Quikclicks Web Hosting servers use the latest security technology to keep your website and information safe and running correctly.
One feature of this technology is the ability of our Firewall to recognise and block people that appear to be trying to access your files in a forcible manner. This can sometimes be from a person or device trying to access your website by trying to guess your password.
To protect your website hosting account from forcible breaches such as this, Firewalls utilise security that will block a computer suspected of malicious activity by “blacklisting” it on the firewall and not allowing it to load anything on the server for a period of a few hours. This includes seeing the website, using FTP or accessing Emails. The way the server identifies a computer is through it’s IP address.
Every computer has an IP address identifying itself which is used when you browse the internet. Your ISP (Internet Service Provider – Eg. Telstra or Bigpond) automatically assigns you an IP when you connect to the internet. Low-cost Internet plans assign you a random IP address which changes on a regular basis (sometimes daily, weekly, monthly). Most Internet plans these days assign accounts a Static/Dedicated IP address that doesn’t change. Sometimes an ISP will offer to add-on a dedicated IP address for an additional price.
If you can not identify the source of the issue that is triggering the server firewall, then we can add your IP address to the Firewall safe-list (White-list) which will tell the firewall to ignore it and let it through at all times. This will only work if your IP address does not keep changing.
Some examples of regular usage that may accidentally trigger the firewall to block you
If a hosting account or email password is entered incorrectly too many times or if too many connections are made simultaneously from a particular computer then the server blocks that computer (blacklists it on the firewall) from being able to access anything on the server for a period of a few hours.
It is also common for an email program (eg. Outlook or any mail app on your phone) to have several email accounts setup that they try to download mail for. Sometimes several accounts can be setup and one of them still has an old or incorrect password. This will get your IP address blacklisted for a few hours on the server. Sometimes all passwords are correct, but the mail app is trying to check mail too frequently (every minute or so) and this will also trigger the firewall to block the IP. If you have several Email accounts all on the same server with a single computer checking them all frequently, this can also trigger the firewall.
How do I know if my IP is blocked?
If your IP Address becomes blocked, your website and all related services, including Email, FTP or CPANEL access will not load for you and your website will appear to be offline even though others can access it without issues.
To check if your website is down for just you due to an IP block, or if your website is down due to another issue, goto the following website address in your web browser:
www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com and enter your website address.
If your website is down for just you, your IP address may be blacklisted. To fix this problem and prevent you from being blacklisted again please email your IP address so that we can add it to our server firewall safe-list.
You can obtain your IP Address by visiting the following website in your web browser www.whatismyip.com
If your website is down for everyone, then you will need to contact Quikclicks by calling 02 8396 4300 or sumbit a support ticket (either by logging into “my account” or emailing support@quikclicks.com.au) to alert us to the incident, so one of our technicians can look into the matter further.
Note: When submitting a support ticket, please explain what the problem is and the steps you have taken so far. The type of browser you are using is also often useful to make note of. The more details we have, the faster we can diagnose the problem and get your services back online.
