IP banning issues

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  • Sandra Dykes
    New Member
    • Oct 2011
    • 17
    • 3.8.x

    IP banning issues

    First - I have tried to take this problem up with tech support on a ticket and am being completely ignorred. Is this the best tech support vBulletin has to offer? I'm not the least bit impressed.

    Next - my forum was moved from one server to another on a clean install. The only thing that was moved over was the database, imported into the clean install.

    Clean install means that I downloaded the package directly from the vBulletin members area myself then uploaded it, installed the database, and upgraded the system to the latest available for my license.

    One of the reasons for the move was that there was an issue of IP's being banned that did not need to be banned, and my forum lost particpants because of this. Interestingly, my own IP was one of the ones banned. I'm on DSL and my service will fluctuate between two different IP ranges, so - fortunately for me, if I'm blocked I can reset my modem and come in on the other IP offered by my ISP.

    However, the issue that exists is that I have not banned my own IP address in the ban area of my admincp. Nor have I banned any of the other participants who have been complaining. Several other participants seem to have mysteriously disappeared and I suspect their IPs may have also been banned despite that their IPs were not banned by me, and I'm the forum's webmaster.

    I would like to know whether vBulletin is plugging in to any anti-spam controls on the vBulletin end, and if so, how can this situation be remedied? Or is this something on my end that I don't know about?

    The technician who answered my ticket wants access to my server's cpanel and I'm not going to give that out. Instead I have requested that the technician tell me what I need to look for and I will look for that myself on my server and verify whether whatever settings that they feel may be in question are what they should be. Since then my ticket has been completely ignored.

    Would someone PLEASE take the time to help me with this?

    Greatly appreciated...
  • Sandra Dykes
    New Member
    • Oct 2011
    • 17
    • 3.8.x

    #2
    Ps -

    I neglected to mention that I'm running 3.6.8 - if that helps.

    Thanks!

    Comment

    • BirdOPrey5
      Senior Member
      • Jul 2008
      • 9613
      • 5.6.3

      #3
      Banned IP addresses, if any, can be found in Admin CP -> Settings -> vBulletin Options -> User Banning Options.

      If they are not listed there then vBulletin isn't responsible for the banning.

      You mention you have "anti-spam mods" - with those ALL BETS ARE OFF- they could well be responsible for banning users they *think* are spammers. You would have to disable all such mods to see if the problem goes away and if it does get support from the author of the mods.

      Comment

      • Wayne Luke
        vBulletin Technical Support Lead
        • Aug 2000
        • 73981

        #4
        Numerous additions have been made to anti-spam measures over the years. However your software is end-of-life and not being updated anymore. You would need to upgrade to a newer version of vBulletin to get access to more advanced anti-spam measures or rely on a third-party addon that is still supported, if there are any.

        Usually when one of our tech support representatives asks for server access, it is because they don't know what is wrong and need to look at the vBulletin Admin CP, the code implemented on your website and your database structure to see where the problem lies. It can be hard to quantify what to look for until things are removed from the equation. Where to start may be a few dozen to a hundred different constructs in the system.
        Translations provided by Google.

        Wayne Luke
        The Rabid Badger - a vBulletin Cloud demonstration site.
        vBulletin 5 API

        Comment

        • Sandra Dykes
          New Member
          • Oct 2011
          • 17
          • 3.8.x

          #5
          No I didn't mention that I have anti spam mods. I asked whether vBulletin had my forum plugged into those on their end.

          The banned IPs are NOT in the directory you mentioned. I have checked that and rechecked that repeatedly, but that particular IP block still shows as banned by the administrator. I am the administrator and I have not banned the IP addresses in question.

          Could they be in the database that I imported? And if so, which table? perhaps I could empty that table?

          Comment

          • Sandra Dykes
            New Member
            • Oct 2011
            • 17
            • 3.8.x

            #6
            Also - I did plan to upgrade once I have the forum completely stable, that is my first plan. But if vBulletin's customer service is going to be so funky (referring to my ticket), maybe I should spend my hard earned money somewhere else?

