HTTP(S) and SOCKS5 proxies don't work with Whonix

Support
#1

Hello. I’ve been using Whonix for a long time and it’s one of the greatest anonymous distributions. But I have a problem. I need to visit some of web-sites which have totally aggressive IP spam filter (so such kind of web-sites block all Tor-exit nodes and VPN nodes) so the only solution for me to log in on such websites is to use random proxy with Firefox ESR on top of Whonix-Workstation.

But I have a problem. SOCKS4 proxies work well but they are easily detected by website spam filters (they detect that I’m using proxy). HTTP and SOCKS5 proxies are mostly undetectable by websites spam filters but they don’t work! When I set up SOCKS5 or HTTP(S) proxy in Firefox ESR settings and reload the page - I just wait and that’s all. I can reload one page 3-5 times and only then it works so it’s extremely slow! I tries using proxychains package available in debian repositories but it doesn’t solve the problem - nothing works. I’d like to know the reason why only SOCKS4 proxies work well in Firefox on top o Whonix-Workstation? May be because of huge ping of something more? What should I do in order to make SOCKS5 and HTTP(S) proxies work well? Whonix-Workstation firewall is disabled.

#2

I can’t solve this issue at the root. Whonix doesn’t produce Tor. The Tor Project does. Whonix doesn’t block websites. The websites do.

Consider joining the Tor Project DontBlockMe project.

Neither Whonix produces Tor Browser. Potential bugs in how far Tor Browser is compatible with proxies cannot be solved at Whonix project level either.

See also:
Free Support for Whonix ™

Random, free, open proxies having poor connectivity, and being on spam blacklists is very much to be expected. Without known, reliable proxies, you cannot even try to find and report bugs because you never know the issue is caused by unstable proxies or software bugs.

An alternative might be a paid proxy, ssh (server) or VPN with a private IP address. But anonymously paying for it is a challenge in itself.

Using browsers other than Tor Browser is discouraged, see:

Related:

#3

Try to pick proxies on these sites that how lower ping to increase your chances of getting one to work.

#4

I tried to choose hundreds of HTTP and SOCKS5 proxies. I applied them to Firefox ESR preferences on top of Whonix-Workstation. The situation is following:

  1. SOCKS4 proxy connects to all sites well without any latency in refreshing the pages.
  2. HTTP and SOCKS5 proxies: I need to refresh a website page 5-10 times in order to connect to a website. Then it works for 5-10 minutes without ping and again… I need to refresh the page 5-10 times.

That’s why I’d like to know why this happens only with SOCKS5 and HTTP(S) proxies? Any chance to make them work with Whonix?

#5

As tried to outline in my previous post, I doubt there is anything specific to Whonix about this.

Whonix → Tor / Tor Browser / Firefox

#6

Shitty services/proxies are not really anything that any of the software projects you mentioned can change. The software involved is like a highway to get you to your destination. If the destination is a dump we aren’t really to blame.

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