Newb Question regarding VPN vs Proxy

Hey BHW, newb to VPN and Proxies, just wondering what is different from the two? When would you need one versus the other? When obtaining a VPN or proxies do you want the location of them to be in the same region as yourself, or a completely different country?

proxy - configured in your web browser or other program to have that program go out through the other connection. The proxy may or may not reveal who you are.

VPN - Generally uses separate software on your computer to put you on a different network. You don't need to configure your web browser or other programs, any normal traffic attempting to leave will go through the vpn thus appearing to come from that address. Less likely to reveal who you really are.

So, but does one obtain a proxy to use a VPN on? Thanks again for answering!

Sorry if this isn't very comprehensible

Proxies and VPNs are generally separate things, though you could technically connect to a vpn and then still use a proxy

If you want to use a vpn, then you need to use a special vpn client and connect to a vpn service. You generally wouldn't be able to have the vpn client connect to a regular proxy address you'd find on here.

There are ways to tunnel a vpn over a proxy, if for example you need to use a proxy to get onto the internet, you could tunnel your vpn through your proxy

Free proxies are generally a whole lot easier to find than free vpns as there is less required on the server.

There are also proxy websites you can go to that are like a dumb-downed version where you don't need to change your browser settings. You go to their site and their page is like a proxied browser inside your browser.


As to your original location question, it depends what you're trying to do/hide. Having things close is generally faster, but if you're trying to really hide things you want to make sure it's fully anonymous, etc, as most proxies give away your info in the headers. If you're trying to access geo-located content, then you'd want a proxy that's in the area you want to access. For example, if you're in the US but want to access certain content on the BBC that's available in Britain/Europe only, you'd want a proxy over there.

Thanks for that, Arche. I'm personally getting into Craigslist these days, and it's mega-confusing off the bat!

VPN is better because of the encryption it provides which gives you greater anonymity than a proxy. A proxy basically makes a request to the target server on your behalf and then sends you the data. That makes it easier to trace. VPN on the other hand taps into a public communications infrastructure which basically makes it look like you're part of whichever network you're tapping into. That makes it much harder to trace. Of course this also means that VPN is the more expensive alternative.

here is a list of free proxy
Note: sorry I don't have permission to enter url
google: hidemyass, when on their website select "proxy-list"

if you want to use them for a short time, you are good to go, otherwise you need to buy them
(after a short period of time these proxy will be use less, but they refreashs this list every minute)

most private proxy companys wont allow you to use there proxies say for ebay but with vpn they allow you....theres good things for both vpn and proxies,,if u want to be more secure use both