How to Check a Proxy Before You Use It
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To check a proxy, send a request through it and confirm three things: that it connects, that the website sees the proxy's IP instead of yours, and that the IP is in the country you expect. The fastest way is an online proxy checker; for more detail, one curl command shows the IP, location and any error in seconds.
What to check on every new proxy
A five-minute check before you attach a proxy to an account saves hours of guessing later. Run these checks on each new IP, and again whenever something stops working.
- Connection: the proxy accepts your username and password and returns a response.
- Exit IP: the IP a website sees matches the IP you bought, not your home IP.
- Location: the country, and ideally the city, match your plan.
- IP type: the organisation behind the IP fits what you ordered, such as a hosting company for datacenter or a telecom for ISP.
- Speed: the response time is reasonable for your distance to the server.
- No leaks in the browser: inside your antidetect profile, the browser shows only the proxy IP.
Method 1: use an online proxy checker
Paste the proxy into our proxy checker in the ip:port:user:pass format and run the test. It tells you whether the proxy is reachable and which IP and location it exits from. This is the easiest option if you are not comfortable with a terminal or just want a quick answer before setting up an app.
If the checker shows a working proxy but your app does not, the problem is almost always the app settings: wrong proxy type, an extra space in the password, or the port typed in the wrong field.
Method 2: check a proxy with curl
curl is preinstalled on macOS, Linux and Windows 10 and later. On Windows, open Command Prompt, or type curl.exe instead of curl in PowerShell. Replace the example values with your own IP, port, username and password.
- Show the exit IP:
curl -x http://user:pass@203.0.113.10:8080 https://ipinfo.io/ip - Show IP, city, country and organisation:
curl -x http://user:pass@203.0.113.10:8080 https://ipinfo.io/json - Fail fast instead of hanging: add
--connect-timeout 10 -m 20to any command. - See exactly where it fails: add
-vto print the connection and proxy handshake. - Password with special characters such as
@or:? Pass it separately:curl -x http://203.0.113.10:8080 -U user:pass https://ipinfo.io/ip - Rough speed test on macOS or Linux: put
timein front of the command and read the real time.
Method 3: check inside your browser or antidetect profile
A proxy that works in curl can still be set up wrong in a browser. Open the profile that uses the proxy and visit My IP. It should show the proxy's IP and country, not your home connection. If you see your real IP, the proxy is not applied to that profile or the browser is falling back to a direct connection.
Also compare the time zone and language your antidetect browser reports with the proxy's country. A Vietnam IP with a US time zone is an easy inconsistency to avoid. Setup steps are in our guides for Chrome and Firefox, Hidemyacc and AdsPower.
Common proxy errors and how to fix them
Most failures fall into a handful of patterns. The curl message usually tells you which one.
| What you see | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
407 Proxy Authentication Required or CONNECT tunnel failed, response 407 | Wrong username or password, or the app is not sending them | Copy credentials again from the dashboard, check for spaces, and make sure authentication is enabled in the app |
Connection timed out (curl error 28) | Wrong IP or port, your network blocks the port, or the server is unreachable | Check the IP and port, try another network such as mobile data, then test with the online checker |
Connection refused (curl error 7) | Nothing is listening on that port: wrong port, or the proxy is expired or suspended | Confirm the port and the expiry date in Orders; renew if it has expired |
Could not resolve proxy (curl error 5) | Typo in the proxy host | Re-enter the IP exactly as delivered |
| Works, but the country looks wrong | Geolocation databases disagree or update slowly | Compare a second source such as ipinfo.io; if the location is still wrong, open a ticket |
| Proxy works, website shows an error or captcha | The website is limiting or checking the request, not the proxy failing | Slow down, use a consistent browser profile, and keep one account per IP |
How to read the results
- Exit IP matches your order and the location is right: the proxy is ready to use.
- Response time depends mainly on distance. A proxy in the same region as you and the target site will respond faster than one on another continent.
- The organisation field tells you who owns the IP. Learn what it means in ISP vs datacenter vs residential proxies.
- An IPv6 address contains colons; check that your target site supports IPv6. See IPv4 vs IPv6 proxy.
Still not working? What Vinaproxy.com customers can do
Your proxies and their expiry dates are listed under Orders in the dashboard. Run the curl command or the proxy checker first, then open a ticket with the error message and the IP that fails; support answers tickets 24/7. Proxies are HTTP/HTTPS, so choose HTTP as the type in every app.
If a proxy cannot connect or is in the wrong location because of a technical fault on our side, you can request a refund to your account balance under our refund policy. Before a big order, testing a few IPs on your real workflow, for example multi-account work, is always worth it.
Frequently asked questions
How do I know if my proxy is working?
Open My IP through the proxy or run curl -x http://user:pass@ip:port https://ipinfo.io/ip. If you see the proxy's IP instead of your own, it works.
What does error 407 mean on a proxy?
407 Proxy Authentication Required means the proxy did not accept your login. Re-enter the username and password exactly as delivered and make sure your app sends them.
Why does my proxy time out?
Usually a wrong IP or port, a network that blocks that port, or an unreachable server. Try another network and the online checker to narrow it down.
How can I check the location of a proxy?
Run curl -x http://user:pass@ip:port https://ipinfo.io/json or use the proxy checker. Both show the country and city that geolocation databases assign to the IP.
Can I check many proxies at once?
Yes. Put one proxy URL per line in a text file and loop the curl command over it in a small script, adding --connect-timeout 10 so dead entries do not slow the run.
My proxy works in curl but not in my antidetect browser. Why?
The profile settings are wrong: the proxy type should be HTTP, and host, port, username and password each go in their own field. Check the guide for your browser.
Need proxies that pass the check?
Private IPv4 and static ISP proxies, delivered as ip:port:user:pass and activated automatically after payment.
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