Windows Socks5 Proxy Server
How to use Windows 10 SOCKS5 proxy settings
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SOCKS5 is a proxy server that can hide your IP address and make you anonymous online. You can use it to circumvent Internet blocks and access restricted can use Windows 10 proxy settings by configuring the built-in system options. Alternatively, you can download and install third-party software like Shadowsocks or a VPN with SOCKS5 our Proxy Server section to find out more about this our VPN Troubleshooting Hub to fix more VPN-related issues.
Windows 10 has built-in SOCKS5 proxy settings, but you can also set it up on your PC through other means. Find out how.
What is SOCKS proxy?
SOCKS is an Internet protocol that sends and receives data packets through a proxy server, which assigns a different IP address before the information reaches its destination.
Unlike a VPN, a proxy server doesn’t encrypt the network traffic, so you can take advantage of data protection against man-in-the-middle attacks.
What is SOCKS5 and why should you use it?
SOCKS5 is the latest SOCKS version. Compared to its predecessors like SOCKS4, SOCKS5 brings more security and authentication methods.
Here’s what you can do with a SOCKS5 proxy server:
Circumvent Internet blocks to access sites restricted to your true IP address
Use web-enabled applications that run under various request types: HTTP and HTTPS (web browsing), POP3 and SMTP (email), FTP (torrent and other peer-to-peer clients).
Make your Internet connection faster and more reliable by using not only TCP but also UDP.
Improve your performance by reducing errors caused by rewritten data packet headers.
Speed up downloads in torrenting and other P2P clients by transferring smaller data packets.
How do I use SOCKS5 proxy settings on Windows 10?
Internet Options
Go to Control Panel > Internet Options.
Switch to the Connections tab.
Click LAN settings.
Enable Use a proxy server for your LAN.
Activate Bypass proxy server for local addresses.
Click Advanced.
Disable Use the same proxy server for all protocols.
At Socks, specify the server address and port of the SOCKS5 proxy.
Delete everything at HTTP, Secure, and FTP.
Click OK > Apply.
You can configure SOCKS5 proxy settings in Windows 10 without having to install any additional software. Plus, the setup applies to all software applications with Internet access, not just your web browser.
Mozilla Firefox
Download Firefox and install it on Windows 10.
Click the ≡ button and go to Options.
In the General tab, scroll down to Network Settings.
Click Settings.
Select Manual proxy configuration.
Set SOCKS5 Host and Port to the server address and port of the SOCKS5 proxy.
Select SOCKS5 v5.
Click OK.
If you prefer using a web browser with SOCKS5 proxy instead of the entire computer, Firefox is your best bet. While using Firefox for SOCKS5, you can use any other browser for direct Internet connections.
Firefox is one of the few web browsers that have individual proxy settings, unlike Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, or Opera.
If you wish to regularly switch SOCKS5 proxy servers, you can install a Firefox extension like FoxyProxy.
Shadowsocks
Go to the Shadowsocks page.
Download the latest version for Windows 10.
Unzip the archive and run the executable file.
Set the IP address, port, and password of the SOCKS5 proxy.
Right-click the Shadowsocks systray icon.
Select System Proxy > Global.
Shadowsocks is a SOCKS5 proxy client that can be easily installed on Windows 10 to use SOCKS5 proxy settings. It runs in the systray and can be quickly configured, enabled, and disabled.
Furthermore, Shadowsocks features several encryption methods to make up for the fact that SOCKS5 doesn’t have one, including 256-bit AES military-grade encryption.
In addition to security, a huge benefit of using Shadowsocks is that it applies the SOCKS5 proxy settings globally to Windows 10. As such, all Internet-enabled programs will use it.
uTorrent
Download uTorrent on your Windows PC.
Install the torrent client and launch it.
Open the Options menu and select Preferences.
Go to Connection.
Set Proxy Server Type to Socks5.
Set Proxy and Port to the server address and port of the SOCKS5 proxy.
Click Apply.
On Windows 10 and other operating systems, you can configure SOCKS5 proxy settings directly in a torrent client to make your IP address anonymous and protect your true identity in the torrent swarm.
Private Internet Access
Sign up for a PIA subscription plan.
Download and install PIA for Windows 10.
Right-click PIA’s systray icon and go to Settings.
Switch to the Proxy tab.
Select Shadowsocks, click Configure, and choose a location.
Or, choose SOCKS5 Proxy, click Configure, and set the SOCKS5 proxy details.
Left-click PIA’s systray icon.
Press the big power button to connect to a VPN server.
If you want to not only spoof your IP address but also encrypt your traffic, use a VPN like PIA with a SOCKS5 proxy at the same time.
In Shadowsocks mode, you can connect the VPN server to a second location for increased privacy and security. It’s similar to using a double VPN to stay connected to two VPN servers at once.
In SOCKS5 proxy mode, you simply specify the connection details of a SOCKS5 proxy server. It’s the custom alternative to Shadowsocks mode, but it’s a bit more complicated.
Check out how to correctly use PIA SOCKS5 proxy.
Use PIA to stay connected to a VPN and a SOCKS5 proxy server at the same time.
To summarize, you can easily set up SOCKS5 proxy settings on Windows 10 using the built-in system options.
However, it’s also possible to resort to other methods, like configuring Firefox, uTorrent or Shadowsocks settings.
But the best solution is to use VPN and SOCKS5 at the same time with the help of Private Internet Access.
