Top 10 most common uses for dedicated or private proxies

There are literally hundreds of public proxies online, so you may want to know why several people still opt to uses for private proxies. Also, public proxies are free of charge, so why would anyone go for a paid proxy service? There are plenty of reasons to use dedicated or private proxies.

THE TOP 10 MOST COMMON USES FOR PRIVATE OR DEDICATED PROXIES ARE:

1. Protect their identity
2. Play video games
3. Access geo blocked content
4. Speed up internet connection
5. Secure sensitive information
6. Manage multiple social media accounts effectively
7. Do competitor research
8. Conduct SEO activities
9. Access restrictive websites like ticketing sites
10. Buy limited edition sneakers, bags, and other luxury items

These use cases are not possible if you use public proxies. But before we go into them, let us examine two major differences between public and dedicated proxies.

When you use public proxies, other people are also using the same proxies. There could be ten or even hundreds of users connecting to the same proxy server all at once. What does this mean in terms of security and connection speed? Let’s break it down:

Security: Let’s face the fact that not everyone who use proxy servers have good intentions. Cyber criminals, in particular, may hide their identities behind public proxies because they know that they will be difficult to track. If you happen to use a public proxy that has also been used for something illegal, then there’s a chance that the actions will be traced back to you.

Speed: Since you are sharing the proxy server with an unknown number of people, the connection speed will be affected too. Imagine if you share a single proxy server with hundreds of people — you won’t be able to do anything decent while your connected. Videos will buffer endlessly, websites will take minutes to load, and video games will lag. The problem will worsen during peak hours, when thousands of people all over the world try to connect to these proxy servers.

For business owners, digital marketers, and other people serious about their usage of the internet, going for private or dedicated proxies is the safest and most practical course of action.You are either concerned about your online security or involved in online activities that are pertinent to your business.

To further clear this up, I’ll be tackling the top 10 common uses for private or dedicated proxies which are divided in terms of who use them:

1. Private proxies for all users
2. Private proxies for businesses, particularly SEO and digital marketers
3. Private proxies for consumers

1. PRIVATE PROXIES FOR ALL USERS

Regular internet users browse the internet to watch videos, access websites, and do financial transactions (shop online, transfer money, and pay bills, to name a few). Proxies can help improve their experiences and even protect internet users when doing these things online. Here are how regular internet users use proxies:

#1 PROTECT USER IDENTITY

Protecting user identity is number one on the list since anonymity is one of the most common reasons why people use proxies. Proxies in general act as intermediaries between a user’s computer and the web server he or she is trying to access. More than just a middleman, proxies mask the user’s identity and sends its own credentials so that the destination web server will have no way of knowing who is the user behind the proxy server’s request.

For this reason, private proxy users are always anonymous and their identities are well protected as long as they connect to a proxy server before connecting to the internet.

Anonymity is an important feature of proxy servers, and this is sought after not only by regular internet users, but also by businesses that require utmost security within their network.

#2 PLAY VIDEO GAMES

Professional online gamers resort to proxies as a way to spice up their games for several reasons. Proxies allow for a lag-free and smooth internet connection, and every gamer obviously needs this.

However, serious gamers are not only after a fast gaming experience, but they are also looking for a secure solution that enables them to reach out to other players regardless of location.

THE ALL-IN-ONE SOLUTION FOR GAMERS ARE PROXY SERVERS:

• Proxies give gamers security and protect them from brute force attacks like DDoS that had plagued the gaming community in recent years.
• Proxies allow gamers to team up with other gamers from another part of the world. This is generally not possible without a proxy, but since proxies enable them to spoof their location, gamers can play with other people regardless of location.
• Related to spoofing locations, those who use gaming proxies can get their hands on games that are released earlier in another country before their peers can.

The best gaming proxies are those that are optimized solely for gaming purposes to ensure blistering speed.

#3 ACCESS GEO BLOCKED CONTENT

In the previous use case, we talked about gamers spoofing their locations. This is an inherent feature of proxies where users can select the location of the proxy server they will use, effectively changing their location virtually. Not only gamers can benefit from this.

Everyone who want to access content that are blocked in their physical location can spoof their location by connecting to a proxy server that is located in a country where the content is not blocked. The best example are video entertainment platforms like Netflix, Hulu, and YouTube. You will notice that the videos and movies you can watch while in Asia are not the same content available when you are in the United States or Europe.

You will encounter an error message that says, "The uploader has not made this video available in your country," or something to that effect

These entertainment sites have implemented geo-restrictions, so that only people physically located in the US, for example, can watch the contents intended for the country. They do this by checking the user’s IP address when they connect to the site’s web server. So if you want to access the US library of these websites even when you are in Asia, all you have to do is connect to a US proxy server so you will obtain a US IP address.

#4 SPEED UP INTERNET CONNECTION

Another feature that sets proxies apart is its ability to cache data that have been loaded to the server before. For instance, when User A requests to access www.example.com, the proxy server sends the request to the web server and when the data is received, the proxy caches the data. When User A requests for the same website the next day, the proxy server will first look into its cached files and upon seeing that the site has been loaded beforehand, sends this exact file to the user.

This makes connection a lot faster since the proxy doesn’t need to request for the same exact file again and again. This also allows households and companies to save on bandwidth.

2. PRIVATE PROXIES FOR BUSINESSES

Private companies benefit a lot from using proxies. These are just some of the common uses of proxies for businesses:

#1SECURE SENSITIVE INFORMATION

Financial institutions and private companies that deal with sensitive information on a regular basis use proxies as an added layer of security within their networks. This way, cybercriminals will have a hard time getting access to stored data that could include credit card numbers, social security numbers, and bank account numbers.

Akin to what I mentioned regarding gamers being protected from DDoS attacks, institutions that use proxy servers will also be safe from hackers and cyber thieves.

A Complete gamer and a Tech Geek. Brings out all her thoughts and love in writing blogs on Iot, software, technology etc. Profile: https://limeproxies.com/