How to Use a Proxy

Oxylabs is one of the leading proxy providers, known for its massive proxy network and enterprise-grade solutions. In fact, Oxylabs offers access to over 102 million IP addresses across 195 countries, making it a top choice for large-scale data gathering. However, its premium services come at a premium price and complexity. Oxylabs primarily targets well-funded business clients, and its pricing is at the upper end of the market – a potential barrier for smaller companies. If you’re seeking Oxylabs-like capabilities without the steep costs or enterprise-oriented setup, there are several alternatives. Proxys.io is a standout option that provides comparable residential proxy features at a more accessible price point, alongside other reputable providers. Below we compare Proxys.io vs Oxylabs and highlight other popular Oxylabs alternatives in the proxy industry.

To use a proxy in Puppeteer, launch the browser with the --proxy-server=HOST:PORT option so that all requests go through the proxy’s address. If the proxy requires authentication, provide the username and password via page.authenticate() before loading any pages. This ensures Puppeteer’s traffic is routed through the proxy’s IP, masking your real address.

What Is a Proxy in Puppeteer?

A proxy acts as a middleman between your Puppeteer script and the target website. In Puppeteer, using a proxy means your browser traffic is routed through a different server/IP address. This helps hide your real IP and can prevent blocks and avoid triggering anti-scraping measures on websites.

Setting Up a Proxy in Puppeteer

To configure Puppeteer to use a proxy server, follow these steps:

Sneaker proxies are a type of proxy server designed specifically for sneaker collectors and resellers to attempt to purchase limited-edition releases. By using an intermediary server, sneaker proxies will route your web requests so that your IP address and location appear different. In addition to helping collectors and resellers bypass access restrictions based on geographical regions, sneaker proxies also help avoid retailer order limits by allowing multiple purchase attempts under varying IP addresses. As illustrated in the diagram above, sneaker proxy servers are located between users' devices and the sneaker websites enabling them to alter their IP addresses and mask themselves when sending purchase requests. Sneakers retailers only see the proxy's IP address without seeing yours which increases your chances of successfully buying the rare shoes.

Residential proxies are intermediary servers that route your requests through real ISP-assigned IPs, making them appear as ordinary home users. Because the IPs come from real devices and locations, residential proxies offer high trust and anonymity. They can bypass geo-restrictions, CAPTCHAs and anti-bot blocks that often block datacenter IPs. In practice, residential proxies are ideal for tasks where you need to mimic normal user behavior – for example, scraping websites with strong anti-scraping defenses, monitoring search engine results, running social media or “sneaker” bots, and verifying online ads.

The question about proxy ping is asked by clients who need connection speed. Most often they are traders on stock exchanges, parsing specialists or users who need a stable connection to automate processes.

Ping requirements depend on the tasks: for some clients a delay of 100 ms is acceptable, for others even 20 ms is critical. In any case, understanding what the ping on a proxy is will help to understand. Let's understand what ping is, what it depends on and how it is on our proxies.

What is ping and why is it important?

Data parsing is when information is collected from websites. No marketing strategy or competitor research can do without it today. For this purpose, you need tools that can cope with the protection of sites. We are talking about proxy servers. But what type of proxy to choose? It all depends on the tasks. Let's consider three main types: server, residential and mobile proxies. Let's find out for which types of parsing to choose one or another type.

When it comes to static vs rotating proxies, it’s helpful to understand their differences and best use cases. It’s true that whether it’s a rotating proxy or static proxy, you get a lot of protection from both. At the same time, they come with several unique factors that can easily play into your decision-making.

Although proxies are often used to mask IP addresses, this isn’t the only benefit they bring to the table. Before you get into too much technical detail, you can differentiate static and rotating proxies with a few basics.

While a static proxy utilizes a single IP, rotating proxies will periodically change IPs for better anonymity. Both come with their best use cases, and it’s important to be able to identify these differences. In this article, you’ll explore the topic of static vs rotating proxies and which might be the most ideal for you.

Proxies of the sixth version are needed by professionals. They are not as common as IPv4, but are indispensable in some cases. RLet's look at why IPv6 proxies are in demand in areas such as scraping, SEO and marketing.

How did IPv6 come to be?

With the development of the Internet, the world is faced with an IP shortage. The IPv4 standard, which emerged in the 1980s, could support about 4.3 billion addresses. This seemed like a huge number, but as the number of devices on the Internet grew, it became clear that this was not enough.

Parsing is a process when you open a website and collect data: prices of goods or information about products. Everyone needs information: marketers, advertisers, and any researchers. When we mean parsing, we are, of course, talking about an automatic method: when the program itself enters the site and collects data at the speed of light. There are many bottlenecks in this process, and proxies eliminate them all.

How proxies speed up parsing

To understand how proxy servers speed up data collection, let's look at the difficulties that parsers face.

Parsing problems

If you’re looking to improve your anonymity online, it’s important to consider what doesn’t work over proxy apps. This can be a loaded question that comes with many details. However, you can streamline your understanding by focusing on core functionalities, do’s and don’ts, and more.

Many people use proxy apps to bypass geo-restrictions surrounding online content. Not only does this help you bypass geo-restrictions, but it also guarantees your privacy when navigating other networks.