Hosting help: users blocked on 1and1?

[jacobsen1]

OK, we've got ~200 users. We've had 40 online at one time as the max so far. I'm hosted on 1and1. I've had users complain that they've been blocked from the forum for DAYS at a time. This included myself once for a 3 days stretch, and my other admin/mods at times. I've called the host (1and1) and they said the had access so it was an ISP issue (when it was me). I also called local people with the same ISP and they had access, so it was just me...

Some people have been able to get around this with proxies.
Some people say a modem reset will get it back.
Some people have had zero issues lurking, joined and were instantly blocked.
Some people have just been "locked out" for days no matter what (myself!).

Right now my immediate concern is know what to say to my host when I call them to ask for help. The first time they simply dismissed it because they could get on from their end. They said it was an ISP problem and that was that. Now I know it's not an ISP error as it's happened to about 10 different people all with very similar issues... So I need to know what to ask them to fix.

Also, I'll be reading the host experience thread to see who's worth while with a vB forum...

Any ideas/thoughts/suggestions would be very helpful.

Thanks,
Ben Jacobsen

[dodgeboard.com]

When you say "blocked", are you actually getting a "blocked message" or are you getting a 404 error page, or what exactly?

Do you get any email SQL Errors, like 'max user connections', etc?

When these problems occur, are you able to ping your server by domain name? by ip?

You'll want to gather as much technical information as possible (ping results, server status, tracert results, screen shots, etc) if you are going to convince your host there is a problem on their side.

[eJM]

I used to be hosted on 1&1.com, had all kinds of problems for the last 6 of the 9 months I was with them (not this problem though). They never took responsibility for the problems. The most exasperating was database errors many times a day - over a hundred one day. They kept telling me it was my problem. I finally moved to HostGator. I didn't change a single thing and the database errors went to zero immediately. Not a one.

I'd suggest a new host. Even if you do have some of your own problems, you will have a better chance of troubleshooting them on a decent host. HostGator is a good host and every support person I have spoken with seems to speak and understand English quite well.

Jim

[class101]

type your server ip in this internet tool CRUSH and look at how many websites are hosted on your IP, some hostings like OVH and 1and1 are abusers and I already caught servers with over 23000+ website on it, proof ? look at 90plan.ovh.net (24000+ domains on this one) then you can expect any behaviours like slow accessibility, mysql problems, hacking attempts under such systems. Best recommandation to be safe is to move on a VPS which is cheap and you have a total control on the performances, nor a dedicated system but certainly not at OVH nor 1and1. Personally since I moved from OVH all my probs were gone.

[jacobsen1]

When users get locked out, it's a timed out error. It's as if the site is down, but other people can get in (verified by AIM, other forums, email and phone calls to other users). It's just "down".

I just did that crush deal, and we're 1 of 118 (and actually 4 of 118 as I have 3 other sites with them).

We're definately looking for a new host, but in the interim, what do I say to them when I call? How do I explain the problem? The only time I had this problem, they just said they could get in, so it was with my ISP and that was all the would do... At that time I called family in the area on the same ISP, they could get in, and I IMed other members and they had zero issues....

Thanks for the suggestions so far. Any ideas on what it could be though? I'm getting no errors or any sort of emails from them.

[eJM]

Call your ISP and explain the situation. Maybe you have a modem that is blocking that site on the IP level. Maybe you connect on a series of IPs instead of just one. Try restarting your Internet connection or your computer. I've had members who use AOL have more problems than anyone else.

Have you blocked any IP addresses in the admin CP or via your .htaccess file?

I don't have an answer for you. If it were me, I would be calling my IPS and 1&1 to sort it out.

Jim

[jacobsen1]

Yeah, I'm going to call them, I just know 1and1 doesn't have the best customer service around, so I'm just trying to figure out what to tell/ask them before I call.

I'd not a blocked IP as we haven't blocked any.
It's not the ISP because it's happening to users on various ISPs and when I'm down, people with the same ISP are fine.

Also I have 5 sites with 1and1. When anyone is blocked, they're blocked from all 5, not just a single one.