Blocking IP range in Control Panel

[clivejo]

So the Control Panel help system describes how to block an IP range.

Following these instructions, I tried to block an IP range in my CP, but keep getting errors. I already have Russia blocked as a country, but want to block the 94.242.54.0 - 94.242.54.255 range as I am still getting spam from these IP's. But the block IP range doesn't seem to work for me. I keep getting the following error:

What am I doing wrong?

[NickGreen]

Hello,

Thank you for contacting us.

Please verify if the .htaccess file within your domain's root directory is writable. If the file can be edited and the issue persists, please open a support ticket from the corresponding hosting account's control panel and provide us with information which domain is the trouble experienced with so we can investigate further.

Best Regards,
Nick Green
Technical Support Department.

[NickGreen]

Hello,

Additionally our administrators have now added the 94.242.54. IP range to the list of ranges that are to be blocked when you block all Russian IP addresses. Note that you will need to disable the IP block for Russia and enable it again in order for this range to be automatically added.

Also please note that this IP blocks are only working for blocking the web access to your domains. In case you are referring to spam emails that are being received from Russian IPs, I am afraid it will not be possible to have these blocked as we cannot offer to block all Russian IPs on our mail servers. You can still create filters for your mailboxes in order to discard messages meeting specific criteria in Email -> Email Filters menu of your account.


Best Regards,
Nick Green
Technical Support Department.

[clivejo]

Hi Nick,

I am trying to block contact form spam via the web. Does the CP for a VPS work differently to one on shared/cloud platform?

[NickGreen]

Hello,

Since the case is related to spamming via contact form hosted on a website, then the IP block feature in the control panel will be able to prevent the access to the form, thus stop the third parties from spamming through it.

Best Regards,
Nick Green,
Technical Support Department.

[clivejo]

What should the .htaccess permissions be? It currently 644

The IP Blocking tools seems to be able to read/write to the file as I have just removed RU from the domain and the .htaccess files has been updated.

I have just added 46.243.220. via the tool and it is now working, have you fixed it??

[NickGreen]

Hello,

The .htaccess file's permissions should be 644. We did not make any changes on our as we are not even aware which account were the troubles experienced in. What we did was only to include 94.242.54. to the list of Russian IP ranges that will be blocked if you decide to use the IP block utility to restrict the access to your website from a whole country. Should such issues occur again in the future, please open a support ticket from the corresponding hosting account's control panel, so we can directly test it and determine what has caused the trouble.


Best Regards,
Nick Green,
Technical Support Department.

[clivejo]

That's odd. Yesterday I was able to add an IP range, today I am not and getting an error.

[NickGreen]

Hello,

Please do open a support ticket from the corresponding hosting account where this issue is experienced at, so we can test and investigate further.


Best Regards,
Nick Green,
Technical Support Department.

[clivejo]

Hi Nick,

I did open a ticket but didn't get anywhere with it, it is #1777196 if you want to have a look at it.

I got more Russian spam today from 188.163.109.0-188.163.109.255 range and tried adding the range via the CP, it worked! I really don't understand how sometimes it works and others it won't! I guess judging by the WHOIS that it is technically coming from the Ukraine?

[NickGreen]

Hello,

I have checked the ticket and informed our developers to add the IP range you have mentioned to the list of Russian IP ranges for IP blocking utility. As for the other range you have mentioned 188.163.109.0-188.163.109.255, indeed this is an Ukrainian IP range so naturally it won't be blocked when you block all Russian IPs. Although Russia and Ukraine are neighboring countries they are not the same so their IP ranges differ. I would like to ask you to continue our correspondence in the support ticket you have opened so we can keep better track.