The current invention provides a system and method for selecting a proxy gateway for communication between a client and server. In exemplary embodiments, a network includes a plurality of proxy servers and one or more reference nodes in signal communication with the proxy servers. A reference communication path is determined between each proxy server and a reference node. The communication path from the client to the server may then be compared to the reference paths for the proxy servers to determine which proxy server is suitable to act as the proxy gateway for the communication. In one embodiment, the proxy server having the shortest logical distance to the client-server communication path may be selected to act as the proxy gateway.