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How to test proxies before you commit to a big plan

Buy the smallest package of the proxy type you plan to use, authorize your IP right away, then spend the day running your real tool against your real targets at low concurrency. Storm has no free trial; instead the smallest package of each proxy type has a 24-hour money-back guarantee on your first order.

Updated October 2026Choosing & buying

Most proxy “tests” prove very little. A green tick in a proxy checker tells you the gateway answered; it doesn’t tell you whether Amazon, Google or Home Depot will serve your scraper real pages at the speed you need. The top reason people ask us for a refund is “not working”, and when we look closer it is usually one of three things: the IP wasn’t authorized yet, the tool ran more threads than the package allows, or the test checked the proxy and never touched the actual target.

A good test answers one question: will this plan, at the size I’d buy, do my job? That means your tool, your targets, your request pattern and a scaled-down version of your concurrency, all inside the 24 hours the money-back window gives you.

This guide gives you a timed test plan, two short scripts to measure rotation and success rate, a table of what each result means, and how to move to the right plan size once you’re happy. Plan the day before you pay, so the clock isn’t running while you read.

Which Storm plan fits

Test with the plan you would scale: the 10-thread rotating package ($14) for scraping and SEO tools, 1 residential port ($19) when your targets block datacenter IPs, or 5 dedicated proxies ($10) for accounts that need a fixed IP. Each is the smallest package of its type, so each carries the 24-hour money-back guarantee on your first order. Bigger packages are not refundable, so test small first.

Rotating proxies (from $14/mo): 700,000+ IPs behind fixed gateway IP:PORTs. New IP on every request, or every 3 or 15 minutes. USA, EU, USA+EU or Worldwide. Unlimited bandwidth on every plan.

Get 40 threads for $39/mo See all rotating proxies plans

Before you start

Log in to the member area and copy your gateway IP:PORTs. They never change; the rotation happens on our side.
Add the public IP of the computer or server that will run your tool under Authorized IPs, click Save, and allow up to 15 minutes before testing. Rotating and residential proxies use IP authentication, so there is no username or password.
Dedicated proxies work with either IP authentication or a username and password. Use user:pass if your IP changes or the tool runs on several machines.
Count your threads: the tool’s total open connections must stay within your plan (for example 40 threads on the 40-thread plan).

On this page

The 24-hour test plan
Test scripts
What the 24-hour money-back covers
What “working” actually means
How to read your results
Mistakes that waste the test day
Common errors and fixes
FAQ

The 24-hour test plan

Prepare before you pay
Pick 20 to 50 real URLs you need to fetch, note your tool’s concurrency setting, and find the public IP of the machine that will run the test (search “what is my IP” on that machine). Run the tool from a computer or VPS with a fixed IP; a cloud notebook or serverless function changes IP on every run and can’t be authorized.
Buy the smallest package of the right type
10 threads for rotating proxies, 1 port for residential, or 5 dedicated proxies. Access is instant after payment, so the 24 hours start straight away.
Authorize your IP in the first five minutes
Log in to the member area, add your public IP under Authorized IPs and click Save. It can take up to 15 minutes to apply. Copy the gateway IP:PORTs while you wait. Dedicated proxies can use a username and password instead.
Prove the connection works
Request an IP-echo page through the gateway with cURL. You should see a proxy IP, not yours. On the Main rotating gateway, run it a few times: the IP should change with each new connection. A “connection reset” here means the IP isn’t authorized yet; wait and retry.
Run your real tool on your real targets
Set concurrency to the package size: up to 10 threads on the test package, which is also about one browser tab. Fetch your test URLs and save each status code, the time taken, and whether the page held the data you need (not a CAPTCHA or a block page).
Repeat at a different hour and look at the numbers
Run the same batch again a few hours later. Compare success rates, response times and block pages between runs, and against the same requests without a proxy if your own IP still works. Write the results down; they are your evidence for the decision.
Decide before the 24 hours end
Happy: upgrade in the member area in one click; the unused part of the test plan is credited. Not happy: email support through the contact page within 24 hours of payment and ask for your refund, or ask us first; many “not working” cases turn out to be a setting, not the proxies.

Test scripts

Replace GATEWAY_IP:PORT with a gateway from your member area and put your own URLs in urls.txt, one per line. Keep THREADS at or below your package.

cURL: does the gateway work and does the IP rotate?

# run 5 separate connections through the Main rotating gateway
for i in 1 2 3 4 5; do
  curl -s -x http://GATEWAY_IP:PORT https://httpbin.org/ip --max-time 20
  echo
done
# expected: a different "origin" IP on each line, never your own IP

Python: success rate and timing on your own URLs

import time, requests
from concurrent.futures import ThreadPoolExecutor
from collections import Counter

PROXY = "http://GATEWAY_IP:PORT"
THREADS = 10                      # the test package size
MUST_CONTAIN = "price"            # a word that only appears on a real page

def check(url):
    t = time.time()
    try:
        r = requests.get(url, proxies={"http": PROXY, "https": PROXY},
                         headers={"User-Agent": "Mozilla/5.0"}, timeout=(10, 30))
        ok = r.status_code == 200 and MUST_CONTAIN in r.text.lower()
        return ("ok" if ok else f"http {r.status_code} / no data"), time.time() - t
    except requests.exceptions.RequestException as e:
        return type(e).__name__, time.time() - t

urls = [u.strip() for u in open("urls.txt") if u.strip()]
with ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=THREADS) as pool:
    results = list(pool.map(check, urls))

print(Counter(r for r, _ in results))
print("average seconds:", round(sum(s for _, s in results) / len(results), 2))

What the 24-hour money-back covers

The guarantee is simple and strict, so read it before you order:

It covers the smallest package of each proxy type: 10 rotating threads, 1 residential port, 5 dedicated proxies.
It applies to your first order only. After one refund, the policy no longer applies to your account.
You ask within 24 hours of payment, by contacting support.
Bigger packages are not refundable, even on a first order.
Using the proxies for illegal activity, such as hacking accounts, ends the account without a refund.

