At the beginning of February of this year, Sony’s PlayStation Network faced a great outage. This affected users on a massive scale throughout the world. The incident occurred on a Friday evening and lasted a whole 24 hours, which is quite major when you consider the standing of Sony in the tech world.

It affected Sony devices across the board, including the latest PS5 and its predecessor, the PS4. According to DownDetector, at the peak of the outage, some 70,000 gamers had their experiences disrupted. This meant users were unable to go online and play games like Fortnite and COD.

Affected users were seen on social sites, where they voiced their criticism directed at Sony and the service. This incident highlights how companies are dependent upon their servers to maintain online features. But how can the end consumers protect themselves in case such an event occurs again?

Web Proxy Servers for Bypassing PSN Outages

Say hello to proxy servers if you haven’t yet: powerful tools that serve as intermediaries when users interact with online data. These offer functions like anonymity, the ability to filter content, and the ability to bypass regional restrictions. The last of these is one that gamers can use to avoid PSN outages.

A web proxy server works by masking the IP addresses of the user and connecting them to a server located in a different region. Should a PSN outage event occur, you can connect your console through a server in a region where the network is still running. This setup would allow you to go online and play multiplayer titles, even if your local servers are down.

If you wish to connect a proxy to your console, first get the server information and go to the ‘Settings’ page. Select ‘Network’ and then choose ‘Set Up Internet Connection.’ From here, you can choose between Wi-Fi or LAN, depending on your internet, and then selecting ‘Custom’ on the next screen will show the proxy configuration. Enter the server information here and test the connection to see if it’s working as expected.

Differences Between PS4 and PS5 in Mitigating Interruption Risks

For users looking to set up a proxy server to bypass PSN interruptions, it’s essential to know if there are any differences between the two generations of Sony consoles. The good news is that both will allow you to set up a proxy according to custom configurations.

However, there are minor differences one can note in the network settings interface. The PlayStation 5, being modern, has a more streamlined user interface. There might be some differences between PS4 and PS5 when it comes to certain configurations, but most of the primary functions, including the setup of proxies or other additional measures, are simple and follow the same steps in both.

This means that PlayStation owners in both the new and past generations can have peace of mind when connecting to a proxy server.

Optimizing Proxy Settings for Reduced Latency

Making sure the proxy settings you’ve set are optimized is critical as it has an impact on your online experience. This is because efficient proxy settings cater to reduced latency, which is a factor in competitive gaming. Even minor delays can cause rippling effects to be observed in the gameplay.

There are certain gaming performance strategies you can take to try to keep latency to a minimum. Choose to connect to a proxy that is close to your location as well as the game server. Selecting a reliable and high-speed proxy provider is also advised, where server options are plenty. Regularly run performance diagnostics to see if adjustments are needed to any settings.

Running such a setup would mean smoother and more responsive games, where any geo-restrictions are bypassed.

Common Challenges and Misconceptions

Those new to the realm of proxy servers may have some misconceptions or issues related to them. Rest assured, if the settings are configured correctly and your provider is reputable, you should be able to connect easily.

If the settings are incorrect, generally, a PSN error code will be displayed. This would serve as an indicator to reconfigure the proxy server. Occasionally, you may witness connection timeouts, which are due to high traffic on the server. Switching to another one or choosing a proxy that offers high bandwidth and low traffic would solve this.

When done right, proxy servers have great benefits to reap, and mitigating PSN outages would be an important one for PlayStation users.