Web Wiz Forums - blocking IP Range question

blocking IP Range question

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Category: Web Wiz Web App Support Forums
Forum Name: Web Wiz Forums
Forum Description: Support forum for Web Wiz Forums application.
URL: https://forums.webwiz.net/forum_posts.asp?TID=14461
Printed Date: 12 April 2026 at 5:39pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.08 - https://www.webwizforums.com

Topic: blocking IP Range question

Posted By: WebG
Subject: blocking IP Range question
Date Posted: 28 March 2005 at 3:58pm

I have a number of users who are using any number of the dozens of free email account domains available from MAIL.COM.

First, has this been an issue for others, and if so, what's the easiest/fastest way to add all those dozens of domains to the 'banned email domain' table?

Also, I've started to see some users with 10.x.x.x IP addresses in their posts. Is this what programs such as Norton Internet Security do to 'hide' a user's IP from appearing? If so, should I just add 10.0.0.0 as a blocked range to prevent 'hidden' folks from showing up?

What are you guys doing to best verify your users? (currently using modified v7.9)

Replies:

Posted By: xeerex
Date Posted: 28 March 2005 at 9:45pm

As I've posted in other threads on this same topic:

The truth is that there is no way to 100% block a user from a forum unless on a publicly accessible forum.

If you block the IP address, then most likely the user is on a dynamic IP which will change, or the user can just come in through a proxy server.
If you ban the IP range, then you will most likely penalize other users on that network, and the "bad" user can again come in through another network or through a proxy.
If you ban the email address, then the user can just use another email address.
If you ban the email domain, the user can just get another.
If you ban the username, then the user will just create another one.

The best hope is to simply ban the users email, deactivate the username, and hope he/she eventually tires of the game. Another suggestion is to allow new users to enter a group that has limited rights and ladder them to the next, or manually elevate their rights. However, this has the cost of additional overhead on your part.

You could also setup the forum where admins have to manually activate members, but again there is the additional overhead in administration.

http://forums.webwiz.net/search.asp?KW=block&SM=1&SI=PT&FM=1&OB=1 - http://forums.webwiz.net/search.asp?KW=block&SM=1&SI=PT&FM=1&OB=1

http://forums.webwiz.net/search.asp?KW=ban&SM=1&SI=PT&FM=1&OB=1 - http://forums.webwiz.net/search.asp?KW=ban&SM=1&SI=PT&FM=1&OB=1

http://forums.webwiz.net/search.asp?KW=range&SM=1&SI=PT&FM=1&OB=1 - http://forums.webwiz.net/search.asp?KW=range&SM=1&SI=PT&FM=1&OB=1

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