            PS - thank you for that explanation - I'm not a mindreader, so I think that should have been explained to me on my ticket.

            Comment

            • Wayne Luke
              vBulletin Technical Support Lead
              • Aug 2000
              • 73981

              #7
              The reason you're waiting is that the person your ticket is assigned to is most likely asleep. He will respond as soon as he is available. While we have people to provide 24 hours support for new tickets, each representative has other needs as well. It provides a lot more coherency and makes tickets easier to solve if they stay with one representative for their duration. This prevents people from having to redo the same work over and over again.

              Originally posted by Sandra Dykes
              Could they be in the database that I imported? And if so, which table? perhaps I could empty that table?
              We wouldn't be able to answer this without looking at your database. This is probably why Zachery asked for access to your cPanel because it allows him to look at your database.
              Translations provided by Google.

              Wayne Luke
              The Rabid Badger - a vBulletin Cloud demonstration site.
              vBulletin 5 API

              Comment

              • BirdOPrey5
                Senior Member
                • Jul 2008
                • 9613
                • 5.6.3

                #8
                Honestly the fact that the person assigned the ticket was offering to look in your database shows he is going above and beyond the support that he is required to provide. Once you confirmed the IP addresses are not listed in the Admin CP settings and you have no anti-spam mods I can safely say that vBulletin isn't the cause of these bannings.

                Just a couple days ago I got banned from my own host as well. The cause was, like you, I recently moved hosts. My FTP program saved my ftp login info for my old account. When I attempted to login - forgetting I had changed hosts- it attempted to login with my old username and password- and it was set to auto-retry. My host had software that IP banned anyone trying to login with the wrong username and password too many times. There was no email, no warning, I was just banned.

                I had to open a ticket with my host to get the ban removed. Then I realized what happened when he showed me why I was banned.

                Could it be possible you are in a similar situation?

                Do you know how to run a tracert? If so you should do so to your domain.com and see if it times out. If so send that info to your host.

                Comment

                • Sandra Dykes
                  New Member
                  • Oct 2011
                  • 17
                  • 3.8.x

                  #9
                  That's doubtful because I am the host.

                  I'm not banned from the host, I'm banned from the forum. The forum page loads with a forum generated message that my IP address has been banned and to contact the site administrator (me). That's precisely what happened while it was hosted on the other server and I was hoping that moving it to a different server would clear that up. Apparently I was wrong - but that's what leads me to think it may be a database issue.

                  Next time it happens I'll post a screenshot for you. All I have to do is reset my modem.

                  Meanwhile, I'm going to go in and remove all IP bans for a few minutes while I reset my modem and if I'm able to get in after that, then I'm really going to wonder what's up since my banned IP address isn't in the list. But it's just a test to see.

                  Comment

                  • Sandra Dykes
                    New Member
                    • Oct 2011
                    • 17
                    • 3.8.x

                    #10
                    I think I have begun to figure it out - I removed all the bans from my ban list and was able to get in, then put them all back, and was banned again. I double and triple checked and my IP address is NOT on that list! Anywhere!

                    So I'm going to start my ban list all over again and see what happens. The IP that I ban that keeps me out is the magic one and I'll have to take it up with my Internet provider. This won't address everyone else who has been banned, though, but I'll take it one step at a time and go from there.

                    Thanks for your suggestions, btw. You've been kind and informative.

                    Comment

                    • Wayne Luke
                      vBulletin Technical Support Lead
                      • Aug 2000
                      • 73981

                      #11
                      You're IP address doesn't have to be on the list if the list is incorrect. If your IP is 192.XXX.XXX.XXX and you put 192 YYY YYY YYYY in the list without the periods then you ban yourself. Or even a 192. Really easy to do if you're not careful.
                      Translations provided by Google.

                      Wayne Luke
                      The Rabid Badger - a vBulletin Cloud demonstration site.
                      vBulletin 5 API

                      Comment

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