IP address blocking
IP address blocking is done as a security measure, to prevent hacking attacks on your hosting account and other services like email. If the firewall detects suspicious activity, then it will automatically block IP addresses to thwart a potential attack. IP addresses may be blocked for any of the following reasons:
- Multiple attempts to login to hosting accounts or email using incorrect login credentials
- Sending or receiving of large volumes of email
- Attempts to publish via FTP or SFTP using incorrect credentials
The system does a good job of protecting your hosting account. On occasion however, it may block your own IP address and prevent you from accessing your hosting account and other services like email. Typically you will find that when you try to access your website, it will time out and that your email program seems to be trying to fetch emails, but it takes forever.
Before contacting support, please do the following:
1. Go to the following site and check whether your domain is down for everyone or just for you:
downforeveryoneorjustme.com
2. If it is down just for you, it is likely your IP address has been blocked. Please now go to www.whatismyipaddress.com and note down your IP address.
3. Now contact support with your IP address and ask us to check if it has been blocked. Alternatively, try rebooting your router (possibly several times) until you have been allocated a new IP address.
4. Once you have been unblocked, check that you can now access your website.
5. Assuming that is working fine, please do not fetch your emails yet, but first check that your email settings have been entered correctly on all devices that use them (smartphones, tablets etc). To locate the correct email settings, log on to your cPanel, click on Email Accounts and scroll down to the email address you want to check the settings for. Click on Set Up Mail Client to find your settings. Please choose the secure (SSL/TLS) settings and check that they are entered correctly in your email client. In particular, make sure that the SSL/TLS box is checked and that your port numbers are correct.
6. Once you are sure your settings are correct, you can now try fetching your emails again.
If your IP address is not blocked and you are still not receiving emails
1. Go to the Dashboard of your Client portal, click on Support / Network status and see if there are any Network issues reported.
2. Check your email settings (see no. 5 above)
3. Some internet service providers (ISPs) block access to port 25, which is the default SMTP mail port. Known providers include Orange, BT, TalkTalk and EE. To circumvent this, please use our alternative port 25025 instead of port 25 in your mail client configuration.
4. If your email settings appear to be correct, you will need to contact the Support team for your email software.
