Using a proxy - what are the benefits?!

ps2mint · 03-01-2006, 16:51

What are the benefits of using a proxy?

Also, if there is a benefit does anybody have a list of all of them?

Many thanks,

Halcyon · 03-01-2006, 16:56

Lots of info about what is a proxy and what they do and a list HERE

**Chris** · 03-01-2006, 17:58

Benefits - for you, very little. In fact, when NTL's proxies go belly up, as they frequently do, you either 'lose' part of the web or you have to manually change to a different proxy that's not broken.

Benefits to NTL - well, keeping a copy of the most popular web pages within their own network makes their service cheaper to run, because they have to access the internet less often to retrieve the pages you ask for. I suppose you could argue that if it's cheaper for NTL to run the service, then it costs you less as well, but in the absence of any evidence that they pass on these savings, it's arguable.

Neil · 03-01-2006, 18:09

*Moved to Proxy Discussion forum*

ian@huth · 03-01-2006, 21:43

If the proxies are working OK they will cache URL requests and make the contents available to anyone using them. That means that the information will be stored much nearer to you than the server which you would normally get it from and there would not be any bandwidth restrictions on how fast you can download from the proxy which might apply if requested from the source server. Congestion on peering links can also be avoided if the information is available in the proxy cache.

04-01-2006, 00:25

I don't know how (or how often) the web pages on the proxy servers are updated, but I used to get "stale" pages sometimes when visiting ntl's own website.

I had to use Ctrl + F5 to get the latest pages.

**Chris** · 04-01-2006, 07:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by XFS03

I don't know how (or how often) the web pages on the proxy servers are updated, but I used to get "stale" pages sometimes when visiting ntl's own website.

I had to use Ctrl + F5 to get the latest pages.

AFAIK this is down to the web page designer - I think there is something you can code into a page that should indicate how often it is updated.

For dynamic sites like this, I think it's the case that the proxies are effectively useless and serve only to slow performance down. Pages are updated all the time and the server is in the US ... page requests therefore go from the user to the proxy, which has then to go to the server and retrieve the page, before returning it to the user.

Neil · 04-01-2006, 08:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by XFS03

I don't know how (or how often) the web pages on the proxy servers are updated, but I used to get "stale" pages sometimes when visiting ntl's own website.

I had to use Ctrl + F5 to get the latest pages.

Have you got IE set to check for newer versions of web pages automatically at every visit?

Tools>Internet Options>Settings (from within I.E)

HTH.

simbr · 04-01-2006, 13:48

The lists maintained by these here forums are more up to date:

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/forum/article.php?c=16

Chrysalis · 05-01-2006, 10:32

For static sites located far away ie. usa news sites there should be an advantage in page loading speed. For dynamic sites especially if in the uk their will likel ybe a detriment in performance. However there can be other problems as well, the proxies often go belly up where sites will timeout etc. you cannot use your own dns servers to lookup www dns requests since the proxies will use their own and there are some sites that are incompatible eg. ebuyer and sites that have anti flood settings and ban ntl proxies.

The advantages to ntl as already stated is they save a shedload on transit costs.

05-01-2006, 10:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neil

Have you got IE set to check for newer versions of web pages automatically at every visit?

Tools>Internet Options>Settings (from within I.E)

HTH.

I can't see that option. Do you mean the settings in the "Advanced" tab?

Using IE 6.

MikeyB · 05-01-2006, 11:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by XFS03

I can't see that option. Do you mean the settings in the "Advanced" tab?

Using IE 6.

What you're after is:
Tools > Internet Options > General Tab > Settings > "Check for newer versions of stored pages:"

06-01-2006, 17:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeyB

What you're after is:
Tools > Internet Options > General Tab > Settings > "Check for newer versions of stored pages:"

Hmm...that is already set to "Automatic".

Doesn't that just compare the page on the proxy to the page stored on the hard drive temporary internet folder, rather than comparing the proxy page to the source server page?

.

Cerberus · 06-01-2006, 17:34

Slightly off topic here but can you have these proxies diabled? If so, how?

Thanks in advance!

ntl customer · 06-01-2006, 22:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cerberus

Slightly off topic here but can you have these proxies diabled? If so, how?

Thanks in advance!

Change your ISP is the best advice I can give. Seriously.

Unless the proxies are severely screwed and NTL take them offline for a bit in a certain area, there is no way to disable them.

There are numerous workarounds, not all of which work or do not provide the best performance.