What TestComplete is and where it fits
TestComplete is SmartBear’s functional UI test automation tool for running checks against real applications and real browsers. It is commonly used in enterprise QA because it supports both codeless (record/keyword) workflows and scripted tests, and it scales well for repeatable regression runs.
In practice, TestComplete is a solid choice when you need to:
- cover UI regression for a web product (customer portal, admin panel, SaaS UI);
- test Windows desktop apps (internal clients, POS software, installers/updaters);
- automate typical user flows: login, roles, forms, payments, settings, notifications, import/export;
- run the same suite on multiple machines/VMs via a lightweight runner (TestExecute) for parallel execution.
Where it is especially useful: desktop and web
For web testing, TestComplete drives real browsers on Windows and works with a page’s object model (elements, properties, actions). This usually produces more stable tests than coordinate-based clicking, especially with dynamic UIs.
On the desktop side, its strength is Windows UI automation: dialogs, system windows, common controls, and install/upgrade scenarios. In many enterprise products, the web UI is only part of the system, with additional desktop utilities or “thin clients” that still require coverage.
Typical enterprise UI automation scenarios
Teams usually automate what pays off most in regression:
- Authentication and sessions: login, MFA, password reset, timeouts, “remember me”.
- Roles and access: permissions, hidden sections, correct 403/404 behavior on direct links.
- Critical business flows: create/update entities, confirmations, statuses, history.
- Forms and validation: masks, locale-specific formats, required fields, error states.
- Payments and subscriptions: checkout flows, status handling, success/failure screens.
- UI sanity: ensuring key pages and navigation don’t break after releases.
Why mobile proxies matter: geo QA and anti-bot behavior on mobile ASNs
If your product serves multiple countries, local testing is not enough. Common realities include:
- features that are hidden or altered by region (compliance, licensing, partners);
- different currency, tax, wording, consent banners, payment and delivery rules;
- bot protection (WAF/anti-bot) that behaves differently depending on ASN and network type: datacenter/VPN vs mobile networks;
- a need to simulate “real mobile users” not only via User-Agent, but also via network-level signals.
In this context, a mobile proxy means egress through an IP address owned by a mobile carrier (a mobile ASN). Those IPs often have a different reputation profile for anti-bot systems and can better represent real user access conditions.
When mobile proxies deliver the most value
- Geo restrictions and feature flags: confirm that module A is enabled in country X and hidden/blocked in country Y.
- Pricing and localization: currency, VAT, rounding, language, address formats.
- Anti-bot and risk scoring: CAPTCHA, 403, extra login challenges, rate limits.
- Datacenter bias: corporate infrastructure can look “datacenter-like” and trigger protection.
- Incident reproduction: “users in Turkey can’t access the portal”, “Billing is missing in Canada”.
How to combine TestComplete and proxies in practice
Because TestComplete drives the browser/app on a Windows machine, proxying is typically done at the execution environment level:
- Windows system proxy (WinINET): convenient when the browser/components follow system settings.
- Browser-level proxy: start the browser with proxy parameters or use a dedicated profile with proxy set.
- Per-country VM: the most reliable at scale—each VM uses its own mobile proxy egress and runs tests in parallel via TestExecute.
- PAC/routing: proxy only specific domains (e.g., the web UI) while keeping internal APIs direct.
The key principle is to treat proxy settings as an environment parameter (CI job configuration), not something hardcoded into test logic. This allows you to run the same suite across countries without duplication.
Stability basics: sticky sessions and IP management
For UI automation, stability is usually more important than frequent rotation. If the IP changes mid-login or mid-payment, you may trigger extra challenges or session invalidation.
- Sticky sessions (hold the same IP for N minutes) work best for complete end-to-end flows.
- Rotate between tests when you need to avoid accumulating risk score or validate behavior across multiple IPs in the same country.
- Country pools help you keep regions isolated and prevent accidental geo mixing in a single run.
