BitBrowser Proxy Setup with Node4: HTTP, SOCKS5 and Batch Import
Which BitBrowser fields take the Node4 host, port and login, how Proxy Detection confirms them, and how to load many profiles from the Excel template.
Each BitBrowser profile holds its own proxy, so you set it in the profile, not in Windows or macOS. Before you start, have an active Node4 plan and your credential: the username and password are on the Proxies page and under Account Settings, Auth & IP Access. If you have not picked a product yet, choosing the right proxy type settles it; for most store, ad and social profiles the choice is between a Dedicated address you keep and a Residential exit, and which Node4 proxy for which job explains when each fits.
Add a proxy to a new profile
- Open Browsers and click Add.
- Give the profile a Browser Name and pick the Platform, the site the profile is for. BitBrowser marks Platform as required and opens that site when the profile launches. Its username and password fields hold that site's login, not the proxy's; leave Node4's credential out of them.
- In the proxy section, set Proxy Method to Custom Proxy.
- Set Proxy Type to HTTP or SOCKS5, matching the port you are about to enter. Node4's HTTP port takes a plain HTTP proxy connection and still carries HTTPS sites, through a CONNECT tunnel, so HTTP is right for ordinary browsing.
- Enter Host and Port, then Username and Password, from the table below.
| Field | Dedicated or Shared | Rotating Datacenter | Rotating Unmetered | Residential |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Host | HOST of that proxy, from Proxies | gw-rotating_datacenter.node4.io | gw-rotating_unmetered.node4.io | gw-residential.node4.io |
| HTTP port | PORT from Proxies | 8083 | 8084 | 8082 |
| SOCKS5 port | the SOCKS5 port on Proxies | 1083 | 1084 | 1082 |
| Username | your credential | credential, optionally -country-us and a session | credential, optionally -country-us and a session | credential plus targeting, as in USERNAME-country-gb-session-shop01 |
| Password | your password | your password | your password | your password |
The residential username is where country, city and session live; country and city targeting has the grammar. The free tier is shared datacenter over HTTP only, so a free account must choose HTTP: SOCKS5 and the three gateways need a paid plan.
Check the proxy before using the profile
BitBrowser's check is Proxy Detection. Run it from the profile's edit dialog (open it from the profile's row on Browsers). A failed detection with BitBrowser's own message means the proxy did not answer as configured; the last section below sorts out why.
A passing detection proves BitBrowser reached the internet through the proxy, not that the profile will. Launch the profile, open https://api.ipify.org, and compare the address with the one on Proxies (static) or with the country you asked for (gateways). A mismatch here and a pass in detection usually means a second proxy layer, such as a system VPN, sits under the browser.
One proxy per profile
Give each account one IP per profile and do not share it with a second account on the same site. Two profiles behind one address look like one operator, whatever their fingerprints say.
Which product keeps that address depends on how it rotates. A Dedicated proxy keeps the same IP for as long as the plan is paid, so a store login reopened next week leaves from the address it used last week. The gateways choose an exit per connection. A session id in the username pins one exit for up to 30 minutes on the rotating gateways and up to 30 minutes on residential, so a gateway profile reopened tomorrow leaves from a different address in the same targeted location. Sticky vs rotating sessions explains the window and what ends it early.
Use IP whitelisting instead of a password
You can leave Username and Password empty and let Node4 recognize the computer instead. Register the public address of the machine that runs BitBrowser under Auth & IP Access; that is your office or home connection, not any profile's proxy address. IP whitelisting works on every product, with one cost on residential: a whitelisted residential connection sends no username, so its exit is untargeted. On the rotating gateways you can keep country targeting by entering the username with the password left empty. IP whitelisting best practices covers machines whose address changes.
Batch import many profiles
Batch Import on Browsers creates profiles from an Excel file. Click Download Template, fill one row per profile, put http or socks5 in the proxy type column, and put the proxy in the proxy column as Host:Port:Username:Password. BitBrowser takes up to 1000 rows per upload; if an upload fails, a malformed cell is the usual cause, and importing half the rows at a time finds it.
Node4 produces those lines for you. For Dedicated and Shared, use Export on Proxies as TXT with Port and Username & Password ticked (credentials are left out unless you tick it) and Protocol Prefix off; each line is the host:port:user:pass form the template wants. Exported lines carry the HTTP port, so put http in the type column, or replace the port with the SOCKS5 port shown on that proxy's row if you choose socks5. For Rotating Datacenter and Rotating Unmetered, open Connect, then Generate proxy list, leave Type on sticky (the default), pick the IP:PORT:USER:PASS line format and generate: every line carries its own session id, so each imported profile gets its own pinned exit. For residential, write the lines yourself with a different session segment per profile.
The colon is the field separator, so a password containing : or @ splits into the wrong fields and the profile fails with a 407. Change the password to one without those characters before a batch import; special characters in the password explains the failure.
To change the proxy on profiles that already exist, use Batch Update with an exported file, keeping the ID column as it is. Proxies you reuse can also be saved once under Proxy IP, on the Proxy IP Management tab (Batch Add Proxy takes many as text), and attached to a profile with Bind Window.
When the check fails
407 Proxy Authentication Required
The proxy reached Node4 and the login was refused. In order of likelihood: the host belongs to a product your account holds no plan for (a free account on a gateway host is the common case), the password contains a character the import split on, a targeting key in the username is misspelled (-contry-us is refused, not ignored), or the profile has an empty username and the computer's current address is not on the whitelist. Fixing a 407 walks each one.
Timeout or connection failed
Usually the type and port disagree: HTTP selected with the SOCKS5 port, or the reverse. A free account set to SOCKS5 fails the same way. If type and port match, a firewall or antivirus on the PC may be blocking outbound connections to the port; connection issues separates the layers.
Wrong country
A misspelled targeting key is a 407, so a wrong country with no error usually means the username has no country segment, or the profile is whitelisted with an empty username. Node4's X-Node4-Country header says whether the country was honored, but it is present only on plain-HTTP responses and on refusals; an HTTPS tunnel or a SOCKS5 connection carries none. Residential sends it only on a refused country, and its refusals also explain themselves in a 502 body. Check the exit with https://ipinfo.io/json inside the profile; the targeting article above has the details.
Ready to give each profile its own address? Datacenter proxies lists the Dedicated and Shared plans; residential proxies covers the gateway for platforms that weigh address type. If your team also works in AdsPower or Hubstudio, their setup pages are AdsPower proxy setup and Hubstudio proxy setup.