Glossary · Protocols & authentication
Proxy authentication
How a proxy verifies you are allowed to use it, most commonly by username and password or by allowing specific source IPs.
Proxy authentication is the gate that stops a private proxy from being an open one. A paid proxy has to know that a request is coming from a paying customer, and it establishes that in one of two ways: credentials sent with the connection, or recognition of the address the request comes from.
The credentials route, a username and password passed with each connection, travels with you. It works from any network, which is why it suits laptops, changing locations and cloud jobs that do not have a fixed address of their own.
The address route, IP whitelisting, trusts a connection because of where it originates rather than what it carries. It is frictionless once set up but tied to a stable source address. Most providers support both, and the right choice is really about whether your own address stays put.
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