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CredentialCache and HttpWebRequest in .NET

I'm having difficulty understanding how web requests and credentials work in .NET.
I have the following method that is executing a request to a SOAP endpoint.
public WebResponse Execute(NetworkCredential Credentials)
{
HttpWebRequest webRequest = CreateWebRequest(_url, actionUrl);
webRequest.AllowAutoRedirect = true;
webRequest.PreAuthenticate = true;
webRequest.Credentials = Credentials;
// Add headers and content into the requestStream
asyncResult.AsyncWaitHandle.WaitOne();
return webRequest.EndGetResponse(asyncResult);
}
It works well enough. However, users of my applications may have to execute dozens of these requests in short succession. Hundreds over the course of the day. My goal is to implement some of the recommendations I've read about, namely using an HttpClient that exists for the entire lifetime of the application, and to use the CredentialCache to store user's credentials, instead of passing them in to each request.
So I'm starting with the CredentialCache.
Following the example linked above, I instantiated a CredentialCache and added my network credentials to it. Note that this is the exact same NetworkCredential object that I was passing to the request earlier.
NetworkCredential credential = new NetworkCredential();
credential.UserName = Name;
credential.Password = PW;
Program.CredCache.Add(new Uri("https://blah.com/"), "Basic", credential);
Then, when I go to send my HTTP request, I get the credentials from the cache, instead of providing the credentials object directly.
public WebResponse Execute(NetworkCredential Credentials)
{
HttpWebRequest webRequest = CreateWebRequest(_url, actionUrl);
webRequest.AllowAutoRedirect = true;
webRequest.PreAuthenticate = true;
webRequest.Credentials = Program.CredCache;
// more stuff down here
}
The request now fails with a 401 error.
I am failing to understand this on several levels. For starters, I can't seem to figure out whether or not the CredentialCache has indeed passed the proper credentials to the HTTP request.
I suspect part of the problem might be that I'm trying to use "Basic" authentication. I tried "Digest" as well just as a shot in the dark (which also failed), but I'm sure there must be a way to see what kind of authentication the server is expecting.
I have been combing StackOverflow and MDN trying to read up as much as possible about this, but I am having a difficult time separating the relevant information from the outdated and irrelevant information.
If anyone can help me solve the problem that would be most appreciated, but even links to proper educational resources would be helpful.

According to the documentation the CredentialCache class is only for SMTP, it explicitly says that it is not for HTTP or FTP requests:
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.net.credentialcache(v=vs.110).aspx
Which directly contradicts the info in the later api docs. Which one is right I don't know.
You could try using the HttpClient class. The methods and return types are different, so you would need to tweak your other a code a bit, but it would look a bit like this:
public class CommsClass
{
private HttpClient _httpClient;
public CommsClass(NetworkCredential credentials)
{
var handler = new HttpClientHandler { Credentials = credentials };
_httpclient = new HttpClient(handler);
}
public HttpResponseMessage Execute(HttpRequestMessage message)
{
var response = _httpClient.SendAsync(message).Result;
return response;
}
}
You can do all sorts of other things with the handler, and the client like set request headers or set a base address.

Proxy with HTTP Requests

Would it be possible to route a GET request through a proxy by specifying the host as the proxy? Or would you have to set the destination of the packet?
I am trying to generate an HTTPRequestMessage and route it through a proxy. However, I do not have fine level control of setting the destination of the request being sent out.

I was able to add a proxy to HttpClient, HttpWebRequest and HttpRequestMessage. They do not have to be used together, but I just found two ways of making HTTP Requests with proxy. To do this in windows store/metro applications, you would have to implement IWebProxy.
Take a look at this for implementing IWebProxy: http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/windowsapps/en-US/6e20c2c0-105c-4d66-8535-3ddb9a048b69/bug-missing-type-webproxy-cant-set-proxy-then-where-is-the-appconfig
Then all you need to do is set the proxy for HttpClient or HttpWebRequest:
HttpClient:
HttpClientHandler aHandler = new HttpClientHandler();
IWebProxy proxy = new MyProxy(new Uri("http://xx.xx.xx.xxx:xxxx"));
proxy.Credentials = new NetworkCredential("xxxx", "xxxx");
aHandler.Proxy = proxy;
HttpClient client = new HttpClient(aHandler);
HttpWebRequest:
HttpWebRequest webrequest = (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.CreateHttp(uri);
IWebProxy proxy = new MyProxy(new Uri("http://xx.xx.xx.xxx:xxxx"));
proxy.Credentials = new NetworkCredential("xxxx", "xxxx");
webrequest.Proxy = proxy;
HttpRequestMessage
Once you construct an HttpRequestMessage, you can use the method above (HttpClient) to send this request message and it will be routed through the proxy without any additional work.

