How to Set Up a Custom Proxy for Your LinkedIn Account

Route your LinkedIn activity through a specific IP address for greater account safety, multi-account management, or consistent geo-location.

Why use a custom proxy?

By default, Botdog runs your LinkedIn activity from our cloud servers. Adding a custom proxy means your activity will appear to originate from your proxy's IP instead. This is especially useful if you:

• Manage multiple LinkedIn accounts and want each tied to a distinct IP address
• Want your activity to appear from a specific country or city
• Have a LinkedIn account previously accessed from a fixed IP and want to keep it consistent

Supported proxy types

Botdog supports all three major proxy protocols:

Tip: If you're unsure which protocol to use, start with HTTP on port 3128. It's the most compatible with our validation system and the easiest to debug.

How to add your proxy

1. Go to yourAccount Settingsin Botdog
2. Select theLinkedIn accountyou want to configure
3. Navigate to theProxytab
4. Enter your proxy details:

• • Protocol:HTTP, HTTPS, or SOCKS5
  • Host / Domain:Your proxy's IP address or hostname (e.g.15.235.141.132)
  • Port:e.g.3128for HTTP/HTTPS,1080for SOCKS5
  • Username & Password:Enter your credentials if authentication is required

5. ClickSave & Test— Botdog will run a quick validation to confirm the proxy is reachable

Success: Once validated, all LinkedIn activity for that account will be routed through your proxy automatically.

Troubleshooting: "The proxy in use is not working"

If your proxy passes external tests but fails in Botdog, one of these is usually the cause:

>> Your proxy is blocking Botdog's server IPs

When Botdog validates your proxy, the connection comes from our cloud servers — not your local machine. Firewall rules or IP allowlisting on your proxy server may be blocking us.

Fix: Check your proxy server's firewall settings and ensure it accepts inbound connections from any IP, or whitelist Botdog's server IPs if you know them.

>> Special characters in your credentials

If your username or password contains characters like @, :, or /, they can break the authentication string and cause silent failures.

Fix: URL-encode special characters in your credentials. For example, p@ssword becomes p%40ssword. Alternatively, update your credentials to use only alphanumeric characters.

>> Proxy response is too slow

If your proxy takes more than a few seconds to respond, Botdog's validation request will time out and report an error — even if the proxy technically works.

Fix: Test your proxy response time from an external network. Aim for a response under 3 seconds for reliable operation.

>> Protocol and port mismatch

Even if your proxy server supports multiple protocols, specific ports are tied to specific protocols. Mixing them (e.g. selecting SOCKS5 but entering port 3128) will cause the validation to fail.

Fix: Make sure your selected protocol matches your port. Use HTTP/HTTPS with port 3128, or SOCKS5 with port 1080.

Proxy recommendations

Avoid rotating proxies. Botdog requires a stable, persistent IP. Proxies that rotate or change IP on every request are not compatible and will cause session issues with LinkedIn.

• Use a dedicated proxy (not shared) — shared IPs used by many users can trigger LinkedIn's fraud detection
• Residential or ISP proxies are generally safer for LinkedIn than datacenter proxies
• Your proxy should support persistent connections with a stable IP

Still having issues?

If you've gone through the steps above and the proxy still won't validate, contact our support team with the following details:

• The proxy protocol, host, and port you're using (never share your password)
• The exact error message you're seeing
• Confirmation that the proxy works from an external network (e.g. via curl)

We'll investigate from our end and get back to you as quickly as possible.

Updated on: 27/02/2026