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If your proxy requests aren’t working, work through this checklist before contacting support. Most issues fall into a few common categories, and you can usually fix them yourself in a few minutes.

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Step 1: Check your authentication

The most common reason requests fail is an authentication problem. Run this test command from your terminal:
If you get 407 Proxy Authentication Required:
  • Make sure your username and password match what’s shown in the dashboard. Copy them exactly.
  • Check that the package parameter is spelled correctly: package-standard or package-premium.
  • Check that parameters are in the username, not the password. The format is USERNAME-parameters:PASSWORD.
  • If you’re connecting as a sub-user, use that sub-user’s own username and password, not the main package’s.
If the connection is refused or times out before you get any response:
  • Check that you can reach proxy.flameproxies.com on port 8989 (HTTP) or 1080 (SOCKS5). Some corporate firewalls block non-standard ports.
  • Make sure you’re using the right port for your protocol. An HTTP client pointed at port 1080, or a SOCKS5 client pointed at port 8989, won’t connect.
  • Try from a different network, like a phone hotspot, to rule out local network issues.
If the test command returns a JSON response with an IP, your authentication is working. Move to the next step.

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Step 2: Check your proxy line format

Parameters are separated by hyphens. Getting the format wrong is a common source of failed or unexpected requests. Correct:
Common formatting mistakes:
  • Missing the package parameter entirely.
  • Using session without time. Sticky sessions need both: session-<id>-time-<minutes>.
  • Using hyphens inside a session ID (session-job-1). Session IDs are letters and digits only (session-job1).
  • Using = instead of - to set values (country=us instead of country-us).
  • Using the wrong layout for your tool. For example, pasting a host:port:username:password line into a tool that expects http://username:password@host:port. See output formats.

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Step 3: Check your geo-targeting

If your requests succeed but return IPs from the wrong country or city, the issue is usually in your targeting parameters. Run a targeted request and check the response:
Check the country and city fields. If they don’t match what you targeted:
  • Make sure the country code is the lowercase two-letter ISO code (us, gb, de). A common mistake is uk instead of gb.
  • Check the city spelling against Locations. City values are the lowercase city name with the spaces removed (city-newyorkcity).
  • IP geolocation databases don’t always agree. A different lookup service may place the same IP in a neighboring city.
If you target a small city and see slow or failed connections, the pool there may be small. Remove the city first and see if the country-level request works.

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Step 4: Check for timeouts

If your requests hang and eventually time out, the issue could be the target, your client, or the network in between. Test with a known-good target first:
If this works but your target times out, the problem is between the proxy IP and the target website.
  • The target may be slow or rate-limiting the IP. Try a new session ID or a different country to get a fresh IP.
  • Some targets block traffic without sending a response, which looks like a timeout. Rotate to a new IP.
  • Increase your HTTP client’s timeout. Residential connections are slower than data center ones, so 30 seconds is a sensible starting point.
  • Try fast mode (mode-fast), which routes through the peer with the lowest latency available, or try a different pool.

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Step 5: Check your session behavior

If your IP changes when it shouldn’t, or stays the same when it shouldn’t: The IP changes during a sticky session.
  • Make sure every request uses exactly the same session ID and parameters.
  • Check the time value. After that many minutes, the session no longer holds its IP.
  • Residential IPs are real devices. If a device goes offline, the session gets a new IP. Build multi-step workflows so they can recover from an unexpected IP change.
The IP doesn’t change on rotating requests.
  • Check that there’s no session parameter in the username.
  • Your HTTP client may be reusing connections. Every request on one HTTPS tunnel exits from the same IP. Disable keep-alive or open a new connection per request. See the Go example.

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Step 6: Check your bandwidth

If requests were working and suddenly stopped, your package may be out of bandwidth.
  • Check your remaining bandwidth in the dashboard, or with GET /api/customer/packages/:id.
  • If you’re using a sub-user, it can only spend its own allocation. Allocate more bandwidth to it from the main package.
  • Top up to add bandwidth. It’s available immediately.

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Step 7: Check site restrictions

Premium residential proxies are blocked on payment providers and government websites. If only those targets fail on package-premium, switch to package-standard — residential proxies have no site or port restrictions.

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Quick diagnostic checklist

Work through this in order. Stop as soon as you find the issue.
  1. Can you reach ipinfo.io with a basic line? If not, it’s an authentication or network problem (steps 1 and 2).
  2. Does the response show the right country? If not, it’s a targeting problem (step 3).
  3. Does your actual target work? If not, it’s a target-side or timeout problem (step 4).
  4. Does your session behave the way you expect? If not, check session behavior (step 5).
  5. Did it work before and suddenly stop? Check your bandwidth (step 6).
  6. Still not working? Contact support.
When contacting support, include the proxy line you’re using (with the password removed), the target URL, the time of the failure, and the exact error your client reported. This gives the team the fastest path to diagnosing your issue.

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Contact support

Support is available 24/7:

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Next steps

Proxy speed & latency

What affects speed and how to improve it.

CAPTCHA & block rates

Understanding detection and blocks on target websites.

Authentication

Make sure your credentials and format are correct.

FAQ

Answers to the most common questions.