Restful, Proxy and webapi

I'm developing a consumer app for a publically avalible rest webservice.
I'm having 2 problems: My proxy and the service authentication.
i cant seem to get past my proxy, actually i do have a valid credential to get by it, but i dont know where or how to provide it!
And second, i also dont know how to responde the basic authentication challenge issued by the web-service...
I do can use it via browser, but i cant get it working on my c# app. Heres the code so far:
HttpClient cli = new HttpClient();
cli.BaseAddress = new Uri("http://myserver.com/");
HttpResponseMessage response = cli.GetAsync("api/service1").Result;
textBox1.Text = response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync().Result;
the result in textBox1 so far is always a 407 error... Can anyone help?
Edit1: Authentication on the webservice is of the type BASIC!
Edit2: clientHandler.Credentials = new NetworkCredential("user", "P#ssw0rd"); does not work... server returns "This request requires HTTP authentication"

Proxy information needs to be configured on the HttpClientHandler object which can be passed into the HttpClient constructor.
var clientHandler = new HttpClientHandler();
clientHandler.Proxy = new WebProxy("http://proxyserver:80/",true);
var httpClient = new HttpClient(clientHandler);
For credentials I do something like this...
var clientHandler = new HttpClientHandler() {PreAuthenticate = true};
var credentialCache = new CredentialCache();
credentialCache.Add(new Uri(Host), "Basic", new NetworkCredential(userName, password));
clientHandler.Credentials = credentialCache;
By setting this up this way, whenever you make a request to any URI that is below the "Host" URI, HttpClientHandler will automatically set the correct authorization header.
Also, be aware there is an alternative handler called WebRequestHandler that can be used instead of HttpClientHandler that add in extra stuff that is only available on the Windows OS like WinINet proxy and Pipelining.

The remote server returned an error: (407) Proxy Authentication Required

I referred several websites, which had answer for this question
"The remote server returned an error: (407) Proxy Authentication Required." ,but none were helpful.
I wrote a sample code to check the proxy authentication in office. The code throws exception.
My requirement:- Verify what the website returns. Outside office, the code works fine, but in office it throws an exception due to proxy.
When I hardcode the credentials using new NetworkCredential, it works fine.
int ResponseCode;
string url = "http://www.msftncsi.com/ncsi.txt";
WebRequest request = WebRequest.Create(url);
request.Credentials = CredentialCache.DefaultCredentials;
using (WebResponse response = request.GetResponse())
{
Stream dataStream = response.GetResponseStream();
StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(dataStream);
responseFromServer = reader.ReadToEnd();
ResponseCode = (int)((HttpWebResponse)response).StatusCode;
reader.Close();
}
I do not want to Hardcode. I referred the solution in http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/is/csharpgeneral/thread/c06d3032-dceb-4a1a-bb6a-778fd13a938a, but even that didnt help.
What am I missing?

I had the same issue, this did the trick for me
request.Proxy.Credentials = CredentialCache.DefaultCredentials;

There are many things here. You can try setting Credentials explicitly
request.Credentials = new NetworkCredentials(username, password)
You might need to specify proxy. By default it uses your IE proxy. You might not want that
WebRequest webRequest = WebRequest.Create("http://stackoverflow.com/");
webRequest.Proxy = new WebProxy("http://proxyserver:80/",true);

Difficulty with BugzScout.net from behind a proxy

I'm attempting to use Fogbugz's BugzScout in order to automatically submit unhanded application exceptions to my Fogbugz on demand Account. I've written up a wrapper class for it and everything appears to be just groovy - on my box. Testing the same code in the production environment, behind a Proxy that requires authentication, I have had nothing but issues.
I went to work modifying the BugzScout code in order to get it to authenticate with the Proxy, and after trying many different methods suggested via a Google search, found one that works! But now I'm getting an "Connection actively refused" error from Fogbugz itself, and I don't know what to do.
Here is the code where the BugzScout connects via a .net WebClient to submit a new case, with my modifications to deal with our Proxy. What am I doing that would cause Fogbugz to refuse my request? I've removed all non web-client related code from the procedure for ease of reading.
public string Submit(){
WebClient client = new WebClient();
WebProxy proxy = new WebProxy();
proxy.UseDefaultCredentials = true;
client.Proxy = proxy;
Byte[] response = client.DownloadData(fogBugzUrl);
string responseText = System.Text.Encoding.UTF8.GetString(response);
return (responseText == "") ? this.defaultMsg : responseText;
}
The url is correct and the case is filled in properly- this has been verified.
EDIT: Additional info.
Using Fogbugz on Demand.
Using FogBugz.net code in it's entirety, with only these additions
WebProxy proxy = new WebProxy();
proxy.UseDefaultCredentials = true;
client.Proxy = proxy;
Error occurs when attempting to connect to both https://oursite.fogbugz.com/scoutsubmit.asp and http://oursite.fogbugz.com//scoutsubmit.asp (except one says port 443, and the other port 80, obviously)
I don't know anything about web authentication so I can't tell you what kind I'm using- if you tell me where to look I'd be happy to answer that for you.

Got the fix from Fogbugz- this is the appropriate network code to get though the proxy authentication and not mis-authenticate with Bugzscout.
WebRequest.DefaultWebProxy.Credentials = CredentialCache.DefaultNetworkCredentials;
WebRequest request = WebRequest.Create(fogBugzUrl);
request.ContentType = "application/x-www-form-urlencoded";
request.Method = "POST";
request.Proxy.Credentials = CredentialCache.DefaultNetworkCredentials;
Stream requestStream = request.GetRequestStream();
requestStream.Write(bytes, 0, bytes.Length);
requestStream.Close();

Is your fogbugzUrl using HTTP Basic Authentication? Is it SSL (hosted on On Demand?)
The connection actively refused message would be coming from the web server itself, not really FogBugz.
Can you post the HTTP Status Code?
One thing to note if you are using FogBugz On Demand is you HAVE to use the https:// url (not the http url).