Case study: a SaaS panel with region-hidden features
Consider a SaaS portal where some features are available only in specific countries (different payment providers, legal constraints, or partner integrations). The team wants automated checks to confirm that:
- in UA the “Payments” module is visible and provider X is available;
- in DE “Payments” exists but provider X is hidden, while provider Y is available;
- in US some settings are unavailable and the UI shows a clear explanation (banner/tooltip/FAQ);
- the anti-bot layer does not introduce unnecessary CAPTCHA/403 at a normal interaction pace.
Implementation: assign a dedicated mobile proxy endpoint (or pool) per country and run the same suite with different environment variables: COUNTRY=UA, PROXY=..., LOCALE=uk-UA, TIMEZONE=Europe/Kyiv. In reports, capture IP, country, ASN, timestamps, and build version to distinguish product defects from network/proxy instability.
How to structure a geo execution matrix
A practical “grown-up” setup uses a matrix such as:
- Country/region (UA, PL, DE, US…)
- Network type (mobile ASN as the realistic profile; sometimes datacenter for comparison)
- Browser (Edge/Chrome/Firefox based on your audience)
- Role (user/admin/partner)
Then the CI orchestrator runs jobs in parallel. TestComplete’s runner model (TestExecute) makes it easier to build a small execution “farm” of machines/VMs dedicated to geo validation.
Tips to avoid flaky runs
- Validate geo explicitly: at the start, verify that the IP is truly in the target country (via your own endpoint or a reliable geo IP service) and log the result.
- Control interaction pace: anti-bot systems react to impossible click rates; add realistic waits where users read or load data.
- Separate accounts per geo: avoid locks caused by a single login appearing from many countries.
- Keep state clean: clear cookies/localStorage or use separate profiles to avoid cross-locale contamination.
- Collect diagnostics: on failure save screenshots, logs/DOM, and network attributes (IP/ASN/country) to make issues reproducible.
Summary
TestComplete is a strong fit for enterprise UI automation, especially when you need stable regression for web/desktop and parallel execution across machines. Dedicated mobile proxies add realistic geo coverage: how the product behaves in different countries and how anti-bot logic reacts on mobile ASNs. The most maintainable setup treats proxies as environment parameters, uses sticky sessions for end-to-end flows, and logs network attributes in test reports.
Test design options: keyword tests vs scripts
Most teams combine two styles:
- Keyword-driven tests (visual steps) are easy to read and maintain for mixed-skill teams.
- Scripted tests (often JavaScript or Python) provide flexibility for helpers, parameterization, data generation, and richer logging.
A pragmatic setup keeps core end-to-end flows readable in keywords, while shared helpers (login utilities, geo/IP validation, reporting) live in script libraries.
Web runs: cross-browser and mobile web emulation
Geo QA is more reliable when you execute the same scenarios in the browsers your customers actually use. This helps separate regional issues from browser-specific behavior.
For mobile web UI coverage, browser mobile emulation is useful to validate responsive layout, menus, modals, and form behavior. However, emulation does not replace network reality. For anti-bot validation, the mobile proxy (mobile ASN) is the key variable.
Data-driven geo checks
Geo validation fits naturally into a data-driven model. Instead of cloning tests per country, keep one scenario that reads a JSON/CSV row: country, proxy endpoint, expected features, currency, language, and hidden modules. Adding a new region becomes a data change, not new test code.
Implementation checklist for mobile proxies
- 1) Define the matrix: pick countries/browsers based on actual user analytics.
- 2) Isolate environments: ideally a dedicated VM per country (or at least separate browser profiles).
- 3) Validate geo at start: log IP/country/ASN and fail fast when geo is wrong.
- 4) Use sticky for e2e: keep one IP for a full flow; rotate between tests only.
- 5) Control pace: anti-bot reacts to impossible click rates; add realistic waits.
- 6) Capture artifacts: screenshots/logs plus network attributes in the report.
Anti-bot perspective
IP is only one signal. Interaction rate, repeated patterns, profile cleanliness, and headers can also trigger risk controls. The QA goal is not to “bypass” protection, but to ensure legitimate users are not blocked. Design runs to look like normal usage rather than maximizing speed.