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Easy Peasy Proxy Setup Video – Surf Safe & Anonymous Pt 5

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How to Surf Anonymously & Hide Your PC: Part 5 – Video How to: Set Up a Proxy

23 Jan
setting up a proxy server

If you want to be anonymous in real life, buy a big coat. Online, and for your PC, it’s more complex. Why do it? To shore up your identity, safeguard data, secure eCommerce and give peace of mind.

This guvGuide helps you find the level of anonymity to suit you, to take control of your identity, to enjoy faster, safer surfing and, in Part 5…

…to set up a proxy server.

A comprehensive guide, spread over 5 posts:-

[sniplet guvSellBox]

I’ve endeavoured to make this guide as comprehensive as possible; detailed, yet bulleted. But hey, if there’s something missing, you’ve got a suggestion, or a disagreement, please leave a comment below, and we’ll improve the guide. Tx.

Proxy server. Sounds complex, huh? It isn’t. The video shows how to set up yours in minutes.

[sniplet video]

Why bother?

The proxy server, above most else, provides an anonymous online profile. This is because, rather that your computer connecting with a web server and giving your connection details – such as your IP address – the proxy acts as a middleman, giving its information instead.

Most of the time, so what! But there may be times when you want to lay low:-

  • if you’re using someone else’s PC, maybe at work
  • you want to watch video specific to a territory; say, BBC video from abroad
  • you’re in China, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, Syria, Vietnam, Zimbabwe and various others
  • you’re a political dissident
  • you’re a journalist and want to protect your sources
  • you’re a hacker
  • you just don’t want the unknown – and the known like Google – tracing your browsing. Do you publish your diary too?

There are all sorts of advanced proxy solutions out there, but they tend to boil down to the same thing; finding a middle agent to assume your IP address and mask other personal identifying information. Here, and illustrated in the video tutorial, are the steps you must take to do this the easy way.

Check your IP

Go to whatismyip.com and the page will tell you your current IP address. Note this.

Find a Proxy IP Address

Go to proxy4free.com (or similar by Googling “proxy list”) and click on proxy lists. These are updated daily, maybe every few minutes.

Copy an address (it’ll have a format like 12.47.252.130) and its corresponding port number (sometimes IP and port are together, in a format like 12.47.252.130:65208, where 65208 is the port.)

If you want to access data in a specific territory (ie, BBC video is only online for UK IP address identifiers) then choose an IP from that country.

Configure your browser

Firefox

Firefox' proxy settings

Tools > Options > Advanced > Network > Connection > Settings > [check] Manual proxy configuration, add the IP and port number, and click OK.

Internet Explorer

Tools > Internet Options > Connections > Local Area Network Settings > LAN Settings > [check] Use a proxy server for your LAN, add the IP and port number, and click OK.

Recheck your IP

Go back to whatismyip.com and the page will tell you your new IP address. It will be different from your original IP.

Your proxy server is working.

The Video How-to Tutorial Guide Thingummy

If that sounds technical, watch the video to see just how easy it is (and to hear my dulcet tones.) If it’s easy enough, check out the video anyway ‘cos, hey, it took me an hour!

And that’s it for this series of posts, concerning online privacy. Having followed this guide, you can set a level of anonymity that suits you. If you’ve missed any sections, take a look because they’re all useful. Surf safer, faster, and with confidence.

Jump to another section of the anonymity guide:-

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Related posts:

  1. How to Surf Anonymously & Hide Your PC: Part 1 – Anonymising Your PC
  2. Preview: How to Surf Anonymously & Hide Your PC
  3. How to Surf Anonymously & Hide Your PC: Part 2 – 21 Tips to Surf Safe
  4. How to Surf Anonymously & Hide Your PC: Part 3 – How to Set Cookies
  5. How to Surf Anonymously & Hide Your PC: Part 4 – Controlling Javascript
Posted on Friday, January 23rd, 2009
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  1. riryzarri January 25th, 2009 at 10:46 pm

    you made that simple, cheers

  2. hanke January 28th, 2009 at 2:30 am

    Excellent series. Must act on it!

  3. the_guv January 28th, 2009 at 12:08 pm

    @riryzarri & hanke, big cheers to you.

  4. need a proxy February 2nd, 2009 at 3:28 am

    I’ve downloaded proxy lists but the addresses either don’t work, are really slow, or stop working. Where do you get your lists, please? I’m in France and want to watch the tv from the UK.