Because each type has its own smallest package, you can test rotating and residential side by side if you don’t yet know which fits. Full wording is on the refund policy page.

What “working” actually means

Separate three layers, because each fails for different reasons and has a different fix.

The connection works: the gateway accepts you and an IP-echo page shows a proxy IP. If this fails, it’s almost always authorization, a typo in the port, or a firewall. It is never the target site.
Rotation works as expected: the Main gateway gives a new IP per new connection; the 3- and 15-minute gateways hold one IP for that long; a residential port keeps one IP and changes it every 5 minutes at fixed times (minute 1, 6, 11 and so on). If your tool reuses one connection, you’ll see one IP, and that’s the tool, not the gateway.
The target serves real data: status 200 with the content you need. 403, 429, CAPTCHA pages and empty templates are the site’s response to your request pattern and IP type. This is the layer that decides whether to buy.

Only the third layer predicts how your job will go. A proxy checker can only test the first.

How to read your results

High success, acceptable speed: the plan type fits. Size the full plan with the sizing guide and upgrade.
Success falls as you raise threads: you went over the package limit, or the target limits request rate. Drop to the package size and retest before concluding anything.
Datacenter IPs get blocked or CAPTCHAs on most requests, even at low speed: the target treats datacenter ranges strictly. Test 1 residential port before giving up on the job; that test package is also covered.
Mostly fine with occasional blocks: normal for retail and search targets. Add retries with a new connection, realistic headers and pauses per domain; see fixing 429 errors.
Google results with many CAPTCHAs: check that search traffic is on the Main gateway and uses no more than a quarter of your threads.
Slow pages in a browser: one tab uses about 10 threads, so the 10-thread package is already full. Speed in a browser test says more about thread count than about the IPs.

Mistakes that waste the test day

Testing before the IP is authorized. The gateway resets unauthorized connections, which looks like a dead proxy. Allow up to 15 minutes after saving.
Running 50 workers on a 10-thread package. Extra connections fail and the errors look random. Match the package.
Testing from the wrong machine. Authorize the IP of the computer or server that runs the tool, not your laptop’s if the tool runs on a VPS.
Using ScrapeBox’s built-in proxy checker. It isn’t compatible with our gateways and reports failures even when the proxies work in ScrapeBox. Test in a browser or with cURL instead.
Only testing an IP checker site. It proves the connection, not the job. Always hit your real targets.
Using a https:// proxy URL. Gateways are HTTP(S) proxies addressed as http://GATEWAY_IP:PORT, also for https sites. SOCKS isn’t supported.

More fixes for the connection layer are in ERR_PROXY_CONNECTION_FAILED.

Common errors and fixes

“Connection reset by peer” or “Recv failure” on every requestYour IP isn’t authorized yet or the change hasn’t applied. Check your public IP, compare it with Authorized IPs, and wait up to 15 minutes after saving.

“Connection refused”Wrong gateway IP or port, or a local firewall blocks the port. Copy the gateway from the member area again.

407 Proxy Authentication RequiredRotating and residential gateways don’t send 407. It points to a wrong username or password on dedicated proxies, or another proxy configured on your system.

Your own IP shows on the echo pageThe tool isn’t using the proxy. Set it for both http and https, or check that the browser profile actually has the proxy applied.

Errors start halfway through a batchConcurrency went above the package limit, often because a browser or second script joined. Count every connection on the plan.

200 status but no data in the pageThe site served a block, consent or CAPTCHA page with status 200. Check page content, not just status codes, as the test script does.

FAQ

Is there a Storm Proxies free trial, or a 24-hour money-back instead?

No. Instead, the smallest package of each proxy type (10 rotating threads, 1 residential port, 5 dedicated proxies) comes with a 24-hour money-back guarantee on your first order. You test with real access, at full speed, on your own targets.

How do I ask for a refund after testing?

Contact support within 24 hours of payment through the contact page and say you’d like the money-back on your first order. It applies to the smallest package of each proxy type only.

If the test goes well, do I lose what I paid for the test package?

No. Upgrade in the member area in one click; the unused part of the test plan is credited toward the bigger plan and the old plan stops automatically.

How do I check if a proxy is working?

Send a request through it to an IP-echo page with cURL or a browser. If the page shows an IP that isn’t yours, the proxy works. Then test your actual target site, because a working proxy can still be blocked by a strict site.

How long should a proxy test take?

A first pass takes about an hour once your IP is authorized. Run a second batch a few hours later to see how results hold up at a different time of day, and decide well before the 24 hours end.

Can I test rotating and residential proxies at the same time?

Yes. Each proxy type has its own smallest package, so you can run 10 rotating threads and 1 residential port side by side on the same targets and compare.

Still have questions? Contact us here. A real person answers.

Tool facts checked against the official documentation (October 2026): curl manual: -x / --proxy · Requests docs: Proxies. Storm Proxies facts: our plans page and refund policy.

Unlimited bandwidth. One flat monthly price.

Access is live the moment you pay, and the smallest package of each proxy type has a 24-hour money-back guarantee on your first order.

Get 40 threads for $39/mo Compare all plans