How can I troubleshoot and resolve common proxy issues?

Start here

Copy the credentials, do not retype them. Paste the IP, port, username and password from your dashboard. Typed details often mix up 1 and l, or 0 and O.
Put the IP and the port in separate fields. If your dashboard shows xx.xx.xx.xxx:5433, the address field takes xx.xx.xx.xxx and the port field takes 5433. Pasting the whole string into the address field is the single most common cause of a proxy that will not connect.
Use one package's credentials at a time. Every package has its own login details. Mixing an IP from one package with the username and password from another will always fail.
Check that your subscription is active. Log in to your account with your registered email address and password — proxy usernames and passwords cannot be used to log in. If a payment is outstanding, the proxies stop working until it is completed.
Allow five minutes after a change. Edits to package settings in your dashboard take effect within five minutes.

The address and the port belong in separate fields

Authentication: pick one method, do not mix them

Username and password — enter both in your browser, extension or application.
IP authorisation (whitelisting) — add your own public IP address in the package settings, then connect with the address and port only, leaving the username and password empty.

Whitelisting is the cure for most authentication problems. If your internet connection gives you a new IP address from time to time, update the whitelisted address when that happens.

How to whitelist your IP address

Log in to your account and open My Proxies, then open the package you want to change.
Go to the Package settings tab.
Enter your own public IP address in the Enter an Authorized IPs box. If you do not know it, search for "what is my IP" with the proxy switched off. To connect from more than one location, put each address on its own line.
Click Save. The change takes effect within five minutes.
In your browser or application, connect with the proxy address and port only, and leave the username and password fields empty.

Package settings: add your own IP address, then Save

You are asked for a username and password over and over

Click Cancel on the prompt and reload the page, then enter the details once more.
Check for a space accidentally copied before or after the username or password.
If this happens in a browser, set the proxy type to HTTP, not SOCKS5. Chrome cannot use SOCKS5 with a username and password at all — only Firefox can.
The reliable fix: whitelist your IP address in the package settings and clear the username and password fields.
On Windows, setting the proxy in system settings rather than in each application also stops the repeated prompts.

Nothing loads at all — timeouts, "no internet", ERR_TUNNEL_CONNECTION_FAILED

Re-check that the port belongs to that exact IP address.
Try an alternative port: 2534, 3389 or 5433. Keep the same IP, username and password and change only the port.
Test the same proxy somewhere else — a different browser or a browser extension. If it works there, the problem is in the first application's settings, not in the proxy.
Turn off any VPN, second proxy tool or routing software such as Proxifier while you test. Two proxy layers at once will block the connection.
If several proxies from the same package fail in the same way, it is probably not your setup — see the next section.

It works in a browser but not in one application

Match the proxy type to what the application supports. Some applications only accept SOCKS5 — if yours needs credentials over SOCKS5 and refuses them, whitelist your IP instead.
Enter the address as numbers only, with no http:// in front.
On Windows, run the application as administrator so it can apply the settings.
Update the application, or reinstall it, and add the proxy again.
Some applications ignore proxy settings completely. Set the proxy inside that application, or route it with a tool such as Proxifier.

A website blocks you, shows captchas, or reports a high fraud score

Open the same website through another proxy in your package. If the second one works, the first IP is the problem, not your configuration.
Request a replacement for that IP — see below.
Repeated captchas on one platform usually mean that platform is rate-limiting the address. A fresh IP, or one in a different location, normally clears it.

The proxy is slow, or the location looks wrong

Speed depends on the distance between you, the proxy, and the servers of the site you are visiting. A proxy far from the target site will always be slower.
Geolocation databases disagree with each other, so two checking tools can report different cities for the same IP address.
The DNS shown by checking tools reflects how the traffic is routed and cannot be changed. If name lookups fail on your device, switch to a reliable DNS resolver in your operating system settings.
If a specific city matters for your work, ask support for a proxy in that location.

Email will not send through the proxy

Outbound SMTP traffic on port 25 is blocked on all our proxies, and sending unsolicited email is not permitted under any circumstances. Mail clients that require port 25 will not work through a proxy.

When the problem is on our side

Upstream network problems at the data centre are usually fixed within a few hours, occasionally up to 12–24 hours.
Contact support to confirm whether an outage is already known, and to ask for a temporary backup proxy while it is being fixed.