Why was I banned?

[Soconfused2016]

I have been a longtime contributor to this forum under a different username.

Imagine my surprise to visit the site today to see that I was banned for “race baiting, trolling”.

I don’t have the first idea what I could possibly have written that offended anyone, and don’t know how to contact an administrator to see if it was a mistake.

Help? Can I PM someone to understand what happened?

[weirdlair]

I have been a longtime contributor to this forum under a different username.

Imagine my surprise to visit the site today to see that I was banned for “race baiting, trolling”.

I don’t have the first idea what I could possibly have written that offended anyone, and don’t know how to contact an administrator to see if it was a mistake.

Help? Can I PM someone to understand what happened?

@FrugalToque  @arebelspy

[Soconfused2016]

Thanks, I sent them a PM

[maizeman]

It happens to me frequently. It says I’ve had multiple warnings for being rude and that I’m permanently and irreversibly banned. I googled it and apparently it’s not an uncommon oddity on the forum.
I clear my history and cookies on my phone and it goes away. It’s annoying though.

Good to know this is a risk factor!

[Bracken_Joy]

It happens to me frequently. It says I’ve had multiple warnings for being rude and that I’m permanently and irreversibly banned. I googled it and apparently it’s not an uncommon oddity on the forum.
I clear my history and cookies on my phone and it goes away. It’s annoying though.

Yep, this happened to me when I lived near a Former Forum Troublemaker. Any time he showed back up and got banned, for months after my phone would freak out and tell me I was banned. Heart attack central! Moving fixed it though.

[Soconfused2016]

Problem solved! Clearing my cookies did the trick.

That’s so weird.

[arebelspy]

Yep, your local ISP just assigned you an IP address that was banned--your account wasn't. :)

Glad you were able to solve it, and thanks everyone here for helping.

[Lordy]

Yep, your local ISP just assigned you an IP address that was banned--your account wasn't. :)

What's the point of banning dynamic IP addresses?

[arebelspy]

Yep, your local ISP just assigned you an IP address that was banned--your account wasn't. :)

What's the point of banning dynamic IP addresses?

1) No way to tell if an IP is static or dynamic.
2) They usually stay with the same person. Even a dynamic one may not be reassigned by an ISP for months.

[nereo]

I have been a longtime contributor to this forum under a different username.

...

Now that you are no longer erroneously banned -- who are you Soconfused2016? what's your normal username?

[DreamFIRE]

It's very common for a single public IP to be shared with hundreds or thousands of computers through a method known as PAT.

[Lordy]

1) No way to tell if an IP is static or dynamic.

I have to disagree.

There are services out there like http://www.rbl-dns.com/dul.shtml
They certainly aren't perfect but can be helpful.

2) They usually stay with the same person. Even a dynamic one may not be reassigned by an ISP for months.

With Carrier Grade NAT being deployed in more and more ISPs, it's actually more likely that one IPv4 address is shared by multiple users. This may cause overblocking.

[marty998]

It's very common for a single public IP to be shared with hundreds or thousands of computers through a method known as PAT.

What about for large companies or universities which would have hundreds/thousands of devices hooked up? Do they all have the same IP address?

[maizeman]

It's very common for a single public IP to be shared with hundreds or thousands of computers through a method known as PAT.

What about for large companies or universities which would have hundreds/thousands of devices hooked up? Do they all have the same IP address?

Generally no. Many of the public universities got into the internet game early, so they tend to have a lot of IP addresses. So did certain internet/tech companies. For example Apple has the entire 17.0.0.0/8 address block (every IP address that starts with 17.) which is more than 16 million unique IP addresses. Apple as 123,000 employees so I think they are in pretty good shape.

Consumer ISPs got into the internet game a lot later when IP addresses were being handed out in smaller blocks, so now they're running out much faster now that there are no more unassigned IP addresses left to request from the IANA/ARIN.

