Setting up a proxy server on your Mac OS X system

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Welcome to My Private Network

 

We provide VPN services with servers in over 44 countries to protect your security and privacy, and allow you to bypass geographic restrictions.

Read more about how our VPN works here.

 

This page will guide you through setting up a proxy server on your Mac computer. You might want to do this if you have other devices on your network that do not support connecting to our service directly, such as a Wii, PS Vita, PS3, or PS4.

 

If you’ve already got a working proxy server, you may refer to one of our guides below to configure your other devices to connect to it.

 

Configure Wii to use proxy server

Configure PS Vita to use proxy server

Configure PS3 to use proxy server

Configure PS4 to use proxy server

 

If you’re looking to set up your proxy server on a Windows computer, kindly refer to our guide below instead.

 

Set Up Proxy Server On Windows

 

Don’t Have a VPN yet? Give our Free Trial a go by clicking the button below for 3 full days of unlimited access to both our VPN and MyTelly services.

*3 DAY FREE TRIAL – NO CREDIT CARD REQUIRED

 

To configure a proxy server on your Mac computer, follow the steps below.


Step 1: Getting Started

 

In this example we will use an open source solution called SquidMan, although this may sound like a daft name, Squid is one of the most respected proxy servers available and SquidMan is simply the management interface for it.

 

Once you have come to terms with the name, we will continue……

 

Firstly, download the latest version of SquidMan 3.8 proxy server application.

 

You will be prompted to confirm that you wish to continue downloading, click Continue.

 

 

Once it has downloaded, Finder will show it in a new window. Drag the Squidman icon into application folder.

 

 


Step 2: Installing the SquidMan proxy server

 

Navigate to the Application folder and double-click on the SquidMan icon to install.

 

 

When the installation is successful, you will have the window as below

 

 


 

Step 3: Proxy Server Configuration

 

 

Open SquidMan and start the proxy by pushing the Start Squid button.

 

 

If everything goes well, the status message should change to Squid is running.

 

 

In order to test the proxy locally on the Mac, you’ll need to adjust your network settings to use this proxy for HTTP traffic.

 

Open the System Preferences panel and click the Network icon.

 

 

Now click on your local internet connection. The image below assumes it is a wired connection.

 

Note: You may also wish to create a new ‘Location’ that uses the Squid proxy, such as “Work-Squid”, or something like that to make switching easier.

 

 

Ensure that Web Proxy (HTTP) is checked.

 

In the Web Proxy Server field, designate it as localhost, with the Port field as 8080. (Refer to the image below)

 

Click on Apply Now to save your changes.

 

 

Congratulations! You have just setup a proxy server on your Mac computer. With everything running, open a web browser and attempt to access an external page such as google.com.

 

If everything is set up correctly, you will be able to access internet. Now you can add your computer’s IP address with the proxy server port 8080 at the machine/devices that you want connected to.

 

 


Step 4: Establishing Proxy Server Connection

 

In order to tell another device to use the proxy server, you need to know the local IP address of your computer.

 

You can check the IP Address of your Mac computer as follows:

 

  1. Click on the Apple icon on the top left of the screen.
  2. Open System Preferences.
  3. Click on Network.
  4. Select which connection you’d like to check in the left pane. If you’re hooked up via a LAN cable, select Ethernet. If you’re on a Wireless network, select Wi-Fi.
  5. Click on Advanced.
  6. Click TCP/IP from the tabs and your IP address will appear next to “IPv4 Address“.

 

Once you have the IP address, you can go to your other device and tell it to use the proxy server on your computer. You do this by specifying the IP Address and Port of the proxy service. In this case, the port will be 8080 (which is the port you’d configured earlier) and the IP Address is the one you had determined above.

 

Once you have configured your device to use the proxy service, it will always connect via your computer and therefore if your computer is connected to our VPN service, the proxy will also go through the VPN. This also means that your computer must be switched on for the device to connect to the Internet.

 

Don’t Have a VPN yet? Give our Free Trial a go by clicking the button below for 3 full days of unlimited access to both our VPN and MyTelly services.

*3 DAY FREE TRIAL – NO CREDIT CARD REQUIRED

 


Any problems?

 

Unfortunately it doesn’t always go to plan!

 

If you have any problems or can’t get connected, please email us at [email protected], try and include any errors and a full description of the fault.

We’ll get back to you as soon as possible and try to help.