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[Cerberus]

On Tuesday 28th June 2005 a poster in a forum that I frequent posted some very insulting posts towards other members. Therefore I was banned. Apparently the IP address was the same as mine. I found this strange as I havent been online all week since I pulled a muscle in my back and have been bed ridden all week.


The IP address given was 62.252.12x.xx (not sure if I should reveal it all). This differs from the actual IP address I get when I check my own on on the following IP & PROXY Checker on http://www.dslzoneuk.net/ip_checker.php.

Can anyone tell me why this has happened. Is this person that posted the offensive posts using the same proxy as me in the Renfrew area? Any help and/or explanation would be greatfuly appreciated as then I can have access to the forum I was banned from.

[Stuart]

It is probably the same proxy. Some websites don't check the user's IP properly, and the method they use to check your IP actually returns the proxy IP.

Try changing your proxy (or disabling it) and the site should allow you access.
It's also possible that your IP has changed recently, and that the person using your IP before was the one who was banned. In this case, you will need to contact the Forum admins and explain the situation.

[Cerberus]

Thanks for the info. I am not that clued up about internet settings could you possibly tell me how to disable this proxy or give me a link on how to do it?


Again thanks for the prompt reply. Can you also tell me why NTL choose to use proxies and what proxies actually do?

Will the proxy IP address for the Renfrew area differ from the actual IP address that I get from NTL?

[Stuart]

Have a look at http://homepage.ntlworld.com/robin.d...trancache.html

As for what proxies do: Well, they actually store a copy of any websites you visit. The idea being that as the proxy is nearer the user (in network terms), so network access for popular sites SHOULD be faster.It also has an avantage for the ISP in that they only pay for the data to be transferred across their external links once (to the proxy), so it does work out slightly cheaper for them.

Proxies are only supposed to cache static file types (such as images, HTML pages etc). A properly configured Proxy should ignore dynamic files and pages (such as those on a forum).

TBH, I tend to have no proxy set, as I find all they seem to be is another thing that can go wrong.

BTW, the proxy IP will be different from your own IP. To a lot of websites, it will appear as if the proxy is actually browsing their site. With a minor code change, they can check your proper IP though.

Originally Posted by Cerberus

The IP address given was 62.252.12x.xx (not sure if I should reveal it all). This differs from the actual IP address I get when I check my own on on the following IP & PROXY Checker on http://www.dslzoneuk.net/ip_checker.php.

The address would be 62.252.128.xx which is the range the Renfrew proxy servers use (btw, no need to use that proxy checker, just use the 'connection' link on the navbar, next to 'blogs'). They haven't just banned you, by doing this they have banned all ntl customers using the Renfrew proxy group.

Originally Posted by Cerberus

Can anyone tell me why this has happened. Is this person that posted the offensive posts using the same proxy as me in the Renfrew area? Any help and/or explanation would be greatfuly appreciated as then I can have access to the forum I was banned from.

It has happened because they (the forum admins) don't understand proxy servers. All you can do is manually specify another proxy.. There is a list in the articles section.

[Cerberus]

Thanks for all your help. I have explained the situation to one of the forum admins and I have now been unbanned. Think I am going to disable my proxy. Once again thanks a lot. Its much appreciated and the info will help me understand proxies better. We can only improve our knowledge

[Halcyon]

Ah the good old proxies...... they can be heaven and hell at times.