What Are Proxies for Bots: Everything You Need To Know

If you’ve decided to enter the cooking fray, hoping to score a W on the next hyped drop, you’ve probably figured out you need proxies for your bot. Proxies are complicated, and it’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the jargon. What are the different types of proxies used for, and which is the best for you? In this article, we’ll tell you everything you need to know to pick out the best proxies for your shoe drops.

Proxies For Bots Defined

Before we jump into the best types of proxies, let’s back up and talk about what they are and why you need them for your sneaker bot. A proxy refers to a proxy IP address or a proxy server. The terms are often used interchangeably, although there is some difference. Your IP address is connected to your physical location and tells the server where you’re located. It’s not as precise as your physical address (that would be creepy), but it identifies your general area.

Your computer sends a request to the proxy server. The proxy server attaches a different IP address to the request and then sends it to the website. The website responds to the proxy server, which sends the response back to you.

There are many reasons you might not want someone to know your actual IP address. You might value your privacy and anonymity, or you might be trying to get around geoblocks to access information that’s not available in your area. In the case of shoe bots, you need proxies to avoid getting banned.

As you know, bots give you an advantage when copping sneakers. Manufacturers and retailers want to block bots to level the playing field. They do this by running anti-bot programs and automatically blocking IP addresses associated with bot-like behavior. If a website sees that your IP address is sending hundreds of simultaneous requests, which is not something a human can do, it will ban you.

Proxies get around these bans by using a different IP address for each request. Instead of sending 75 requests from one IP address, the proxy server will send one from 75 separate IP addresses.

Different Types of Sneaker Proxies

Now that you have the general idea of proxies, we’ll get into which proxies are best for copping sneakers. The main types of proxies you’ll hear about when looking for sneaker proxies are residential, ISP and data center.

Residential proxies

Residential proxies are just like your IP address at home. They were issued to a user by an internet service provider (ISP). The user agrees to let you use their IP address to make your connection, so it looks like your request is coming from their device.

Data center proxies

Data center proxies originate from a data center. These are cheap, plentiful, and easy to get, so they seem like a great option when you’re going to need a lot of proxy IP addresses. Unfortunately, they’re also easily identifiable as data proxies, which most people don’t use and is an immediate red flag. Data center proxies may be the right choice in other use cases, but are not ideal when it comes to copping sneakers.

ISP proxies

There is another type of proxy that you can use for sneaker botting. ISP proxies are like a cross between residential and data center proxies. They originate in a data center, but an internet service provider issues them. They have the authority of residential and ban prevention along with data center speeds and availability! This will be the best option when copping sneakers.

Proxy pools

No matter which type of proxy you use, you’re likely to get banned if you don’t use it correctly. Replacing your IP address with a proxy IP address and then sending hundreds of requests to a server will result in your shiny new proxy IP address getting banned. The way around this is a pool of proxies. With a pool, you have many proxy IP addresses you rotate through, sending a new one with each request.

Why You Should Use ISP Proxies for Sneakers

ISP proxies have several advantages that make them ideal for sneaker botting. Some benefits include:

The authority of residential proxies

ISP Proxies look like ordinary users, so most sites are reluctant to ban them. Since they’re easily identifiable as atypical, data center proxies are much more likely to get banned. Some sites ban an entire subnet when they detect suspicious activity from a data center IP address. This means your entire proxy pool may get banned if you don’t have enough subnet diversity.

Because ISP proxies are sourced from ASNs, your request looks like it’s coming from our partners such as Verizon and Comcast. This authenticity mimics real user behavior, so your bot can avoid detection. By using ISP proxies and adjusting the speed settings on your bot, you can drastically limit the possibility you’ll get banned.

Unlimited copping

Most sneaker drops set a limit of one per customer, and using ISP proxies lets you bypass those limitations. When you set up your bot to use ISP proxies, the website thinks each purchase comes from a different address, and you can purchase as many pairs of shoes as you want. However, you’ll need to combine proxies with other strategies to accomplish this.

In addition to ISP proxies, you’ll need to jig your address. This means you change your address slightly to appear different but not enough to have your package sent to the wrong place. Another tool you’ll need is a virtual credit card. This allows you to link multiple card numbers to one account. In addition to limiting sneaker sales to one per address, many sites limit sales to one per credit card. Virtual credit cards let you get by this limit as well.

 Additional security

The internet is full of bad actors trying to intercept your data and steal your personal information, such as credit card numbers. A proxy acts as a firewall between you and the internet. Bad actors don’t have direct access to your device. Proxies also provide security by protecting your actual IP address. Although it would be hard for someone to pinpoint your precise location with only your IP address, they could find the general area.

When you use ISP proxies, it won’t be obvious you aren’t using your real IP address. You can use this geolocation feature to make it appear you’re located in another area for sneaker copping. If you’re trying to cop sneakers that are geo restricted, you can use a local proxy.

Faster copping

Using ISP proxies with your sneaker bots lets you repeatedly query the website. This feature, called scraping, is what allows your bot to cop a pair of sneakers the instant they’re dropped. This continuous scraping can quickly get you banned. However, when using ISP proxies, you can send as many requests as you want because they all appear to originate somewhere different.

This is a handy feature for hyped drops. When you know the date but not the time of the drop, you can set your bot to scrape all day, so you don’t have to keep manually checking.

You can also use proxies to cop faster by choosing a proxy that’s physically close to the server you’re targeting. Although your computer seems to process requests almost instantaneously, there’s a slight delay while you wait for a response. Using a proxy IP address closer to the server can shorten that wait time.

Proxies can cache information, which means they store it to respond quickly. Instead of having to relay information back to you and wait for your response, the proxy can respond immediately if your information has been cached.

Rayobyte Proxies

If you’re looking for the most reliable proxies on the planet, Rayobyte’s ISP proxies are the answer. We’ve partnered with five top companies around the globe to maximize redundancy and reduce bans. If a site does ban an entire ASN, we’ll rotate to another to quickly get you back up and running. We have many locations so that you can target for the fastest possible response time.

If you decide to go with residential proxies we have you covered there, too. We offer many ethically sourced residential proxies that will get your sneaker bot up and cooking as fast as possible. Some benefits of our residential proxies include:

• Avoid CAPTCHAs and other anti-bot technology
• Target specific countries
• No limit on concurrent connections
• Fewest bans of any proxies

Conclusion

Using the right proxies will speed up your cooking and help you cop your grail. Although data center and residential proxies can get the job done, you should use ISP proxies for the best results. Their authority, security, and effectiveness will give you the best possible results.

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