IP address blocked on BT DSL Checker

I was playing with multi-threading a python script I use to batch check the BT DSL checker for addresses in postcodes near me and/or fed by my exchange/cabinet.

Multithreading was a success but it looks like I pushed the limit too far and got my IP address blocked on the checker as all it says now is "We are sorry but the checker is unavailable at the moment. Please try again later." It works fine from my other internet connection.

Any of you other "kids" out there using scripts on the BT DSL checker had the same? I'm just wondering if its a permanent ban or a temporary one ...

HAHA, yeah I can no longer do batch check lines either.

They now block IP's when they detect you using macros or checking too many within a set time.

If you don't have a static IP just reboot your modem/router to get a new IP, just don't do any more batch checks.

Read section 3 Use of the Site
https://www.btwholesale.com/pages/static/terms-of-us...

I use to be able to check thousands of addresses with my app, I had to add a few seconds delay between checks, which was fine for ages and around October/November 2015 they started to block IP that was buck checking.

TBH, I don't blame them.

Paul

I have a block of fixed IPs so no big deal, at least I now know not to let the script loose on it with any of the others

This doesn't make sense as followthatpage.com isn't blocked.

Not sure what metric/algorithm BT are using to detect it but they definitely are blocking at IP address level for some scenarios.

Nice to see BTO blocking attempts for the public to see how shoddy an area is for connections.

At the ISP Forum last month one of the slides included:

Broadband Availability Checker (BBAC) -General
GUI Usage
�Increasing volume of hits sometimes excessive levels in one day, automatic blocking of IP addresses to protect service quality

They also said

New Look
�As part of SoGEA and NGA2 developments the GUI will change its layout
�Aim to reduce amount of foot notes and make it more tabular

Understandable but a shame as it shuts down one of the few ways for small communities to glean "accurate" data for their own area.

In reply to a post by BatBoy:

This doesn't make sense as followthatpage.com isn't blocked.

That site is requesting the same address, and not 25,000 with a couple of seconds in between requests, and also those are not for every address on the same cabinet etc.

All I know is several times now I have tried to check 12K addresses and it gets about an hour in so about 700 to 800 addresses and they block my IP.

So I basically gave up.

I might re-write my app to request required addresses over 35 cabinets in a completely random order and see if they ban the IP then.

Or maybe increase the delay to a random range of 10 to 15 seconds.

I am wondering if the BTOR Where and when page has any throttling checks.

Paul

In reply to a post by gt94sss2:

At the ISP Forum last month one of the slides included:

Broadband Availability Checker (BBAC) -General
GUI Usage
�Increasing volume of hits sometimes excessive levels in one day, automatic blocking of IP addresses to protect service quality

They also said

New Look
�As part of SoGEA and NGA2 developments the GUI will change its layout
�Aim to reduce amount of foot notes and make it more tabular

The blocking happens after within 1 hour and not a day.

Paul

In reply to a post by craski:

Understandable but a shame as it shuts down one of the few ways for small communities to glean "accurate" data for their own area.

Agreed, I was mostly using it to check the status of my exchange to I see how poorly BTOR have rolled out fibre on our exchange that should of been 92% fibre back in 2011 - 2012 sadly only about 42% has been done so far.

Paul

Similar reasons to my own.
I used mine to check 2.5k addresses on my exchange which identified that whilst local council was claiming a large percentage of "properties passed" for the exchange, their figures were grossly exaggerated. The reality was that several of the large Huawei cabinets they had installed were only able to provide a fibre based service to less than 50% of the lines connected to them, the rest of the lines were too long for VDSL and were stuck on exchange provided ADSL.

IP block looks like it was a 1 week temporary ban as it is now working again
I wont be running the script again though ...