Do you have some love for scraping data? Well, we believe many people do too. Web scraping can be a really effective way to obtain that special piece of information from a website. So rather than taking hours to copy and paste the whole thing and manually selecting which one you want to pull out, website scraping is much more effective.
However, web scraping does come with a few obstacles, one of them being permission. Not all website owners allow people to freely scrap their website data. It’s understandable as the website is their asset after all.
But, these challenges don’t really cover the whole benefits web scraping may offer to you. So in case you’re really interested, we advise you to better hide your IP by using a tool called Proxy. With a proxy, various activities, like website scrapping can be done more secretly. Plus, anyone won’t easily track your actual IP address as it has been nicely covered.
You can have a proxy from a VPN, although the methods are quite complicated. But if you wish to do so, follow the instructions below:
What Is a Proxy
Proxy is a connecting system between the user and the internet to hide the user's real identity.
The goal is that when you access the website, the IP address sent to the website is the IP address of the proxy server, not the user's real IP address. That way, the security of your data will be more guaranteed when surfing the internet.
In order for it to work properly, a proxy requires a server which is then called a proxy server.
What is a proxy server? A proxy server is a kind of network service to provide proxy services.
A proxy server can be a specific device or computer that is used to process requests using a proxy.
Proxy servers work by connecting or actually blocking the connection between the sender and receiver of data. If a proxy server blocks direct access between two networks, then hackers have a harder time getting the internal address and private network details.
Usually, this proxy is used more by people who want to visit sites but are already blocked in certain areas. Also, there are many companies and businesses that use proxies to create closed business networks so that no one can access them.
Some servers can consist of app groups or servers used to block certain internet access. There’s an HTTP proxy to prevent web access, and an SMTP proxy that limits emails.
Not only that, a proxy server can also be used as a firewall component and caches web pages. So, every time a user accesses the URL, a temporary copy will be stored locally so that the proxy website can be accessed more quickly when it is reopened.
An alternative to proxy is VPN. You may use VPN when browsing or playing online games. But, before you download VPN, make sure that the features can be helpful for you before committing to a subscription. That way, your money will be worth it.
How Proxy Works
The way proxy works is basically the same as the VPNs you often use. It works by tunneling your request into a separate, more secure server. That way, when you’re browsing the internet, you’re basically using the server to go anywhere.
Meanwhile, your actual IP address will be replaced with the VPN provider’s IP, meaning that no one could possibly guess where your actual location is.
If we’re looking from the site owner’s perspective, they will see that the one making the request to visit their website is actually the server, not you. That way, you can sneak into their website to do anything you want to do.
Change VPN to Proxy Servers Using Phyton
In order to change VPN to proxy servers, you’ll have to request a library through a proxy. After that, you can fill in the proxy object with the details obtained from the VPN provider. The steps could be a bit complicated if you’re not familiar with how proxy works.
Using VPN + Proxy Simultaneously
It’s possible to turn a VPN into a Proxy Server with these methods:
1. Connect VPN Client with a Proxy
If you want to use both of them simultaneously, you can do the steps below:
- The first thing you have to do is to buy a VPN subscription
- Download the VPN to your computer
- Now open the VPN’s control panel, and go to Settings
- After that, select Proxy
- Now you can enter the proxy details in this section.
2. Tweaking Proxy in Browser
The next method is to tweak the proxy in the browser. For this section, we’ll use Firefox as an example.
- Get the VPN add-on for your browser (Firefox)
- Select Settings
- Find the Network Settings tab
- Select Settings again
- Now you can select the proxy type, and customize the settings there
- After you complete, connect to a VPN
- Now you’ll be browsing using a proxy server
By using the proxy server, now you can browse more safely.
3. Adjusting VPN Proxy Settings
The Proxy settings can also be adjusted through Windows settings. Here’s what you need to do:
- The first thing to do is to set up the VPN connection through Windows
- Click the Start button, and find Network Connections
- Click VPN
- Now you can pick your VPN connection, and adjust it by clicking Advanced options
- Scroll until you can find VPN proxy settings
- You may any option from automatically detecting settings, manual setup, or using a script
- Fill in the necessary information
- Simply connect the VPN