What Rotating Proxies Are and How To Use Them

Have you ever faced IP bans while scraping data or managing multiple accounts? That's why rotating proxies are necessary in various online activities. In this blog, we'll cover what rotating proxies are, and—most importantly—how to use them effectively. We hope it can help you understand how to configure rotating proxies in various environments and program languages to suit your needs.

What Are Rotating Proxies

Rotating proxies are a type of proxies that automatically change the IP address assigned to each web request or after a set period. When you request, the server assigns a new IP address from a pool of available IPs. This proxy rotation is the key to avoiding detection, bypassing geo-restrictions, and mitigating the risk of getting banned or throttled by websites.

Ideal for tasks requiring anonymity and high-volume requests, such as:

• Web scraping: Gathering data from websites.
• SEO monitoring: Tracking keyword rankings across different regions.
• Ad verification: Ensuring ads are displayed correctly in various locations.
• Managing multiple accounts: Operating several social media or e-commerce accounts without triggering platform restrictions.

Types of Rotating Proxies

1. Datacenter Rotating Proxies

Datacenter proxies are generated from data centers.

Pros:

• Cost-Effective: Generally cheaper than residential proxies.
• High Speed: Often provide faster connection speeds due to their infrastructure.
• Scalability: Easy to scale up for large scraping tasks.

Cons:

• Detection Risk: More likely to be flagged or blocked by websites.
• Less Anonymity: Easier to identify as proxies since their IP addresses are not tied to real users.

2. Residential Rotating Proxies

Residential rotating proxies use homeowners’ IP addresses provided by ISPs. Speeds can vary based on the residential connection quality.

Pros:

• High Anonymity: More difficult for websites to identify as proxies.
• Less Likely to be Blocked: Better suited for scraping and accessing geo-restricted content.

Cons:

• Higher Cost: Typically more expensive than datacenter proxies.

3. Mobile Rotating Proxies

Mobile proxies use IP addresses from mobile carriers.

Pros:

• Geo-Targeting: Ideal for mobile app testing and accessing mobile-specific content.
• High Anonymity: Less likely to be detected like residential proxies.

Cons:

• Cost: Generally most expensive among the three types.
• Limited Availability: Fewer options available compared to the other two types.

Static vs Rotating Proxies: A Comparison

Feature	Rotating Proxies	Static Proxies
IP Address	Changes frequently (per request or at set intervals)	Fixed for the duration of the session
Anonymity	Higher, harder to track	Lower, easier to track
Ideal Use Case	Web scraping, ad verification, bypassing geo-restrictions	Account management, secure sessions
Risk of IP Ban	Lower, as each request uses a different IP	Higher, since the IP doesn’t change
Session Persistence	Challenging, requires additional configuration for sessions	Excellent for maintaining consistent sessions
Scalability	Highly scalable, suitable for high-volume tasks	Less scalable, suitable for low-volume tasks
Setup Complexity	More complex, requires managing a pool of IPs	Easier to set up

Rotating proxies excel in scenarios where anonymity, scalability, and avoiding bans are essential, such as web scraping and high-volume data collection. Static proxies provide a stable, consistent identity, making them ideal for tasks that require session persistence or account management.

If you’re unsure which type to choose, feel free to contact us directly with your task, and we will provide professional advice.

How to Use Rotating Proxies

Using rotating proxies involves configuring your system or application to route traffic through a proxy server that automatically rotates IP addresses. This section will cover how to set up rotating proxies across different platforms, browsers, tools, and programming languages.

Setting Up Rotating Proxies in a Proxy Client

A proxy client helps manage proxy settings across your entire system or specific applications. One popular tool is FoxyProxy, which integrates directly into your browser. Here’s how to configure it:

1. Install FoxyProxy: Download and install the FoxyProxy extension for Chrome or Firefox.

2. Add a New Proxy: Open FoxyProxy and click "Add New Proxy."

3. Enter Proxy Details: Input the proxy IP address, port, and authentication details (username and password) provided by your rotating proxy service.

4. Enable Proxy Rotation: If your proxy provider supports automatic rotation, make sure it’s enabled. Alternatively, you can manually add multiple proxies and instruct FoxyProxy to rotate through them.

