Follow the links to learn more about backconnect proxies, or residential proxies, as well as why you need them. Learn how to turn your Android phone into a proxy server and how to set up a backconnect tunnel from a Linux server in this tutorial.
Back to our example, suppose you have an Android phone and wish to use it as a backconnect proxy. I would love to know what you intend to do with the proxy, so I will ask you to leave a remark after the post. There is a minor issue with this.
At the time of writing, there is no one-click solution that can turn your phone into an internet-accessible proxy. You can turn your phone into a wifi proxy using a few apps. But if that is all you need, you wouldn’t be reading this post today.
You will need to solve two separate challenges to turn your phone into a proxy that you can use anywhere in the world, and we will do that using two different methods.
#1 – Turn your Android Phone into a Regular Proxy Server
The first step is to convert our phone into a standard proxy that we may access over wifi if necessary. We will utilize the Proxy Server for an Android app to do this.
Set up Proxy Server
After you download and install the app, allow it the files permission when it asks for it and then tap “Add” and tap “Proxy Server” and Copy the settings you see on the right.
After that, press on the top tab labeled “IP,” then “Add,” and then enter the IP address 127.0.0.1, then tap your phone’s back button, save, tap back again, and save again.
All you need to do is click “Start” on the main menu, then confirm.
Your Android phone should now have a functional proxy server. If you get stuck somewhere, please ask for assistance in the comments area, and I would gladly assist.
#2 – Create a backconnect tunnel from a linux server to your Proxy Server
Since your proxy server is now ready, it still needs to be accessible from outside its network. The mobile carrier’s network may make it impossible for you to connect directly to your phone. I won’t get into this detail here. The fact is that we need to build up a tunnel across the internet.
Tunnels of this type are called backconnect tunnels because you will be connecting to a server already connected to your phone. The server will utilize that connection to perform some magic, so you can use your Android proxy over the air.
Setting up the tunnel server
There are 2 ways to do this. One is to have your own ssh server. The second option is to rent one online for very cheap. I like to use digitalocean because they are very, very cheap. The $5 Digitalocean VPS is more than enough.
Another, more exotic version is also available for free. If there is enough demand, I might set up a free server for you to utilize. If you believe this would be useful to you, please let me know in the comments area.
I am not going to go into how to set up a droplet on digitalocean but if you use my affiliate link you will get $100 free credit. Just click it here to get a $100 signup bonus.
You can find a step-by-step tutorial to build your digitalocean droplet here. Set up the most simple one because you will only be using the ssh that comes standard on all of them. You should utilize password authentication rather than key-based authentication for simplicity.
Setting up the tunnel app
After you have set up your digitalocean droplet, you should have an IP given to you by digitalocean, a username, and a password. Paste them somewhere because we will need them in this step.
This part of the article is coming up soon. Feel free to inquire more about this topic in the comment section below.
Other Tips
If you merely want to set up a proxy over your WiFi, Servers Ultimate can accomplish that very quickly, although I am not sure why anyone would want to do that. Mobile data is a far more practical choice, but you will run into a slew of issues, particularly at the ISP level. You are unlikely to persuade them to amend their NAT policy for you.
Using your mobile data as a proxy is impossible since all inbound connections are prohibited. As an alternative, if you have a laptop and your phone connects to it via ADB, you can use the following command.
adb forward tcp:6400 tcp:8080This command forwards all TCP connections from your laptop’s 6400 port to your phone’s 8080 port. Next, configure your Servers Ultimate App to operate a proxy server on port 8080. No need for a root!
The queries you make to your laptop over port 6400 will now be routed to your mobile data! Open Firefox, go to Settings, Networks, and choose 127.0.0.1 and port 6400 as a proxy. You may use this port to connect your router to public wifi. However, I recommend that you set up some form of security policy beforehand.
Conclusion
If you have an old Android smartphone lying around your house, you can use it to set up a proxy server. You must understand that you will only receive one proxy IP address.
Making a proxy server is not as difficult as it seems. There is already-made software that will help you save time and take care of issues that would require technical abilities to set up without the program.
One feature you will like is that you can set up proxies not just on desktops and servers, but also on your Android device and even the Raspberry Pi. I hope this helps you turn your Android phone into a proxy.
