What is the difference between a Proxy and a VPN?
A virtual private network (VPN) is a network that protects user identifications by redirecting traffic and helps you connect to a remote computer. If we are talking about a proxy, it also does the same job as the VPN. But there is a difference. This guide helps you find the difference between a proxy and a VPN. Also, that explains why the VPN is a more reliable and powerful service than the proxy service, so read on.
Difference between a proxy and a VPN
With advanced technology and modern digitization, the Internet has become one of the most essential services that play a big role in all aspects of our lives. And for this reason, we do almost all big and small jobs over the Internet. But it can’t be denied either that the Internet nowadays seems like a scary place where we are surrounded by lots of malware and ransomware. They are still trying to intrude into devices when browsing or downloading files.
In order to refrain from these spy things, we use VPN software or a proxy service which offers a higher level of privacy. Both services allow you to access Internet services anonymously by hiding the Internet Protocol address in different ways.
So the question arises that if proxy servers and VPN connections are doing the same job, then why are they called different. Basically they are different and here the similarities end.
What is a proxy server?
Proxy software makes it easier for people to overcome Internet censorship. It can make you anonymous on the Internet, making connections more secure and private.
A proxy server is a server that acts as an intermediary between your computer and the server you are trying to access. In this case, the websites cannot detect your original IP address and it seems to come from any other location.
For example, suppose you are currently in the city of Mumbai and need to access the website which is limited only to people located in the United States. In this case, you must connect to a proxy server located in the United States. After that, log on to this website. In this way, the traffic from your web browser seems to come from the remote computer.
The proxy service is very useful for regionally restricted websites and is very reliable for the task related to low stakes. As we mentioned earlier, the proxy server uses an anonymous network ID, so it bypasses simple content filters and services that are based on IP restrictions.
To make it clearer, let’s take an example. Suppose you are five friends and you are playing an online game where you receive a daily in-game incentive bonus when you vote for the game server on a server ranking site. But according to the game policy, you can only vote with your IP address even if other player names are used. Fortunately, there is a proxy service that allows the five friends to easily connect to their vote and get the in-game incentive bonus. This can happen because each person’s web browser appears to be from any other IP address.
Besides these positive points, the proxy server also has drawbacks. The proxy server is not very reliable for high-level tasks. Although it hides the IP address and works like a dumb man is in the middle of Internet traffic. However, it does not support encryption protection to encrypt data between your device and the proxy server. As a result, a skilled and experienced programmer can quickly block and retain sensitive data in transit.
The proxy service is essentially based on an application by application. This means that you cannot configure the entire PC when connecting to the proxy.
There are two main types of proxy commonly used. These proxy server protocols are HTTP and SOCKS. The HTTP proxy is the oldest and most widely used proxy server. It was designed primarily for web traffic so that it can easily detect suspicious content. The most interesting thing about an HTTP proxy is that it allows you to protect encryption using the SSL certificate, while the SOCKS server does not support encryption security.
Lily: Free proxy software for Windows 10.
What is a VPN server?
A VPN or a virtual private network is essential to remain invisible or anonymous on the net, it will encrypt all the data that your device sends so that it is not hackable. It hides and protects your online identity.
Virtual Private Networks is somewhat similar to the proxy server, with this it also provides an additional layer of privacy and security for Internet activity. VPN operates at the operating system level where it occupies the entire traffic connection of the computer on which it is configured. This means that the VPN captures network traffic from every application running on your computer that extends far beyond a single web browser.
In addition, the VPN server encrypts network traffic between the Internet and the computer through which the whole process goes through an extremely encrypted tunnel. It provides 100% assurance for the protection of the data of Internet service providers and for Intruder’s prying eyes on Internet activity. And in this way, the sensitive and private information of each user would be preserved.
Because of all these advantageous services, it makes the VPN the most ideal server for any type of high-level network use. Although VPN offers high security, it does have some drawbacks. The VPN is a server slower than the proxy and it is because of the state of the encrypted connection. In addition, in order to use full encryption protection, the VPN usually comes with a paid version while the proxy servers are free.
Lily: Free VPN software for Windows 10.
VPN vs proxy
The real difference between a proxy and a VPN is that a proxy service allows you to hide your IP address (Internet Protocol) and redirect all network connections anonymously. While a VPN connection has major advantages over the proxy. It not only hides your IP address, but also provides better network encryption between the computer and its servers so that no spy or hacker can damage your device.