1. A method for managing traffic in a network, the method comprising: receiving, at a middlebox device comprising a processor and disposed on a network communication path between a user device and a Virtual Private Network (VPN) server, a keep-alive message associated with a VPN connection between a VPN client of the user device and the VPN server, wherein the middlebox device is disposed between a proxy server and the VPN server on the network communication path and the proxy server is disposed between the user device and the middlebox device on the network communication path, wherein a portion of the network communication path between the user device and the proxy server comprises a wireless access network, wherein the keep-alive message is received from the proxy server, wherein the proxy server is configured to transmit the keep-alive message toward the VPN server on behalf of the VPN client of the user device for reducing traffic on the wireless access network; and resetting a timer associated with the VPN connection at the middlebox device based on the received keep-alive message.