ECONNRESET and ECONNREFUSED: Connection Reset or Refused

What the error means

According to the Node.js documentation, ECONNREFUSED (Connection refused) means no connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it. This usually happens when no service is running on that port on the remote host.

ECONNRESET (Connection reset by peer) means the other side forcibly closed the connection. The documentation explains this as a loss of the connection on the remote side due to a timeout or reboot; the error is most often encountered in the http and net modules.

Through a proxy, your program connects to the proxy, not to the site. So ECONNREFUSED almost always concerns the connection to the proxy itself: if the site refuses, the proxy reports it with its own response, for example a 502 code.

Causes

• The wrong proxy host or port. For ECONNREFUSED: a port other than 823, 824 and 10000-20000, or an error in the host name.
• The program does not use the proxy. The proxy settings were not applied, and the program goes to a different host where nothing listens on the port.
• The connection to the exit device dropped. For ECONNRESET: a residential or mobile address left the network, and the sticky IP port got a new IP.
• The site closed the connection. The site drops connections at its own discretion, for example for requests over the limit.
• Reusing a closed connection. The program sends a request over a keep-alive connection that the other side has already closed.

How to fix it

1. For ECONNREFUSED, copy the proxy line from the dashboard again and check the host gw.prokso.com and the port.
2. Make sure the program really goes through the proxy: log the address it connects to. A setup example is in the Node.js guide.
3. For ECONNRESET, add a request retry with a pause to the program: on rotation ports, the retry will go through a new IP.
4. Reduce the number of parallel threads and the request rate to a single site.
5. If ECONNRESET comes on long tasks with a sticky IP, keep in mind that the session duration is limited: from 1 to 120 minutes depending on the port settings.

How to check that it works

Paste the line into the proxy checker. If the connection goes through, the host and port are correct, and the cause should be looked for in the program settings or in the site's behavior.

Two-minute diagnosis

First paste the line into the proxy checker. If the proxy works there, the cause is in your app or its settings. If not, test the line from a terminal:

curl -v -x "http://USERNAME:PASSWORD@gw.prokso.com:823" https://api.ipify.org

• A < HTTP/1.1 407 line right after CONNECT means the proxy answered. The name after the code, for example NO_USER, points to the cause.
• The proxy answered CONNECT with 200 and then another code arrived - the proxy works, and that answer came from the website.
• No answer at all, only a timeout - the connection never reached the proxy: check the host, port and network.

Setup guides where this error comes up

• Proxy setup in Go
• Proxy setup in Java
• Proxy setup in C# (.NET)
• Proxy setup in Guzzle (PHP)
• Proxy setup in Postman