#1 2008-10-08 4:09 am

Jason's Storm

Member

From: Minnesota

Registered: 2008-10-06

Posts: 5

Website

Help with rotating IP's (aol, etc.)

I have some members on the board who have rotating IP's like aol, and occassionally get temp banned.  My admin set up the whole list from this site as well as a question, and this occasionally happens, because its trying to prevent spammers.  Any ideas?  BTW I'm not totally as tech savy as my admin.

~JS

pedigree

uıɐbɐ ʎɐqǝ ɯoɹɟ pɹɐoqʎǝʞ ɐ buıʎnq ɹǝʌǝu ɯ,ı

From: New Zealand

Registered: 2008-04-16

Posts: 7,104

Re: Help with rotating IP's (aol, etc.)

Some help please like what forum and what mods youre using?  At the moment, new registrations are scanned in most mods, not posting so create an account for them

RFiend

Member

From: Dallas, Texas

Registered: 2008-11-13

Posts: 35

Website

Re: Help with rotating IP's (aol, etc.)

That's a nutty way to try to block spammers.  AOL, Hughes Network Systems and a few other ISPs put proxies between their customers and the world, and there's no way to get around that.  You can't assume that someone is a spammer merely 'cos their IP changes from time to time.

Additionally, EVERY single person on dial-up gets a rotating address.  Those of us with cable modems or DSL don't change as often, but it happens.  I left the cable modem off for a week while I was on vacation, and it pulled a new IP addy when I next turned it on.

Welcome to the Internets!

I don't recommend that anyone use an automated list to check or delete real members... we've had two REAL PEOPLE register on one of my forums that came in through a proxy server that one of the 'bots had used one time.  Real humans can use proxies as well as 'bots and skiddies. 

Similarly, EVERYONE needs to be careful adding a ban that's not a server farm.  I've seen the skiddies use zombied home PCs to pass their web attacks around, but that won't work with Xrumer (yet).  By banning an isolated IP address buried within an ISP's netblock, you might clobber one of your existing members next week.  It's a touchy situation, and I'm 100% certain that only a few of you folks are being careful before adding an entry into the database.

Ax Slinger

Member

From: The North Coast

Registered: 2008-04-10

Posts: 184

Website

Re: Help with rotating IP's (aol, etc.)

That's why I don't ban ranges of IP addresses, and I'm reluctant to ban certain email domains like Gmail. The chances that you'll ban legit users is a much bigger problem than the annoyance a spammer brings to your board. But it depends on the board too. If I were running a help board I would be less likely to ban Gmail than if I were running a private forum.

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I only like Spam if it is Deep Fried and served with Cheese.
But only once every six months or so.