Fix common proxy errors

Check in this order

Most proxy problems come from a small number of causes, and checking them in a fixed order saves time. Always start with the smallest setup that can fail: one request, one proxy, curl, no extra options.

1. Does curl work with these exact values? If not, the problem is the credentials, the host or the port.
2. Is your balance enough and the rental still active? An expired order stops working.
3. Is the country in the username correct, and is it in stock?
4. Does your tool use an http proxy, with the same four values?
5. Is the target site returning a block page, and not an error from the proxy?

Website errors

A 403 or 429 comes from the target site and not from the proxy. 403 means the site refused you, 429 means you sent too many requests too quickly. Slow down, add pauses, reduce concurrency and send realistic headers. If the site refuses datacenter ranges as a rule, an ISP proxy usually looks more like an ordinary customer connection.

A CAPTCHA is a signal to stop and slow down, not a signal to retry faster. Check that your behaviour looks like a person's and that the site's terms allow what you are doing.

Which proxy type fits any country

Pick the proxy type from the job rather than the price. Here is how the types we sell compare, so you can match one to your work in any country:

Datacenter IPv4. The default choice for most jobs. These are dedicated IPv4 addresses hosted in a datacenter, fast and inexpensive, and the best fit for high-volume reading of public pages, monitoring and automation. Some websites treat datacenter ranges more cautiously than consumer connections, so test your target before you commit to a long rental.

ISP proxies. Static addresses that are registered to an internet service provider rather than a hosting company. They keep the speed of datacenter hardware and look more like an ordinary home or office connection, which helps with destinations that are strict about hosting ranges.

Shared IPv4. A shared address is used by more than one customer and costs less. It suits light tasks, quick checks and testing where a clean, exclusive address is not essential.

IPv6. IPv6 addresses are very cheap and plentiful, and they work well with destinations that serve IPv6 traffic, such as many large search, video and social platforms. Many smaller sites are still IPv4 only, so check that your target supports IPv6 before you buy.

Mobile proxies. Addresses from mobile carrier networks. Many phones share the same carrier address, so websites tend to be tolerant of this traffic, which makes mobile proxies the right choice for testing mobile ads, apps and landing pages. They cost more than datacenter addresses.

Residential proxies. Addresses from home internet connections, billed by the amount of traffic you use and not by the IP. They suit light, bursty jobs on sites that block datacenter and ISP ranges. Heavy traffic gets expensive quickly, so estimate your monthly volume first.

If you are unsure, rent one address of the type you think you need, run your real task against it for a day, and look at the success rate. Because rental periods start at a few days, trying a type costs very little.

Using proxies responsibly in any country

A proxy is a networking tool and it is lawful in most places, but what you do with it still has to be lawful and fair. Follow the laws that apply to you and to the place you send traffic to, read the terms of the sites you visit, honour robots rules and rate limits, and never use an address to access accounts or data that are not yours. ProxyOnly cannot give legal advice, and our acceptable use policy applies to every order.

In practice that means reading public pages, checking your own sites and ads, and testing your own products. If a task would be unwelcome to the site owner when done by hand, it is unwelcome when done through a proxy too.