5. Activate Proxy: After proxy configuration, enable the proxy in your browser settings. All your browsing traffic will now be routed through rotating proxies.

Setting Up Rotating Proxies for Web Browsers

If you want to manually set up rotating proxies in your browser, here’s an example for Google Chrome and Firefox.

Google Chrome

1. Open Chrome Settings: Click the three dots in the upper-right corner, then Settings > Advanced.

2. Open Proxy Settings: Click Open your computer’s proxy settings under System.

3. Enter Proxy Information: In the proxy settings window, input the IP address and port number. If required, add the username and password for authentication.

4. Save and Apply: Once saved, Chrome will route all traffic through the rotating proxy.

Firefox

1. Open Net Settings: Open Firefox and go to Preferences > General > Network Settings.

2. Manual Proxy Configuration: Select Manual Proxy Configuration and enter the details of your rotating proxy service.

3. Apply Settings: Save the settings, and your browser traffic will now be routed through rotating proxies.

Setting Up Rotating Proxies in Web Scraping Tools

Web scraping often involves making thousands of requests to a website, a task that can easily result in your IP being blocked. Setting up rotating proxies ensures that each request is made from a different IP address, significantly reducing the chances of detection.

Scrapy

Scrapy is a popular web scraping framework that can easily be configured to use rotating proxies. Here’s how to set it up:

1. Install Scrapy: Please install Scrapy using pip

For copy:

pip install scrapy

2. Configure Proxy Middleware: Add the following middleware to your settings.py file

For copy:

DOWNLOADER_MIDDLEWARES = {

    'scrapy.downloadermiddlewares.httpproxy.HttpProxyMiddleware': 1,

    'scrapy.downloadermiddlewares.useragent.UserAgentMiddleware': None,

}

3. Add a Proxy List: Define a list of rotating proxies

For copy:

ROTATING_PROXY_LIST = [

    'http://proxy1:port',

    'http://proxy2:port',

    'http://proxy3:port'

]

4. Run the Scraper: Scrapy will now rotate through the proxies in your list, allowing you to perform large-scale scraping without getting blocked.

Beautiful Soup

If you’re using Beautiful Soup for web scraping, you can combine it with the requests library to use rotating proxies. Here’s a basic setup:

For copy:

import requests

from bs4 import BeautifulSoup

 

proxies = {

    "http": "http://proxy1:port",

    "https": "http://proxy1:port",

}

 

response = requests.get('http://example.com', proxies=proxies)

soup = BeautifulSoup(response.content, 'html.parser')

print(soup.prettify())

To automatically rotate proxies, you can create a pool of proxies and select one randomly for each request.

For copy:

import random

 

proxy_pool = [

    {"http": "http://proxy1:port", "https": "http://proxy1:port"},

    {"http": "http://proxy2:port", "https": "http://proxy2:port"}

]

 

proxy = random.choice(proxy_pool)

response = requests.get('http://example.com', proxies=proxy)

Setting Up Rotating Proxies in Programming Languages

If you’re a developer working on an application that requires rotating proxies, the following sections provide code examples for setting them up in different programming languages.

How to Set Up Rotating Proxies in Python

Use the requests module to send web requests through rotating proxies. Here’s how you can set it up:

For copy:

import requests

 

proxies = {

    "http": "http://proxy1:port",

    "https": "http://proxy2:port",

}

 

response = requests.get("http://example.com", proxies=proxies)

print(response.content)

To rotate proxies automatically, use a list of proxies and randomly select one for each request:

For copy:

import random

 

proxy_pool = [

    {"http": "http://proxy1:port", "https": "http://proxy1:port"},

    {"http": "http://proxy2:port", "https": "http://proxy2:port"}

]

 

proxy = random.choice(proxy_pool)

response = requests.get("http://example.com", proxies=proxy)

How to Use Rotating Proxies in Java

Use the HttpURLConnection class to make requests through rotating proxies. Here’s an example:

For copy:

import java.net.HttpURLConnection;

import java.net.InetSocketAddress;

import java.net.Proxy;

import java.net.URL;

 

Proxy proxy = new Proxy(Proxy.Type.HTTP, new InetSocketAddress("proxy1", port));

