Verifying a static IP proxy
Updated 2 min read
An ISP or datacenter proxy keeps one address for the life of the order. It does not rotate.
Step 1: confirm the address holds
Send three requests through the proxy to an IP lookup service:
for i in 1 2 3; do curl -sS -x "http://USERNAME:PASSWORD@HOST:PORT" https://api.ipify.org; echo; done
Expected result: the same address on every line, matching the address shown on the proxy's page. If the address changes, the client is not using that proxy's host and port.
Step 2: confirm the location
Look the address up in a geolocation database and compare the country with the one you chose at checkout. Databases disagree at city level, so judge the country, and check a second database before concluding that it is wrong.
Step 3: pace the requests
All of your traffic leaves from one address, so a target that limits requests per address sees one visitor. Keep the rate steady and below what the target tolerates. For more throughput, spread the work across more addresses rather than pushing one harder.
If the target blocks the address
A static address that a site has blocked stays blocked until the site lifts the block, because the address never changes by itself. To move the proxy to a new address, see Replacing a static address that a target has blocked.