An IP Address (or ‘Internet Protocol Address‘) is a unique number which identifies a computer and its location. If you come across an instance where you are unable to see or access your website, or your email software is telling you that it cannot access your account, DON’T WORRY! It is very unlikely that the server is down, as we have a 99%+ up-time record. What is more likely is that your local internet connection (IP address) has been picked up by and subsequently being blocked in our server’s security firewall. WHY WOULD THIS OCCUR?
INTERMITTENT INTERNET CONNECTION
Most often the cause is simply that you have had an email program (i.e. Outlook) trying to access your account, but it has not been able to complete the connection mutliple times in a row, possibly due to an intermittent internet connection. When a connection fails, the advanced security features on our servers will flag it. After multiple failed attempts over a short period of time, the server will block the IP address that you are working from in an effort to protect your account from what it perceives as a potential malicious attack.
TOO MANY PASSWORD ATTEMPTS
In addition, if you have changed and/or forgotten you email password and have tried entering too many attempts to remember it, the same result will trigger a block to your computer on our server.
Removing the IP from the firewall is a simple and quick solution. We do require that the IP address is sent to us electronically, so please submit your IP address on our technical support page (if your email is not working), or email us directly with the number.
YOUR IP ADDRESS IS ON A BLACK LIST
It is not uncommon for IP addresses to become black-listed on spam lists over the internet for a variety of reasons – such as in cases where individuals are sending out bulk or unsolicited emails. In addition, unless you are paying your internet service provider for a static IP address (meaning it is always yours and never changes), than it is possible that when IP addresses are cycled, you may receive someone else’s bad IP.
If you are unsure whether your IP address is on a black list, you can use the IP address shown above to place into http://mxtoolbox.com/blacklists.aspx. This internet tool will run a report to tell you if your IP is on a negative list on the internet. If it is, we recommend submitting requests to these lists to have your IP address removed, or speak with your internet service provider to request a new IP.