PlayStation 3 + ProxySwitcher

Disclaimer of responsibility - actions described in this article open up external, potentially unauthorized, access to internal proxy server of the ProxySwitcher. Proceed at your own risk.

Due to multiple requests of how to get PS3 to use Proxy Switcher, I have written here a short guide. Main issue is that PS3 does not know how to authenticate with password protected proxy servers. Which means that this guide applies to programs and devices with similar issues.

Configuring Proxy Switcher

First of all it's required that Proxy Switcher's internal proxy server does not require authentication. By default, it's configured to accept connections only from localhost and not require authentication.

ProxySwitcher's preferences So first of all need to go into Proxy Switcher's preferences (View ⇒ Preferences from main menu).
Then go to "Internal Proxy" selector and click "Access..." button. In the dialog that will show up check that checkbox is disabled. ProxySwitcher's preferences

After which you should exit Proxy Switcher (main menu File ⇒ Exit).




Making Proxy Switcher accept connections from everyone

By default Proxy Switcher can work in to modes:
  • accept requests from localhost without requiring authentication
  • accept requests from everyone but ask for username and password
To change this behavior there is an undocumented switch that forces program to accept requests from everyone. For this to happen you need to pass -a argument to program at startup. One solution is to modify the startup shortcut by adding -a to the command line. Modifying ProxySwitcher's shortcut To do this - find Proxy Switcher shortcut in Start menu and right-click on it, then click on properties.
After which you can start up Proxy Switcher and it will accept requests from everyone without requiring authentication. Which means that anyone can potentially access it.



Configuring PlayStation

I don't have access to PS3, but roughly this is how it should go: ProxySwitcher's preferences
  • Select "Settings"
  • Select "Network Settings"
  • Select "Internet Connection Settings"
  • Select "Yes" when a confirmation screen is displayed stating that you will be disconnected from the Internet
  • Select "Custom"
  • Adjust each item as necessary for the network environment in use. The items displayed vary depending on the settings you have selected
  • Proxy Server - Set the IP address and port (default 3128) of the machine that is running the Proxy Switcher
If it doesn't work - check that PC's firewall that it allows connections from outside to Proxy Switcher.