Support article
Why Has My Hosting Server Blocked My IP?
If you can't reach your website, FTP or email from one specific location but can from others, the server firewall has probably blocked your IP. Here's why, and how to fix it.
Introduction
Can you see your website from your phone but not from your office computer? Or has your email client stopped syncing, only from home? When the same site works from some locations but not others, it’s almost always the same cause: the firewall on our servers has blocked your IP.
It’s not a hosting glitch. It’s a protective measure that kicks in automatically to stop attacks before they reach your account. In this article we explain why it happens, what to do to get unblocked, and how to stop it from happening again.
If instead only one specific service is failing (FTP, web or email) while the rest work fine, the cause is the same but the details differ slightly: check our article on services with blocked access.
Why does an IP get blocked?
The firewall protects the server and every site hosted on it. It blocks an IP when it’s considered a threat, and in the vast majority of cases that means one specific thing: several failed connection attempts in a row to the same service (FTP, email or the control panel).
That pattern — many attempts, the same wrong credentials, in a short window — is exactly what a brute-force attack looks like: a script trying passwords over and over until one works. That’s why the server doesn’t distinguish between “this is an attacker” and “this is you, with an old password still saved on your phone”: it simply cuts off access from that IP to protect the account.
A real example of a block
Here’s what a block looks like in the server logs:
Time: Fri May 16 23:30:14 2014 +0200
IP: 186.3.208.100 (EC/Ecuador/-)
Failures: 7 (smtpauth)
Interval: 86400 seconds
Blocked: Temporary Block
Log entries:
2014-05-16 22:45:05 dovecot_plain authenticator failed for ([192.168.0.111]) [186.3.208.100]: 535 Incorrect authentication data (set_id=info@xxxxx)
2014-05-16 23:00:05 dovecot_plain authenticator failed for ([192.168.0.111]) [186.3.208.100]: 535 Incorrect authentication data (set_id=info@xxxxx)
2014-05-16 23:15:05 dovecot_plain authenticator failed for ([192.168.0.111]) [186.3.208.100]: 535 Incorrect authentication data (set_id=info@xxxxx)
2014-05-16 23:30:04 dovecot_plain authenticator failed for ([192.168.0.111]) [186.3.208.100]: 535 Incorrect authentication data (set_id=info@xxxxx)This user repeatedly tried to access the IMAP mail service with the wrong password. The server flagged it as a possible threat and blocked that IP, protecting every other account hosted on the same machine.
What can I do if my IP has been blocked?
- Fix what caused the block. It’s almost always an outdated saved password on some device (phone, email client, FTP manager) still retrying in the background. Update it before trying to log in again, or the block can happen again.
- Wait for it to clear. Blocks are temporary and are usually lifted after 10 minutes.
How do I find out my IP?
You can check your public IP address (IPv4 and IPv6) at mihosting.com/en/ip, no sign-up or install needed.
Not sure why you were blocked?
Write to us with your IP address and we’ll send you the exact log entry along with an explanation of why it was blocked.
Need access back right now?
Contact us by chat or phone. One of our technicians can remove your IP from the firewall’s block list manually, without waiting for it to expire.
Important note: we can only process unblock requests for customers whose hosting service is hosted on our servers.
How to stop this from happening again
- Check saved passwords on your phone, email client and FTP app whenever you change a password, so they don’t keep retrying with the old one.
- Use a password manager so you’re not relying on weak or reused passwords that are easy to guess.
- Enable two-factor authentication wherever it’s available, as an extra layer of protection.
Frequently asked questions
How long does an IP block last?
It’s usually lifted automatically after 10 minutes, unless you keep generating connection failures, in which case it can happen again.
Why does it only fail from one location and not others?
Because the block applies to a specific IP, not to your account. From another network (mobile data, a different office) you have a different IP and access works normally.
Has my account been hacked?
Not necessarily. In most cases the block is caused by an outdated saved password on a device, not unauthorized access. If you’re unsure, contact us with your IP and we’ll confirm it for you.
Can I stop my IP from ever getting blocked?
Not 100%, since the firewall runs automatically and it needs to, to protect you from real attacks. But keeping your passwords up to date and using a password manager makes it much less likely.