How to Test Proxies and How to Build Your Own Proxy Tester?

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Proxies are immensely helpful when you want to maintain privacy while browsing the internet, access restricted content, or scrape the web for information. But the target might not always be achieved if you don’t know the details about the proxy servers you are using.

So, knowing how to test proxies is crucial. There are multiple methods of testing proxies using the existing tools. But if you aren’t happy with them, you can build your own proxy tester. This guide will discuss these topics in detail. Let’s get started.


What Are Proxies?

What Are Proxies

You might already know about IP addresses. These are some digits organized in a specific format. The collection of numbers is used as the address of your device. It is almost like the physical address of your house. Whenever you want to retrieve some data using the internet, the data reaches your device using the address. And when you transmit data, the receiving server can see your IP address.

Proxy servers are used to mask your original IP address. While using proxy servers, your connection requests go through the proxy server, and the server assigns a new IP address to hide the original one. It ensures anonymity and broad access to many web servers.


Why Should You Test Proxies?

Using a proxy checker is essential for ensuring that your proxies perform optimally in terms of speed, anonymity, location, and uptime. By understanding the various proxy checkers available and their functionalities, you can choose the most appropriate tool for your needs. Regularly testing your proxies will help you maintain your desired level of security and performance, allowing you to confidently carry out your online tasks.

Using a random proxy server might not always serve your purposes. You need to be sure about the proxy location, server status, speed, uptime, and other factors. Checking whether the proxy works with specific targets is also crucial.

Testing the proxy ensures all parameters meet your requirements. Sometimes, you need to check multiple proxies at the same time. Different methods are available out there for testing proxies, and we will introduce you to some of them.

How to Test Proxies?

Here is a quick overview of four proxy testing methods. Check them out.

Online IP Checker

Many IP checker tools are available online, and most of them are free. So, you can easily enter your proxy to check whether it is working correctly. If the resultant address is different from the original one, it means the proxy server is working fine.

But the limitation of this method is it provides only the IP address and location. Other proxy parameters can’t be checked using these tools.

To test the proxy, you need to set up a proxy in your browser. Then, go to any proxy tester website.

Proxy Checker

A proxy checker is a tool that helps users test and verify the performance and functionalities of their proxies. It is essential to use a proxy checker to ensure that your proxy is working correctly, providing the desired level of anonymity, and maintaining optimal speed and uptime.

Here is a some of top proxy checker list, (Compared by bestproxyreviews.com)

Hidemy.name: This sophisticated and free proxy checker can detect the proxy type, exact location, speed, and level of anonymity of your proxies. It can also provide information about the anonymity levels of your actual IP address.

FOGLDN Proxy Tester: This advanced tool is ideal for testing proxy speed and latency, particularly for tasks where speed is crucial, such as sneaker proxies. It works on both Windows and Mac systems.

Proxyway has a powerful proxy checker to figure out the different parameters of a proxy server. For example, you can get information about proxy location, ISP, response time, server status, proxy type, anonymity, etc. But it won’t provide any information about the anonymity level of the proxy you are using. To check the proxy using this tool, you need to go to the Free Online Proxy Checker. You can test up to 50 proxies at once using this proxy checker. Enter the proxies you want to test and click Submit. The result will be shown in a table so that you can easily extract the information.

Angry IP Scanner: This free, open-source scanner can test proxy speed, uptime, and scan ports. It operates on multiple platforms, such as Windows, Linux, and Mac.

NMap: NMap (Network Mapper) is a free, open-source network scanner that can be used for host discovery, port scanning, and operating system detection. It is particularly suitable for users with higher technical expertise.

IP Database

IP databases are websites where you can check different parameters of an IP address. Some of these databases are free of cost, but you can check a limited IP address with them.

These websites provide you with information about the proxy location, ISP, proxy type, known or unknown proxy, anonymity level, etc.

To test proxies using this tool, you need to set up a proxy server on your browser first. Then, go to any IP database website, and it will show you the detailed results.


How to Build Your Own Proxy Tester?

How to Build Your Own Proxy Tester

Depending on free tools for testing proxies might not always give you the desired results. These tools often provide limited information about proxies you are testing. So, many prefer building their own proxy tester. But it requires some technical know-how.

The easiest way to build a proxy tester is to find a script online. Even Proxyway has its free proxy testing script that you can download from GitHub. Once you have downloaded the script, you can modify the script to build a proxy tester of your own. Adding the necessary functionalities will allow you to scrape more information about the proxies.