HttpURLConnection connection = (HttpURLConnection) new URL("http://example.com").openConnection(proxy);

connection.setRequestMethod("GET");

int responseCode = connection.getResponseCode();

To rotate proxies, maintain a list of proxies and iterate through them:

For copy:

List<Proxy> proxies = Arrays.asList(

    new Proxy(Proxy.Type.HTTP, new InetSocketAddress("proxy1", port)),

    new Proxy(Proxy.Type.HTTP, new InetSocketAddress("proxy2", port))

);

 

for (Proxy proxy : proxies) {

    HttpURLConnection connection = (HttpURLConnection) new URL("http://example.com").openConnection(proxy);

    int responseCode = connection.getResponseCode();

}

How to Set Up Rotating Proxies in C#

Use the HttpWebRequest class to make web requests through rotating proxies. Here’s the basic setup:

For copy:

WebProxy proxy = new WebProxy("http://proxy1:port", true);

HttpWebRequest request = (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create("http://example.com");

request.Proxy = proxy;

HttpWebResponse response = (HttpWebResponse)request.GetResponse();

To rotate proxies in C#, iterate through a list of proxies:

For copy:

List<WebProxy> proxyList = new List<WebProxy>()

{

    new WebProxy("http://proxy1:port", true),

    new WebProxy("http://proxy2:port", true)

};

 

foreach (var proxy in proxyList)

{

    HttpWebRequest request = (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create("http://example.com");

    request.Proxy = proxy;

    HttpWebResponse response = (HttpWebResponse)request.GetResponse();

}

How to Use Rotating Proxies in Node.js

Configure rotating proxies using the Axios or request library. Here’s an example using Axios:

For copy:

const axios = require('axios');

const HttpsProxyAgent = require('https-proxy-agent');

 

const proxy1 = new HttpsProxyAgent('http://proxy1:port');

const proxy2 = new HttpsProxyAgent('http://proxy2:port');

 

axios.get('http://example.com', { httpAgent: proxy1 })

  .then(response => {

    console.log(response.data);

  });

To automate proxy rotation, you can create an array of proxy agents and randomly select one for each request:

For copy:

const proxies = [

  new HttpsProxyAgent('http://proxy1:port'),

  new HttpsProxyAgent('http://proxy2:port')

];

 

const randomProxy = proxies[Math.floor(Math.random() * proxies.length)];

 

axios.get('http://example.com', { httpAgent: randomProxy })

  .then(response => {

    console.log(response.data);

  });

Setting Up Rotating Proxies in a VPN or Proxy Service

Some VPNs and proxy services offer rotating proxies as part of their service. Here’s how to set up rotating proxies with these services:

1. Sign Up: Choose a proxy provider that supports rotating proxies.

2. Download the Client: Install the client software or configure your system to use the proxy API.

3. Enable IP Rotation: Most services allow you to set rotation intervals (e.g., rotate after each request or every minute).

4. Start Using: Finish configuration and all your network traffic will be routed through rotating IP addresses.

Common Issues and How to Fix Them

• Slow Proxy Performance: Try switching to a different proxy server or upgrading to a premium proxy service.
• IP Ban Despite Using Rotating Proxies: Ensure that you are rotating proxies frequently enough and that the proxy pool is large enough to avoid reusing the same IPs too often.
• Authentication Failure: Double-check the username and password. Verify the API key is configured correctly if using an API.

How to Know If My Proxies Are Rotating Proxies

You can check if your proxies are rotating by looking at the IP address assigned to each request. If the IP changes with every new request or after a set number of requests, then you’re using rotating proxies. Some proxy services also provide dashboards to monitor the IP rotation patterns.

Get a Free Trial for Our Rotating Proxies

Managing a pool of proxies manually can be time-consuming and error-prone. Using a rotating proxy service automates the process, ensuring seamless IP rotation, high uptime, and reliable access to geo-restricted content.

MacroProxy rotating proxy service offers global IP coverage, including USA rotating proxies, India rotating proxies, and more. Whether you need datacenter proxies or residential proxies, we’ve got you covered.

Ready to experience seamless proxy rotation? Sign up for your free trial today and start with our easy-to-use rotating proxies! Cover 195 countries and regions. Support HTTP, HTTPS, and SOCKS5. If you have any questions during use, our customer service is available 24/7 to help.