Wget Proxies

There are many ways using proxies can improve your Wget experience. We need to have a closer look at how Wget works to understand why you need proxies for the software. Let’s take an instance of using Wget to download a single file, a file in the background, multiple files, finish an incomplete download, or perform web scraping procedures. From a website’s perspective, this will be seen as a bot activity, and your IP is more than likely to get banned.

While botting is entirely legal, most web admins frown upon the activity. Therefore, online platforms have anti-bot mechanisms in place that will ban your IP address once detected. If you perform web scraping activities, this is worse, and you will be blocked right after you are detected.

You can avoid all these complications by using a proxy server. Proxies are designed to mask your IP address by coming between your device and the website you are accessing using Wget. The type of proxy server you use will depend on your needs.

You may also find yourself in a situation where you are experiencing low download speeds. Depending on the distance between you and the server you’re downloading from, the connection can pass through many nodes. Each of them introduces some latency and slows down your connection, resulting in unreliable downloads. With a proxy server closer to the download server, you can drastically reduce the number of nodes and enjoy better bandwidth and a stable connection.

A quick Google keyword search will reveal several types of proxies. While this is a good thing, it creates a problem when selecting the best one for your needs. Not to worry, the following section will outline some of the best proxies to use.

When selecting proxies for Wget, the first and most important fact is to avoid free proxies. Why? Such proxies tend to be unreliable and might even go as far as compromising your data. Instead, you should always stick to premium proxy providers like IPRoyal.

With this information in mind, you can either go with residential or datacenter proxies for Wget. Which of the two proxies is the better option? On the one hand, residential proxies use authentic IPs from internet service providers. This makes them traceable to actual devices, adding to reliability. On the other hand, datacenter proxies use IPs generated virtually over cloud servers. They’re easier to detect, but they offer faster speeds and cost less.

Are you looking for a reliable proxy provider for Wget? Look no further than IPRoyal, a premium proxy provider with multiple years of experience in the sector and custom solutions to satisfy all your needs.

The code below will help you set up a proxy for Wget. Add the lines below in file ~/.wgetrc or /etc/wgetrc:

http_proxy = http://[Proxy_Server]:[port]

https_proxy = http://[Proxy_Server]:[port]

ftp_proxy = http://[Proxy_Server]:[port]

Manually set up the proxy variables in shell:

$ export http_proxy=http://[Proxy_Server]:[port]

$ export https_proxy=$http_proxy

$ export ftp_proxy=$http_proxy

Verify the variable using the env command:

$ env | grep proxy

http_proxy=http://[Proxy_Server]:[port]

https_proxy=http://[Proxy_Server]:[port]

ftp_proxy=http://[Proxy_Server]:[port]

Finally, add the lines below in file ~/.bash_profile or /etc/profile:

#export http_proxy=http://[Proxy_Server]:[port]

#export https_proxy=http://[Proxy_Server]:[port]

#export ftp_proxy=http://[Proxy_Server]:[port]