Important news - I have got to the bottom of the problem.
If cannot get on the forum as a result of being timed out, it isn't because the forum has gone down or that it has a problem. The problem is 99.9% certain to be to do with your IP address.
Everyone online has an IP address, which is a series of numbers and dots. It is given to you by your internet service provider, and for most people it will change if for any reason you have to restart your router or hub. For a few people, it won't change, as they have a so called fixed IP address.
In this day and age, with more and more rogues and ne'er-do-wells up to no good on the internet, the propensity of IP blacklists has increased exponentially and the effectiveness of firewalls has improved. Because this forum invites interaction from potentially unknown people, it has a particularly robust firewall.
If you can't get on the forum because you are timed out, it is more than likely that your IP address has suddenly found its way onto a blacklist. Don't worry or panic - it's probably nothing to do with anything you've done wrong, but someone, somewhere has been naughty on the same server that your internet service provider has allocated to you, and a batch of IP addresses has been affected.
The simple solution for most people if this happens is simply to restart your router. This will instantly give you a new IP address, which assuming that isn't blacklisted, will allow you back on the forum immediately.
If a router restart doesn't work for you, it is likely that you have a fixed IP address. You can find out what it is by visiting What's My IP Address? - Obsolete Browser Page and your address will appear at the top of the screen. If, after rebooting your router, you cannot get on the forum, let me have your IP address and I will go to the Mother Ship to unblock you.
That said, I am looking at ways to relax the firewall slightly, so that he occasions on which this happens should be few and far between, but in the meantime, I'm happy to say that we at least have a way forward.
If cannot get on the forum as a result of being timed out, it isn't because the forum has gone down or that it has a problem. The problem is 99.9% certain to be to do with your IP address.
Everyone online has an IP address, which is a series of numbers and dots. It is given to you by your internet service provider, and for most people it will change if for any reason you have to restart your router or hub. For a few people, it won't change, as they have a so called fixed IP address.
In this day and age, with more and more rogues and ne'er-do-wells up to no good on the internet, the propensity of IP blacklists has increased exponentially and the effectiveness of firewalls has improved. Because this forum invites interaction from potentially unknown people, it has a particularly robust firewall.
If you can't get on the forum because you are timed out, it is more than likely that your IP address has suddenly found its way onto a blacklist. Don't worry or panic - it's probably nothing to do with anything you've done wrong, but someone, somewhere has been naughty on the same server that your internet service provider has allocated to you, and a batch of IP addresses has been affected.
The simple solution for most people if this happens is simply to restart your router. This will instantly give you a new IP address, which assuming that isn't blacklisted, will allow you back on the forum immediately.
If a router restart doesn't work for you, it is likely that you have a fixed IP address. You can find out what it is by visiting What's My IP Address? - Obsolete Browser Page and your address will appear at the top of the screen. If, after rebooting your router, you cannot get on the forum, let me have your IP address and I will go to the Mother Ship to unblock you.
That said, I am looking at ways to relax the firewall slightly, so that he occasions on which this happens should be few and far between, but in the meantime, I'm happy to say that we at least have a way forward.