Build Your Own Custom Proxy Checker with Python and GitHub: A Step-by-Step Guide

We will outline the steps to build your own proxy tester using Python and a GitHub repository as a starting point,

1. Prerequisites

Before you begin, you need to have Python installed on your system. You can download the latest version of Python from https://www.python.org/downloads/. Additionally, you should have a code editor (such as Visual Studio Code, Sublime Text, or Atom) and a GitHub account.

2. Creating a new repository

Log in to your GitHub account and create a new repository by clicking on the “New” button on the main dashboard. Name your repository (e.g., “proxy-tester”) and provide a brief description. Choose the “Public” option and click on “Create repository.”

3. Clone the repository to your local machine

Open your terminal or command prompt and navigate to the directory where you want to store your project files. Run the following command to clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/your-username/proxy-tester.git

Replace “your-username” with your GitHub username.

4. Install necessary libraries

For this proxy tester, you will need the following Python libraries: requests, aiohttp, and asyncio. Install them using pip by running the following commands:

pip install requests 

pip install aiohttp 

pip install asyncio

5. Create the proxy tester script

Open your code editor and create a new Python file named “proxy_tester.py” in the cloned repository folder. Add the following code to import the necessary libraries:

import requests
import aiohttp
import asyncio

6. Define the proxy testing function

Create an asynchronous function that takes a proxy as an input and returns its performance information. This function will send an HTTP request through the proxy and measure the response time, anonymity level, and other relevant details.

async def test_proxy(proxy):
# Define the target URL and headers for the request
url = "http://ip-api.com/json"
headers = {"User-Agent": "Mozilla/5.0"}

# Send the request using the proxy
async with aiohttp.ClientSession() as session:
try:
async with session.get(url, headers=headers, proxy=proxy, timeout=10) as response:
if response.status == 200:
data = await response.json()
# Extract and return the relevant information
return {
"proxy": proxy,
"country": data.get("country"),
"region": data.get("regionName"),
"city": data.get("city"),
"isp": data.get("isp"),
"latency": response.elapsed.total_seconds()
}
else:
return None
except Exception as e:
print(f"Error: {e}")
return None

7. Define the main function

Create the main function that reads a list of proxies from a file, tests each proxy using the test_proxy function, and outputs the results.

async def main():
# Read the list of proxies from a file
with open("proxies.txt", "r") as file:
proxies = file.readlines()

# Test each proxy and print the results
for proxy in proxies:
proxy = proxy.strip()
result = await test_proxy(proxy)
if result:
print(result)
else:
print(f"Proxy {proxy} failed.")

if __name__ == "__main__":
asyncio.run(main())

8. Add a list of proxies to test

Create a text file named “proxies.txt” in the same directory as your “proxy_tester.py” script. Add a list of proxies you want to test, with each proxy on a new line. For example:

http://123.45.67.89:8080

http://98.76.54.32:3128

http://192.168.0.1:8080

9. Run the script

Save your “proxy_tester.py” script and close the code editor. Open your terminal or command prompt and navigate to the directory containing your script. Run the script using the following command:

python proxy_tester.py

The script will test each proxy in the “proxies.txt” file and output the results, such as country, region, city, ISP, and latency. Proxies that fail the test will be indicated as well.

10. Customize the script

You can further customize the script according to your needs. For example, you can add support for different proxy types (e.g., SOCKS5, HTTPS), filter results based on specific criteria, or export the results to a CSV file.

11. Update the GitHub repository

After making any changes, commit the updated files to your local repository and push the changes to the remote GitHub repository. Use the following commands:

git add .
git commit -m "Add proxy tester script"
git push origin main

Now, you have successfully built your own proxy tester using Python and a GitHub repository. You can continue to modify and improve your script based on your requirements and share it with others.


Conclusion

Before deploying your proxy address for heavy-duty tasks, it is crucial to test the proxy. Testing the proxy reveals its location, connection speed, and if it works with the target website. Manual testing is only feasible for a few proxies. But when you have a massive list of proxies, it is necessary to use some kind of testing tools.

We introduced you to several tools for testing proxies. Among them, Proxyway’s Free Online Proxy Checker is one of the most powerful tools out there. And if you need more information about your proxies, building your own tester can be the best solution.

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