Blacklisted IP Address Allocations

[LivingWise]

I am a full fibre 150 customer. Recently my IP keeps changing and for some reason the one I get allocated is always blacklisted (I use MXTool box to check). This has the effect of locking out my incoming email via my domain servers and I have to contact my domain host to whitelist the new IP to get my email to pull through. The frequency of these changes is becoming worse - the last four dates were 30.10.24, 22.11.24, 26.12.24 and now today. Luckily my host is excellent and very responsive, but I need to find a way of stopping this happening as it is causing issues when I need to be able to receive incoming mail outside working hours. Does anyone have any suggestions please? 

[KeithFrench]

Hi @LivingWise 

@Michelle-TalkTalk has asked @Ady-TalkTalk to pick this up now.

[LivingWise]

Hi @KeithFrench , I think there are more ISPs offering static IP options nowadays, but I'm aware from research several years ago they were only available for business broadband accounts and costly, otherwise I'd happily opt for a static IP!

I very much appreciate your help with escalating to TalkTalk Keith 🙂

Would be nice to get to the bottom of why this is happening 🤞

[KeithFrench]

Hi @LivingWise 

@Michelle-TalkTalk is going to pick this up in a moment.

[KeithFrench]

Hi @LivingWise 

I was only wondering, because there are only a few people this happens to. For diagnostic purposes, I often end up with new WAN IP addresses & have never been allocated a banned one (hope I am not speaking too soon).

You will only ever get a dynamic IP address, static IP addresses are never allocated to residential customers. TalkTalk Business provided them, but the last I heard TalkTalk were going to be offloading TTB.

Let me contact TalkTalk another way for you & see if I can't get an answer for yu this afternoon.

[LivingWise]

Hi @KeithFrench, This is really the same issue as turning the router off to obtain a new IP in the hope it isn't blacklisted. Yes, I could spend my time contacting each of the organisations that has blacklisted an IP, but by the time that's been sorted (and from past experience it isn't always quick or straight forward), I could have been allocated another IP that's blacklisted and I'm back to square one.  The issue is that I'm being frequently allocated blacklisted IPs by TalkTalk. 

For example, the last 3 IPs I've had since 30.10.24 were 80.46.247.234 (block by Spamhaus ZEN), 78.150.173.38 (RATS NoPtr & Spamhaus ZEN) and 92.30.164.129 (RATS Dyna, Spamhaus ZEN & BARRACUDA). My current IP is blacklisted with Spamhaus ZEN & BARRACUDA. This is why my IPs keep getting blocked by my domain host and won't work till they are whitelisted. I would really like to understand why every IP I'm allocated from TalkTalk is blacklisted and I would have thought that TalkTalk would like to know this also!

I'm aware that I'm not the only one this happens to, and if it was only once in a while it wouldn't be an issue, but when EVERY IP I've had recently is blacklisted, I felt it was time to raise the question of why and how to stop it because it is not my devices or email usage habits that are causing my IP to get blacklisted, they are coming to me already blacklisted. 

Is there a process by which a dynamic IP cannot be allocated to a TalkTalk customer if it is on a blacklist?

[KeithFrench]

Just out of interest @LivingWise, don't you get any recourse with the organisation that has blocked your IP address to get it unblocked?

[LivingWise]

Many thanks @KeithFrench 😉

[KeithFrench]

I have asked one of TalkTalk's support to pick your thread up and investigate it for you.

They aim to respond within 48 hours (Monday - Friday) excluding Bank Holidays, but if more urgent you can always try the Service Centre on 0345 172 0088. The posts are responded to in time/date order, oldest first.

[LivingWise]

Hi @KeithFrench 

My issue is that I keep getting blacklisted IPs from TalkTalk. Turning my router on and off isn't going to make any difference to my issue if the IP I obtain from the refresh is also blacklisted. I've had four back-to-back black listed IPs, so I've rather lost hope that the next one won't be. I also cannot afford to keep turning my router off just to refresh in the hope of getting a non-blacklisted IP, that's just not practical. Moreover, as already explained, we do get power outages fairly frequently here - and often for longer than the time a UPS would run, so I've no idea how long my next IP will last even if I am lucky enough to get a non-blacklisted one upon a refresh. 

A static IP, as suggested by @Divsec could well solve the issue but that's at a cost.

Surely TalkTalk would like to know that the IPs they are using are blacklisted and want to try to do something about that? 

[KeithFrench]

Hi @LivingWise

@Michelle-TalkTalk has asked me to help you.

You need a new public or WAN IP address for your router. Check what your current one is, then try turning the ONT and router off for at least an hour. Then recheck the addres

[Michelle-TalkTalk]

@KeithFrench - do you have any additional suggestions please?

Michelle

[Divsec]

Hi @LivingWise the only other suggestion is not very good for Talktalk but maybe is for you and that is ultimately to switch to another ISP who offers a fixed IP. A bit extreme as they will be more expensive than TT.

I wonder if @Karl-TalkTalk has any thoughts about ddns (would it help in this case)?

[LivingWise]

Hi @Divsec, another great suggestion. Unfortunately, it won't solve the issue 100% as our power outages are often quite long. The last one was 8 hours, and the one before that 29 🙄 but it's certainly worth considering for those that are much shorter. I've added it to my wish list 😉

[Divsec]

Hi @LivingWise spending your money here but how about an uninterruptible power supply? I have no experience with them but they can be purchased for under £100?

[LivingWise]

Hi @Divsec, luckily my host (the very excellent YourNameHere 🙂) whitelisted the new IP within a few hours from notification so all mail is coming through again, but I will get a VPN set up to test. It doesn't help that we get power outages where we live so this knocks the router out and is often (though not always) the reason the IP resets, but it is immensely frustrating that every IP address TalkTalk allocates to me is always blacklisted (mostly by Spamhaus Zen and Barracuda, but often several others also) so unless TalkTalk can find a way around this, I need a contingency plan!

[Divsec]

Hi @LivingWise I hope it works for you, worth a try until the pros get back on Monday.

Please do let me know how you get on, even if it's not a success 😞 

[LivingWise]

Hi @Divsec Many thanks for your prompt reply and escalation. I have not used a VPN at all, so will certainly look into that. I was not aware that it could help prevent my incoming mail from my host server being blocked when the TalkTalk IP changes to another blacklisted one, so it is a great tip! Thank you also for the recommendation of Proton. I'm aware of them as a company of great reputation, so will do some research into their VPN offerings. 

[Divsec]

Hi @LivingWise I'm guessing you have tried using a VPN part or all of the time?

I use Proton free but have had good experiences with Nordvpn and others.

your post has been escalated and you should hear Monday.  In the meantime please check your community profile and add your landline number and/or account number so your account can be identified. Please don't post personal information here.