Looking for a free proxy server? You better be careful. Free isn't always good. There are hundreds if not thousands of sites online where you can find a free public proxy server. But ask yourself, why do you want to use a proxy server? If it is to remain anonymous or change your IP online, then using a free proxy is probably the worst thing you can possibly do. Free proxy servers can potentially reveal your identity and other confidential information while online.

Free proxies are usually web based and the scripts or software that runs them is typically very simple and basic. Can web based proxies provide some kind of anonymity online? Yes, they can but with a catch. Web based free proxies might be anonymous, but the problem is that they are easily detected as a proxy server. Their simple configuration and setup means that anyone with the right tools (which are easily available) can easily detect if an IP comes from a web based proxy. What does this mean for you if you are using a free proxy while trying to remain anonymous online? It means that any website can easily examine the IP you are using to access their website and see within moments whether or not you are using a proxy server. How easy would it be for them to quickly ban or block any further attempts by you to access the website? This isn't really anonymous and web masters typically do not like IPs coming from known proxy servers accessing their websites.

Even if you are lucky enough to find a free proxy that is anonymous and doesn't reveal itself as a proxy to anyone with the right tools who can examine IPs, web based proxies are infamous for how slow they can be while trying to surf the internet. They are often so slow that it makes using them almost impossible or at the very least extremely painful and time consuming. It can often take several minutes for simple text based web pages to load. In fact, surfing the internet via free proxies can sometimes be much slower than using dial up modems to access the internet. Why can free proxies be so slow? Since they are free, hundreds if not thousands of people are typically all trying to use a free proxy at the same time. This enormous amount of people far exceeds the number of users the proxy server and hosting can physically handle. There isn't enough bandwidth and CPU power to distribute evenly amongst so many users. The end result is that free proxies can basically be impossible to use to surf the internet.

Finding a free public proxy server that is both 100% anonymous and fast is almost impossible or at the very least can be extremely time consuming. Instead of wasting your time on free proxies, look to setting up your own elite proxy server to save you time and frustration. You'll have super fast access to the internet with 100% anonymity and peace of mind.