  5. gigi February 4th, 2009 at 2:12 pm

    thanks again guv – now I can watch Corrie!

  6. the_guv February 4th, 2009 at 4:32 pm

    @gigi, you’re welcome. Corrie! Damn.
    @need a proxy, here’s the deal… proxy IP’s outdate quickly. So, so do the lists. Most are only useful for a day or so, maybe less. If you want a regular proxy list source, you have to schmooze into a proxy forum community, and that can take a little time. Try http://www.proxyblind.org/proxyblind-forum/. You bring up a good point, this isn’t clear, in fact I’ve not mentioned, in the post … will ammend that. Thank you.

  7. jester February 7th, 2009 at 6:13 am

    nice vid guv

  8. the_guv February 7th, 2009 at 6:41 am

    cheers jester

  9. Melanie February 10th, 2009 at 11:19 am

    Hello Olly
    Am spreading the word!
    Melaniexx

  10. the_guv February 11th, 2009 at 10:54 am

    @Melanie, big tx, any problems, lemme know and I’ll try to help.

  11. Cardoza, C E May 24th, 2009 at 12:57 am

    Gracias! Hombre

    El lenguaje utilizado es muy sencillo, facil de entender!

  12. the_guv May 27th, 2009 at 1:51 pm

    @Cardoza, CE – Muchas gracias – lo agradezco.

  13. Susan August 4th, 2009 at 1:39 pm

    Nice blog

  14. 21 Tips to be Secure Online - Surf Safe & Anonymous Pt 2 - GUVNR November 30th, 2009 at 9:08 pm

    [...] Part 5: Video How-to: Set up a Proxy Server [...]

  15. Blimey! Some Party. Er, HNY! (Guv's Back) - GUVNR January 15th, 2010 at 11:00 am

    [...] visitors really enjoyed it, or at least my Aunty Glad said so. Part 5 though, the video how-to – Set up a Proxy Server – did end up doing the rounds, thanks to Youtube, with approaching 9000 views for the [...]

  16. Williamizbeast April 21st, 2010 at 10:27 am

    hey i was wondering is there a good proxy liek urs? that i could use to server bc i see you need a username and a password. i was wondering do u think you could help me find one?

  17. the_guv April 23rd, 2010 at 12:00 pm

    no idea William, I use my own on a VPS (that’s the best way for a few bucks per month):-

    EASY Connect with a SOCKS/ SSH Proxy Tunnel: VPS BIBLE – vpsBible

  18. Dude May 15th, 2010 at 5:54 am

    Thanks for all the information. It is very helpful

  19. the_guv May 15th, 2010 at 10:09 pm

    @Dude, you’re welcome, Sir.

  20. Dimitri July 3rd, 2010 at 1:46 pm

    I am in Bulgaria and wanting to access spotify. I assume a proxy server is the way to go? When I go to proxy4free.com I am not getting a list of IP addresses and port numbers. Where do I find these please?

  21. the_guv July 25th, 2010 at 7:16 pm

    well Dimitri .. Google’s a start :P .. look for Proxy Forums and get involved with the community is best advice.

  22. stef66 August 18th, 2010 at 4:06 pm

    Hi,
    Could you give me a reliable UK proxy server?

    Thanks

  23. the_guv October 24th, 2010 at 10:39 pm

    @stef66 and @Dimitri .. that’s a question of Googling. Free proxies change from day to day. Get friendly on some proxy forum for updates is the best advice, else go the Tor route (which is slow) or else pay for a service.

  24. D. R. November 9th, 2010 at 3:18 am

    QUESTION: will this method work with every ISP server, like Verizon DSL for example? I mean, I won’t loose my connection via Verizon if I do this, will I?

    How long does the proxy remain? How do you go back to your regualar ISP address? Does it revert automatically, or do you have to manually reset it?

    Thank you.

  25. the_guv May 2nd, 2011 at 2:20 am

    @D.R.

    OK, damn, this reply is too late for you ;) but for anyone wondering ..

    “will this method work with every ISP server, like Verizon DSL for example?”

    yes

    “I mean, I won’t loose my connection via Verizon if I do this, will I?”

    no

    “How long does the proxy remain?”

    till the proxy provider goes tits up, else you disconnect ..

    “How do you go back to your regualar ISP address?”

    .. by reverting your settings, reversing above settings

    “Does it revert automatically, or do you have to manually reset it?”

    answered above :)

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