Page 1 of 1

Can't connect from my Blackberry

Posted: Thu 08 Mar, 2012 5:07 pm
by Graysalchemy
I can no longer connect to this site from my blackberry. I used to up until this week but now all I get is

Error 403: Forbidden

It mean I can not terrorise this forum at night or at the weekend. :giggle:

Any Ideas...............John

Re: Can't connect from my Blackberry

Posted: Thu 08 Mar, 2012 5:33 pm
by prospero
Solar Flares. :?

Re: Can't connect from my Blackberry

Posted: Thu 08 Mar, 2012 7:37 pm
by John
Someone quite recently, I forget who it was, reminded us all how easy it is for anyone banned from the forum to register again using a proxy such as hidemyass.

As a result, in an attempt to improve security, connection by proxy has been disallowed.

Perhaps the Blackberry has fallen victim to that.

Re: Can't connect from my Blackberry

Posted: Thu 08 Mar, 2012 8:47 pm
by GeoSpectrum
That explains why I can't access the forum from my clients site...did I say that? :giggle:

Re: Can't connect from my Blackberry

Posted: Thu 08 Mar, 2012 10:30 pm
by John
I had not anticipated that our new security measures would inconvenience legitimate members, and I am only guessing that they are the cause of the Blackberry difficulty.

I would appreciate feedback from anyone who has recently experienced problems with accessing the forum (assuming, of course that you have an alternative way of successfully connecting). Perhaps a way can be found to let the good guys in while still blocking the villains.

Re: Can't connect from my Blackberry

Posted: Fri 09 Mar, 2012 8:03 am
by Graysalchemy
I did wonder if you had banned me again John :giggle: :giggle:

Interesting though it also blocks it if my blackberry is connected to my wifi , the one which i am typing away quite happily on my laptop.

Re: Can't connect from my Blackberry

Posted: Fri 09 Mar, 2012 8:31 am
by John
Alistair,
Perhaps disabling the Blackberry proxy will solve this issue. See here.

Re: Can't connect from my Blackberry

Posted: Fri 09 Mar, 2012 8:47 am
by Graysalchemy
Hi John

I have done that but it was already on 'handheld' and not proxy. Still doesn't work.

Re: Can't connect from my Blackberry

Posted: Fri 09 Mar, 2012 11:16 am
by penfold
Blackberrys will always work in a proxy mode, so it would mean access to the forum would be impossible. Can the admin team not simply block IP addresses?

Re: Can't connect from my Blackberry

Posted: Fri 09 Mar, 2012 2:15 pm
by John
If, as penfold indicates, the Blackberry continues to use its proxy even when connected through wi-fi via your own ISP, without any way of opting out, then we may be snookered, Alistair.

The IP filtering idea sounds appealing and would be great if all the black hat proxy guys used a handful of known IP addresses. However there are just too many and it is impractical to block them all without employing an expensive filtering service that updates its rogue’s gallery daily.

On the other hand, blocking proxies is relatively easy, requiring just a few lines of code, and adds very little burden to our server.

Re: Can't connect from my Blackberry

Posted: Fri 09 Mar, 2012 4:32 pm
by Graysalchemy
John if it keeps the forum free of abuse then I am happy with that. I will be changing my phone in May anyway. :giggle:

Re: Can't connect from my Blackberry

Posted: Fri 09 Mar, 2012 4:52 pm
by stcstc
At, get an iPad, you be sorted, watching telly, drinking home brew and on the forum causing mayhem. Simples

Re: Can't connect from my Blackberry

Posted: Fri 09 Mar, 2012 7:10 pm
by jon buck
I am getting the same message from my PC at the shop but things are working OK from my laptop at home . Not working Wednesday OK Thursday not working to-day. Very strange, not having a clue what the message means . :xcomputer:

Re: Can't connect from my Blackberry

Posted: Fri 09 Mar, 2012 7:16 pm
by Graysalchemy
I am on my new laptop as we speak ment to be doing my accounts though :giggle: :giggle:

Re: Can't connect from my Blackberry

Posted: Mon 12 Mar, 2012 4:23 pm
by jon buck
All working OK now.

Thanks John

Jon