install the script on your site and people go to the script, enter a URL and start surfing the web, using the IP of the website as their "home IP". If your site is hosted in Florida, then it looks like you are surfing from Florida.
However, many people install the script to create their own private surfing site.
So if you know the footprint to these scripts, you can use sites that have them installed for proxies.
I've had mixed success using Ubot with these sites, but Ghost Control can be a valid option in many cases.
Try these browser based proxies:
"powered by Glype"
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=hts&oq=&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GGIH_enUS274US274&q=%22Powered+by+glype%22
phproxy + "Include mini URL-form on every page"
http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&rlz=1T4GGIH_enUS274US274&q=phproxy+%2B+%22Include+mini+URL-form+on+every+page%22&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=
"start browsing through this CGI-based proxy by entering a URL below"
http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&rlz=1T4GGIH_enUS274US274&q=%22start+browsing+through+this+CGI-based+proxy+by+entering+a+URL+below%22&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=
Surrogafier Proxy
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=hts&oq=&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GGIH_enUS274US274&q=Surrogafier+Proxy
http://www.centurian.org/category/zelune/
(Click search button)
http://www.atproxy.net/category.php?id=50
Proxy Switching software
These are programs that run on your PC that automatically change your IP address...Names like:
Thor - free Uses free proxies. Popular but very slow and frustrating. (I think only changes browser IP?)
HideMyIP - paid. Ok. Easy. But only changes IP for the browser.
HideMyAss paid . Good. Easy. Changes IP for ALL programs.
Proxychanger - free Firefox plugin that changes IPs from a list you give it.
You can also google for "IP changer" "Proxy changer" "proxy switcher". Only changes IP.
A good thing about these programs is they can be scheduled to automatically change IPs, which can be a useful feature.
The downside is the IPs are shared with others and may be "used up". However, for things like querying Google many times for data-mining, I've never had a problem when using HideMyass.