Proxy glossary
SOCKS5
SOCKS5 is a proxy protocol that forwards raw network traffic between you and a destination without interpreting it, which lets it carry any kind of connection rather than just web requests.
SOCKS5 is a proxy protocol that forwards raw network traffic between you and a destination without interpreting it, which lets it carry any kind of connection rather than just web requests. The proxy is told where to open a connection, then moves bytes in both directions and stays out of the way.
How it differs from an HTTP proxy
- It is protocol-agnostic. An HTTP proxy understands web requests and can read and rewrite their headers. SOCKS5 does not look inside at all, so it works for mail clients, game clients, custom TCP tools and anything else that is not a browser.
- It handles UDP as well as TCP. Earlier versions of SOCKS were TCP-only; version 5 added UDP forwarding.
- It has its own login step. SOCKS5 supports username and password proxy authentication as part of the handshake, before any traffic flows.
Why it matters when you buy proxies
Check that a provider issues SOCKS5 credentials, not only HTTP ones, if your tooling is anything other than a browser or a scraping library. White Cloak issues both sets: HTTP/HTTPS and SOCKS5 credentials appear together in the dashboard, on separate ports.
A concrete example
An antidetect browser or a scraper is usually happiest on the HTTP endpoint. A desktop automation tool that opens its own sockets, or a phone emulator you are routing through the proxy at the system level, generally needs SOCKS5 — it is the only one of the two that can carry traffic the proxy does not understand.
Related terms
HTTP proxy
An HTTP proxy is a proxy that understands web requests: it accepts your HTTP request, reads the destination from it, and makes the request on your behalf.
Proxy authentication
Proxy authentication is how a proxy server verifies that you are allowed to use it, normally either with a username and password or by checking your own IP against a whitelist.
Proxy port
A proxy port is the number you connect to alongside the proxy's host address — the 8080 in 1.2.3.4:8080 — and it tells the proxy server which of its services should handle your connection.
White Cloak Proxy sells dedicated 5G mobile proxies on real handsets — unlimited bandwidth, one customer per device, HTTP and SOCKS5 credentials in seconds.