Your connection is not secure – websites you visit can find out your details:
Your IP Address:182. 253. 98. 213
Companies can sell this information, alongside your location and internet provider name, and profit from it by serving targeted ads or monitoring your data usage.
We recommend Private Internet Access, a VPN with a no-log policy, open source code, ad blocking and much more; now 79% off.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you use SOCKS5?
You can use SOCKS5 on Windows 10 by configuring system settings or by turning to alternative methods that require additional software.
Is SOCKS5 a VPN?
No, SOCKS5 is a proxy server. Unlike a VPN, a proxy server can’t encrypt your data traffic. However, you can use a VPN and proxy together.
SOCKS proxy server for Windows – Software …
I am looking for a program that can:
provide a SOCKS proxy server
support Windows 7
require no or little configuration
asked May 10 ’14 at 19:06
3proxy. Very small console program, can do a lot. Free & opensource, cross platform. A proxy server is created with an 1 line config.
answered May 12 ’14 at 1:13
Smit JohnthSmit Johnth4791 gold badge3 silver badges13 bronze badges
9
You can use CCProxy:
non-free
provides SOCKS v5 server:
nothing to be configured except allowing the IP of the clients:
support many other protocol:
To connect to it, e. g., in Firefox:
answered May 10 ’14 at 19:06
2
WinGate has had SOCKS support for many years. The current version supports:
SOCKS4
SOCKS4a
SOCKS5, including support for UDP, and plaintext and GSSAPI (Active Directory integrated *) authentication
Policy/Events support allows you to modify Connect, Bind and UDP associate requests, so you can divert connections where you like.
Connections can be intercepted to other proxies (for example the caching web proxy, or mail proxies) so that HTTP (and even HTTPS) over SOCKS can benefit from caching and AV scanning.
Connections can also be gatewayed via an upstream SOCKS4, SOCKS4a or HTTP tunneling proxy.
WinGate has a free license for 10 concurrent users or you can purchase a license if you need more users or features.
Feature Breakdown by license
* You need an enterprise license for AD support.
Disclaimer: I work for Qbik, the authors of WinGate
answered May 27 ’16 at 2:33
AdrienAdrien4242 silver badges10 bronze badges
0
Another more simple solution is FearGate – small and fast SOCKS5 and SOCKS4 proxy server, TCP and UDP protocol port mapper. Supports access restrictions and traffic monitor. Number of running servers is unlimited as long your resources can handle.
Demo is available for testing, uptime is limited to 30 minutes. Unlimited version single user lifetime license price is 50 € or Equivalent of 50 € in BTC.
Screenshots:
answered Sep 29 ’20 at 16:08
1
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jgaa/shinysocks: A small, ultrafast SOCKS proxy server. – GitHub
Mission Statement
*To create a small, ultrafast SOCKS proxy server.
Background
I sometimes use VPN. In one case, I have a VPN access only
from a Windows 7 virtual machine trough some proprietary
“security by obscurity” VPN software. In order to work
efficiently, I need to connect my Linux workstation to that
VPN. Network routing and IP forwarding seems not to work,
so the second best option in my case is SOCKS. Socks
trough Putty works, kind of. It’s slow and unreliable.
I tried a few free SOCKS servers. Neither of them worked, so
therefore I’m spending a few hours writing my own.
Blog posts mentioning the project
My blog
Current State
The project is currently in maintainance mode. It just works.
The SOCKS server works for SOCKS 4, 4a and 5 under
Linux and Windows (compiled under Windows 7 with Visual
Studio 2015 RC and Boost 1. 58). IPv6 and binding (reverse
connections) are not yet supported.
How I use it
I start ShinySOCKS on the command-line () in a Windows or Linux
VM with VPN. Then I ssh to whatever servers on the VPN network
I desire – using ShinySOCKS as a proxy.
From Linux:
$ ssh -o ProxyCommand=’nc -x 192. 168. 0. 10:1080%h%p’ jgaa@cool-server
For accessing intranet web pages over the VPN, I some times
use the Foxy Proxy Firefox plugin.
It simplifies things, and make my work-flow smooth. This also
improves my privacy, as the VPN host will only see the web traffic
going to the intranet sites.
Docker
You can also pull a Docker image
with the server from Docker Hub.
docker pull jgaafromnorth/shinysocks
License
ShinySOCKS is released under GPLv3.
It is Free. Free as in speech. Free as in Free Air.
Frequently Asked Questions about windows socks5 proxy server
How do I setup a SOCKS5 proxy?
Click the Apple icon at the top left of the menu bar on your screen and select System Preferences. Select Network and then Proxies. Click the Advanced button to access the Network settings and navigate to the Proxies tab. Click the SOCKS Proxy checkbox and enter the host and port information.Jan 12, 2017
What is the best proxy for SOCKS5?
The best VPNs for SOCKS5 – In-depth AnalysisNordVPN. www.nordvpn.com. NordVPN is a reliable VPN that provides security, privacy. … Private Internet Access. www.privateinternetaccess.com. … IPVanish. www.ipvanish.com. … Hide.me. www.hide.me. … Windscribe. Windscribe provide a SOCKS5 proxy on their premium plan.Sep 29, 2021
What is a SOCKS5 proxy server?
A SOCKs5 proxy is a lightweight, general-purpose proxy that sits at layer 5 of the OSI model and uses a tunneling method. It supports various types of traffic generated by protocols, such as HTTP, SMTP and FTP. SOCKs5 is faster than a VPN and easy to use.Sep 27, 2019
