IP block?

[TonyM]

I have been using Verizon Fios for about a year now and very recently (about a week) I've been noticing some sites and links not working; one site is a pay site that I have been a long time member of. I log in to the site like I normally would and then it just sits on a white page saying "waiting on blahblahblah.blahblahblah.net" for many minutes.  I mentioned this to the support team of the site and they said that it sounds likely that my ISP is blocking a certain IP range, most likely to contain a virus threat, and that my favorite site just happens to fall within that range. They came to this conclusion after I mentioned that I was able to surf other sites with no problem, and that I was trying to log in several times at odd hours to rule out internet congestion. Then I started testing other things, and found that I couldn't play half the songs on my playlist from playlist.com. I know that could be from just expired dead links, but now I have to wonder if that's just another symptom of an IP block. The tech support team at my favorite internet site also said that there's a possibility that my ISP wouldn't even tell me anyways even if it was the case.

Anyone else heard of this or experiencing similar issues with their internet? If this is what's going on, that's fine, I understand that verizon has to protect the network, but for how long would something like that last? I mean, they would have to lift it at some time, right? Or not?!

[mattheww50]

I have seen it before. It usually happens during major service roll-outs. Someone needs a lot of unallocated IP addresses. They get them assigned, but it turns out a number of them have, shall we say, an unsavory  history. Those addresses have been used for Spam, Hacking, Denial of service attacks etc either while unassigned, or assigned to a previous 'owner'. As a result of that past, those IP addresses are often blocked at the sites that were attacked. The fix is access the Whois directory, and determine the point of contact for technical issues at the blocked web site. Usually a polite email to the contact pointing out that the IP address in question is now legally assigned to Verizon, and you would like to be able to access the site, so kindly unblock the IP address. Absent the request, the IP address will remain blocked indefinitely, and it isn't Verizon doing the blocking, it is the server(s) on the other end. The problem is aggravated by the fact that while the IP address is 'leased' (often for 24 hours at a time), the same MAC address tends to produce the same IP address on subsequent 'leases'. While I think getting the addresses unblocked really should the responsibility of the Internet Service Provider, they usually don't see it that way, so you have to do it yourself.

So you either need to get the web site to unblock the address, or pray you can get an unblocked IP. Address. Generally there are three ways to do that:

1). Replace the Router (new MAC address, and not very practical).

2). Bypass the router, and connect directly to your computer (end up with the computer's MAC instead of the router's, changing the MAC address).

2). Turn off the Router for more than 24 hours, causing the lease on the IP address to expire without renewal. That tosses the IP address back into the available pool, and hopefully someone else gets it. The bad news is the new IP address may also be blocked! Of course that also means you are disconnected from the Internet for 24+ hours.

Some years ago when home.com collapsed, the cable operators who participated in home.com like Cox, suddenly needed a whole lot of IP addresses for their customers. They got them, but it turned out many of the IP addresses they got were blocked by a number of sites. At the time I still had a dial up connection, and found I could access sites on the dial up connection, but not on the high speed connection.

BTW, Verizon also blocks external IP addresses for the same reason. I have a friend in the UK who could not send me email, because Verizon blocked the IP address she sends from. I had to request Verizon 'White List' the address.

[TonyM]

Ahhh...  Thanks for the reply, that was most informative.  I'll try out some of your suggestions and keep my fingers crossed.