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Do I need a proxy and if so, which one? Does it slow down?

  • 3 replies
  • 3 have this problem
  • 9 views
  • Last reply by cor-el

lou3000
lou3000
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I have a cable ISP and an N wireless and wired NAT router. Win 7 64 bit Prof. My desktop is wired through a backup UPS directly to the CPU. The wireless connection is used for a portable and some occasional networking from that portable. When I go to set the proxy, the router IP is set and I can check the box that says "no proxy for localhost xxx.x.x.x (which is the router IP). It seems to work fine. Is this the proper way to set the proxy given my configuration? I started looking at this because FF, my preferred browser, is also the slowest in bring up sites and I can't figure out why. It always says "waiting for the site name" and it takes longer than IE, Chrome and even Maxthon. I wondered whether an incorrect proxy setting could be in the way. Thanks for reading this and any help you can offer. Lou3000

I have a cable ISP and an N wireless and wired NAT router. Win 7 64 bit Prof. My desktop is wired through a backup UPS directly to the CPU. The wireless connection is used for a portable and some occasional networking from that portable. When I go to set the proxy, the router IP is set and I can check the box that says "no proxy for localhost xxx.x.x.x (which is the router IP). It seems to work fine. Is this the proper way to set the proxy given my configuration? I started looking at this because FF, my preferred browser, is also the slowest in bring up sites and I can't figure out why. It always says "waiting for the site name" and it takes longer than IE, Chrome and even Maxthon. I wondered whether an incorrect proxy setting could be in the way. Thanks for reading this and any help you can offer. Lou3000

All Replies (3)

the-edmeister
the-edmeister
  • Moderator
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No, you don 't need a proxy. And yes, it can slow things down.

lou3000
lou3000 Question owner
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Thanks for your response and running without the proxy seems to be making a world of difference.

However, you say I don't "need" a proxy - and you bold the word "need". Am I losing something or risking something by not running with a proxy? As you can tell, I don't understand this too well but I do have the impression that without a proxy, every move I make on the net is much more easily visible - to whom, and whether I care....that's another issue.

Thanks again

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator
  • Top 10 Contributor
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What kind of proxy setting did you use?

It is usually the opposite and a proxy takes extra time to pass the request.
Only in very special occasions is a proxy required and in such a case a normal connection will fail.

See also "Firefox connection settings":