[nereo]

It's very common for a single public IP to be shared with hundreds or thousands of computers through a method known as PAT.

What about for large companies or universities which would have hundreds/thousands of devices hooked up? Do they all have the same IP address?

Generally no. Many of the public universities got into the internet game early, so they tend to have a lot of IP addresses. So did certain internet/tech companies. For example Apple has the entire 17.0.0.0/8 address block (every IP address that starts with 17.) which is more than 16 million unique IP addresses. Apple as 123,000 employees so I think they are in pretty good shape.

Consumer ISPs got into the internet game a lot later when IP addresses were being handed out in smaller blocks, so now they're running out much faster now that there are no more unassigned IP addresses left to request from the IANA/ARIN.

So this seems like a potential problem downstream as the number of connected devices continues to multiply at an exponential rate (at least for now).  certainly some fixes are being proposed?  Knowing nothing about the underlying computer programming, could a new IP address structure be created with a few more digits?

man, i just thought up an idea for a dystopian novellette - computer access is everything and the powerful control most of the few-billion IP numbers.  kind of like every other dystopian novel, only instead of water or 'spice' we're fighting over something completely intangible invented decades earlier but hard-coded into our system to such a degree that it can't be changed.

[Roger D]

... could a new IP address structure be created with a few more digits? ...

Don't worry, it's a solved problem. The numbers that are in short supply are IP Version 4, but IP Version 6 has near-enough unlimited addresses, and is already quite widely used. IPv6 is a little more complex to configure, but no doubt that will be streamlined in time.

[nereo]

... could a new IP address structure be created with a few more digits? ...

Don't worry, it's a solved problem. The numbers that are in short supply are IP Version 4, but IP Version 6 has near-enough unlimited addresses, and is already quite widely used. IPv6 is a little more complex to configure, but no doubt that will be streamlined in time.

Good to know, thanks.  I love the breadth of knowledge on this forum!

[gmdv]

Any recommendation on how to get unbanned on mobile?  I found out this morning that I'm permanently banned from this forum when trying to access through my phone.  Did multiple resets but still nothing.

[nereo]

Any recommendation on how to get unbanned on mobile?  I found out this morning that I'm permanently banned from this forum when trying to access through my phone.  Did multiple resets but still nothing.

PM a moderator.  @FrugalToque , @arebelspy.

[Orvell]

Any recommendation on how to get unbanned on mobile?  I found out this morning that I'm permanently banned from this forum when trying to access through my phone.  Did multiple resets but still nothing.

PM a moderator.  @FrugalToque , @arebelspy.

For the record I have this same issue, so curious to the response. I just haven't used the forum on mobile for ... awhile. A month?
Home wifi or other wifi doesn't seem to matter. I've erased cookies etc. to no result.

[robartsd]

... could a new IP address structure be created with a few more digits? ...

Don't worry, it's a solved problem. The numbers that are in short supply are IP Version 4, but IP Version 6 has near-enough unlimited addresses, and is already quite widely used. IPv6 is a little more complex to configure, but no doubt that will be streamlined in time.

The problem isn't so much that it's complex to configure, the problem is that devices that don't know IPv6 would have no access if IPv4 goes away - a problem for old devices that don't usually get software updates. I wonder how much of that problem is becoming moot as the web decides to no longer serve clients that don't support TLS 1.2.

Most consumer ISPs seem to be happy to provide only IPv4 to their customers because their customers don't complain and keeping the internet on IPv4 is in the interest of ISPs because in IPv4 they own a limited resource - address space. If your provider doesn't provide IPv6 directly, you can tunnel IPv6 over IPv4, but that is complex to set up for most consumers. So most people continue to only use IPv4.

[Zola.]

Were you not frugal with your words?

[Boofinator]

For the record, my mobile device started banning me yesterday. No explanation provided. I would be curious if a solution is available, though at the same time it might not be a bad thing?

[arebelspy]

Yes, the solution is to clear your cache/cookies and reboot your phone.