Login problems

[Mayhugh1]

Logging in has become pretty much hit/miss for me because I use a VPN. Evidently this site doesn't allow  certain ip addresses which includes pretty much all the ones my VPN uses. I used to monitor this site regularly but have only been able to login twice in the last month or so. - Terry

[Jo]

If your vpn pretends to be a Chinese, Russian or North Korean ip address then the anti spam software will block you. VPN’s are all well and good but you do not know where they are claiming to be from.

Jo

[Minh Thanh]

This happens quite often to me.

I log in or access the forum just 2 or 3 days ago, and the next time I can't even access it – because I'm banned – even though I'm only using one computer at home to access the forum, and the same goes for my phone. And I'm not using a VPN (I turn off the VPN after my computer starts up).

Even using a VPN doesn't help.

It's crazy when I want to post   or leave a comment.

The frequent IP bans and blocking make me feel unwelcome here.

Sometimes the ban or IP blocking resolves itself after a few days and then starts again... like a game testing my patience.
Luckily, I came to the forum mainly for fun. If I had come to the forum to seek help or information... that would really be a problem.

[Jo]

Sadly there are "idiots" around the globe who think (or their Government encourage) spamming and taking down websites is good fun. We have been subject to attacks and been taken down a few times .

Our defence is to block IP addresses that have been identified to cause problems for other sites. Sometimes innocent people get blocked because the "idiots" have somehow caused their IP addresses to be flagged as suspect and after a few days the anti spamming sites will de-register the IP address and it will clear again.

I can only apologise and be thankful the "idiots" have not started using AI for their purposes. When they do I fear that will be the end of our site access. 

Jo

[Minh Thanh]

Hi Jo !
I understand your difficulty in maintaining the forum... and I also know a little about the internet, bots, AI bots...  but find a way to ensure that if someone is accidentally banned, they can still  respond to the forum?

If their IP address is blocked, there's a dialog box to report it, and that works.

If they're banned, there's absolutely no way to respond, even with a "Contact Us" button, it's completely useless.

In my case, if I didn't have the admin and moderator email  , my option would be ????

[Jo]

Phone a friend  (Joke its a saying on a TV program) , get them to report the problem. Find a way to use a different IP address to log on so you can report it.


IP addresses that are used by spammers get logged and put on the suspect list. After a few days if the IP address has not caused further problems it gets removed from the list of bad IP addresses.


In the old days when I had to w*rk  for a living, I had a dynamic Business IP address so it was never the same twice, that gave me no end of problems 

Jo

[Minh Thanh]

Phone a friend  (Joke its a saying on a TV program) , get them to report the problem. Find a way to use a different IP address to log on so you can report it.


Jo

Trust me, I've tried accessing the forum from different locations, from a few kilometers away – at a relative's house – to places tens of kilometers away – where I have to go, and it was useless.

I tried a VPN, changing my IP address to other countries – the first few times it took a few tens of seconds, but subsequent times it took 8, 9... minutes. The free version takes a very long time for subsequent attempts. Don't tell me to use the paid version to access the forum  - and it was useless

I only tried the VPN to see what it was like; I don't intend to use it regularly. I'm here to have fun with everyone, I'm not doing anything shady... so I don't need it.

[Admiral_dk]

I believe it has to do with IP4 - it only gives ~ 4.31 billion IP addresses (32 bit) and the vast majority are used => Some Countries only has a few IP4 addresses for the WHOLE Country 
To solve this with IP4 - they use massive amounts of Subnets => from the outside they all are one and the same (not completely, but).

The real solution is to force Everybody on to IP6, with it's 128 bit address = Every single point of entry has it's own unique ID = Simple to shut down / Lock Out an offender ...!!!

Per

[Jo]

Minh's Country (Vietnam) has five times more population than IP addresses allocated so you could be right Per.

Jo

[Minh Thanh]

Minh's Country (Vietnam) has five times more population than IP addresses allocated so you could be right Per.

Jo

2024
""In Vietnam, IPv6 deployment began in 2013 alongside IPv4—the protocol in use since the internet first arrived in the country in 1997. To date, the national IPv6 adoption rate has reached 65.35%, far exceeding the global average of 40%; this places Vietnam among the top seven countries for IPv6 deployment, marking a two-spot rise from the previous year.

The global trend is shifting from IPv4 to IPv6. In Vietnam, the roadmap entails internet service providers (ISPs) prioritizing "IPv6-only" deployment starting in 2027, ahead of the complete phase-out of IPv4 by 2030. This move represents not only a technical solution but also offers significant economic and technological value, potentially resulting in savings of millions of USD.""

[Jo]

Hi Minh,

From here it looks like you are using a IPv4 address. You can check if it is V6 here: https://test-ipv6.com/

Jo