Proxies are a good tool that Internet users can take advantage of if they want to enhance their privacy and security. When proxies initially came onto the scene, they were viewed poorly, as some considered them as something only used by parties looking to hide suspicious activity or even criminal acts.
On the other hand, given how emergent crimes are against the security and privacy of many online users, many have found proxies to be a useful layer of protection. The crimes related to this are things like ransomware, identity theft, and hacking. These acts typically involve bad actors who track your online activities so they can gather up personal information like your name, real-world mailing address, MAC and/or IP address, and sometimes even credit card data.
Advertisers are another group that have found ways to compromise computers so that they can deploy trackers who somehow gather and then even analyze your various online activities. They can even learn how big your computer screen is, what kind of device you're using, the specific websites you access, the time you spend on individual websites, and a lot more.
Millions of online users don't want anyone tracking their online activities. Are you one of them? If so, you too can buy proxies.
Proxies do their work by connecting you to servers before you actually connect to websites. In doing this, a proxy server can hide your true identity. Your IP address gets masked by a proxy IP address, which makes it practically impossible for someone, be it a stalker, a criminal, an advertiser, or even your own ISP, from knowing just what you're doing online.
If you'd like to buy a private proxy, then this article can help you figure out which specific proxy provider is best for your personal needs. The following are tips you can use as you look to buy a proxy server.
Buying Private Proxies: Free Or Paid (News - Alert)
Of course, everyone would love something that they can have for free. However, at this point in time, is anything really still free? It turns that that getting a supposedly free proxy service isn't actually completely free. It's true that you might not have to pay monthly service fees, and you might also get to avoid spending any kind of money when you use such a service.
On the other hand, free proxy providers are able to put trackers on your computer. They can then track and even record your various online activities, which is the actual cost of using their so-called 'free' service.
Ironically, this means that free proxy services are possibly doing the one thing that proxies are meant to actually protect you from. Rather than offering you anonymity, they're the ones truly violating your privacy.
It's sad, but true. As such, it's smarter to just buy a private proxy, just so you know you have the security and reliability you're supposed to get and deserve. This doesn't mean that proxies need to be really expensive though. You can get a moderately priced subscription that works just as effectively as an expensive one.
What You Should Consider When Buying Proxies
So, the free-versus-paid concern is decidedly settled. That means it's time to look over things you should consider when you're picking your proxy service provider. Googling 'proxy service' is going to bury you in hundreds of different results, likely to leave you quite confused. How do you pick your proxy service provider? Easy, just keep reading.
Reliability And Security
Security is definitely a top concern, given that this is a big reason why we have proxies in the first place. Proxies are supposed to offer you security so that you're free to browse online free of worrying about anyone else looking over your shoulder virtually.
Any private proxy provider you use also needs to be reliable, meaning the service is trustworthy and available to you 24/7. Reliability and security can be assessed to some degree by looking at the reviews and feedback of a certain proxy provider.
When reviews are more positive, the service is better. As such, take the time to look over your options, making sure to spend some time reading the comments section!
Speed
When you connect to any website using a proxy, there's a token trade-off in terms of speed. That's due to the fact that you have a third party involved, which means the connection process is lengthened by milliseconds.
On the other hand, while you will have a speed change when connecting using a private proxy, that change is often minimal, and it's worth the reliability and security that are entailed with it. If the connection is rather low for some reason, be sure that the fault isn't with your own network speed. You might have to consult your ISP in cases like these.
Server Locations
Connection speed might also rely a lot on the locations of proxy servers. The closer a proxy is to the website server, then the quicker the connection is going to be. Also, some websites only allow the IP addresses of particular nations. That's known as either geo-restriction or geo-blocking, and it's used by big companies, such as CBS, the NBA, YouTube (News - Alert), Netflix, and many other popular video streaming services.
As such, you need to be sure that you buy your private proxy from a provider who has servers in locations or countries close to any websites you access.
Customer Service
The speed, reliability, security, and server location won't matter at all if the customer service of a proxy provider is inadequate. You might not be able to get the answers you need fast enough; even worse, you might not get any at all.
Customer support is crucial considering how you're dealing with very technical stuff involved in setting up a private proxy. Pick a proxy server option who has good customer service. Good customer support will reply to their queries in a prompt fashion and will also have a number of ways that customers can use to contact them.
