I get it. You’re looking for a proxy server you can use to surf the web anonymously or unblock websites that are not allowed by your country or ISP. In fact, you’re not the only one doing this and you are definitely not alone in your haunt of the best proxy server.
There are hundreds of them on the internet and if you carefully do your research, you’ll probably land on effective and working web proxy that will actually do the job – to unblock websites. However, despite the fact that you have a lot of options to choose from, not all of these proxy servers or web proxy operate the same or provide good quality.
Here are some features of proxy servers you need to look for:
- Encrypted connection
- No Ads whatsoever
- Fast connection
- Available English language
Clearly, if a web proxy you are using doesn’t offer any of those features, you can still use them at your own risk. You can still unblock websites in your location despite that disadvantage but there are potential frustrations you might encounter along the way such as internet speed.
But to guide you on what to use when you need to unblock a website or encrypt your connection for personal use, you can try the proxy servers I’ve been using whenever you need to hide your online activities.
But let’s know some facts first.
A proxy server is a dedicated computer which allows internet users to connect indirectly to the web and hide identity. This is mostly used to unblock websites, protect your online privacy and hide your original geographic location for potential internet threat.
Since proxy servers enable internet users to gain access to websites by bypassing a network restriction. This is a typical solution for restriction protocols, normally in schools, offices or in countries with strictly controlled internet access.
Proxy servers are classified in different types. Each type has a different level of anonymity and security protection. That said, when you use a proxy server, you there are several options you can choose from such as web proxy, SSL proxy, HTTP proxy, HTTPS proxy, reverse proxy.
How do proxy servers work?
Basically, proxy servers help your computer connect to the internet without restrictions from your current network. However, when you use a proxy server, you are not directly accessing the website you wish to visit just like your regular browsing experience. Instead, you are initially connecting to a proxy server which connects you to the website.
Are proxy servers secure?
Due to demand and common use of proxy servers, it is not certain whether a certain proxy is secured from unethical access. But if you are not comfortable providing your personal information or sensitive files over a proxy connection, just play it safe and don’t.
There are two types of proxy servers you can use; one is public proxy server and one is a private proxy server. Public proxy servers are proxy that can be used anyone by anyone who aims to hide their original IP while private proxy servers are paid which require monthly subscriptions before you can get to use a private proxy.
Are proxy servers fast?
There are claims that when you use proxy servers, your internet speed connection will be faster as you are browsing cached version of websites. But it really depends on the proxy server you are currently connected to; if they have a fast server, then your proxy should be fast, but if they have a slow server, then you should expect slow connection as well.
Are proxies free?
No. Not all proxies are free. Some are paid proxies which require monthly subscription payment at a very cheap cost. There is a high difference between free and paid proxy as each has different anonymity level, user protection privacy and internet speed level.
Although free proxies are good and available in just a matter of online search, there is no guarantee that the proxy server you will use is safe.
Now, here’s a list of proxy servers you can use to surf the web anonymously:
Whoer.net
This web proxy offers different proxy servers from the Netherlands which is a huge disadvantage for them. For instance, if you want to watch a movie online you probably won’t be able to do it takes forever for web pages to load. And if a website you need to check is only available in Canada, the United Kingdom, for instance, you still can’t play their videos because you are accessing their website from the Netherlands.
Not to mention they keep showing an advertisement on every page you visit that covers all of its content.
What I don’t like: Pages load slowly and can’t play videos
ProxySite.com
Next in our list is a website that solely exists to provide free web proxy. It doesn’t offer any premium services unlike Whoer.net and doesn’t keep showing a banner ad while you use their proxy server. By default, it does show a toolbar wherein you can type in another URL you want to unblock but you can hide it for convenience.
Proxysite has over 25 proxy servers you can use focusing in US and EU and with features whether you will allow cookies, remove scripts or remove objects on a web page.
What I like: Can play videos on Youtube
Free-Proxy.com
Another site on our list is very much similar to Proxysite web proxy. However, It only offers 9 proxy servers for EU and US combined. This website is best for html pages only without iframe or javascript because I tried accessing popcornflix and Youtube but I only got white screen return.
Also, this web proxy is able to jump from one page to another through click throughs compared to other web pages I mentioned above that you need to manually type in the URL of websites you want to visit before you unblock them.
Kproxy
Kproxy provides VPN extension for Chrome and Firefox which is very useful than its web proxy. Kproxy has 10 proxy servers available for free proxy but while it can unblock Youtube, it’s unable to play videos if you are accessing it from web proxy server.
Kproxy is probably best for browsing web pages only but if you want to navigate to external pages, you need to manually type the URL in before you can do so.
Croxyproxy
This web proxy is able to access Google, do a search and even jump from search to another website without breaking a link or uncovering your identity. So far, this is the most useful and effective web proxy I have on this list because it supports online search, plays videos, jump from one site to another and does not have annoying banner advertisement selling you a premium proxy server.
They do however offer a premium proxy server but it’s less annoying than the others mentioned above.
Filterbypass.me
This web proxy site offers different features than other websites mentioned in this post. With Filterbypass, you can change the information of a web browser you are accessing a website from which means you are only not changing your IP address but you are also changing your browser information.
You can also play videos on Youtube with this web proxy and can do web research on Google without typing in anything into their toolbar.
In fact, I tried accessing mangareader.net and I was able to load images with faster connection than the others.
HideMyAss
HideMyAss is known for their VPN tool but they do offer other services such as web proxy. The web proxy tool of HideMyAss can play videos from Youtube but unable to do search on Google as it detects multiple queries from their proxy server.
While I can’t say if that’s accurate, by the time I tested web proxy of HideMyAss, that’s what I encountered.
There you have it.
Most of these proxy servers or web proxy contain banner ads. They do this to either offer the product they offer or earn money to fund their website. While I don’t disagree with webmaster of websites above, it would have been good if they put lesser ads. Less annoying and more fun.
