Selenium Geckodriver Configuration: Illustrated Selenium Agent Driver Setup

Browser Automation Essentials: What the heck is a proxy IP for?

As you know, if you are engaged in data collection, you will often encounter IP blocking when you use Selenium to operate your browser. At this time, the proxy IP is like putting a "mask" on the browser, and every time you operate it, you can change different identities. For example, if we want to capture the price of an e-commerce site, we will be blocked in minutes if we use the real IP to access the site continuously, but we can simulate the behavior of real users with a residential proxy.

Here focus on the advantages of dynamic residential agent: IP is automatically replaced every few minutes, both the authenticity of the residential network, but also to avoid frequent blocking. Like ipipgo's dynamic residential package, you can use 1GB of traffic for more than 7 dollars, which is especially friendly to small and medium-sized projects.

Hands-on configuration of the Geckodriver agent

Let's start with an easy pit: many people think that setting the proxy in the code is the end of the matter, but in fact Firefox has a hidden setting that must be dealt with. Let's install geckodriver first, remember to download the corresponding browser version of the driver.

from selenium import webdriver

profile = webdriver.FirefoxProfile()
profile.set_preference("network.proxy.type", 1)
profile.set_preference("network.proxy.http", "proxy.ipipgo.io") replace with the actual proxy address
profile.set_preference("network.proxy.http_port", 3000)
profile.update_preferences()

driver = webdriver.Firefox(firefox_profile=profile)

Caution! If you are using the HTTPS protocol, remember to put thenetwork.proxy.sslrespond in singingnetwork.proxy.ssl_portSet it up as well. Some sites will detect the proxy certificate, it is recommended to enable the "SSL penetration" function in the background of ipipgo.

A practical guide to avoiding the pit

Have you ever encountered this situation? The proxy is set correctly, but it still shows the real IP. 80% of the time, it's because it doesn't deal with WebRTC leaks, which can expose real network information. Find these entries in about:config:

media.peerconnection.enabled → false
privacy.resistFingerprinting → true

It is recommended to use ipipgo's client to configure it directly, and their toolkit already has a built-in anti-leakage solution. For teamwork projects, it is recommended to use theirTK line agentThe stability is quite a bit higher than that of an ordinary residential agent.

Frequently Asked Questions First Aid Kit

Q：The proxy is working but the page loads slowly like a snail?
A: First check the type of proxy, data center proxy speed but easy to be blocked, residential proxy speed is slightly slower but more secure. If you do long-term collection, it is recommended to use ipipgo's static residential proxy, 35 dollars a month fixed IP.

Q: The code runs and reports SSL certificate error?
A: Try adding these two lines to the code:
options.accept_insecure_certs = True
If that doesn't work, contact ipipgo technical support to open Enterprise Edition agreement support.

the right agent doubles the effect and halves the effort

According to the measured data, the collection success rate with normal proxy is around 60%, while ipipgo's dynamic residential proxy can go up to over 92%. Especially their Enterprise Edition package, although more expensive ($9.47/GB), comes with request header randomization and time zone simulation.

Newbies are advised to practice with a 7-day trial package first, and then buy a monthly subscription once they are familiar with it. Do overseas projects focus on looking at their cross-border line, the delay can be controlled within 200ms. Don't just look at the price, look at the overall cost - the lost hours of being blocked once is enough to buy a few months agent.

Final reminder: check proxy availability regularly! You can use this test interface:
http://ip.ipipgo.com/check?key=你的密钥
Return "active":true means that the proxy is normal, this interface does not deduct the traffic oh ~!