What to do if You Cannot Access ToolGuyd

ToolGuyd’s server temporarily and permanently blocks hundreds of IP addresses each month. Most of the time it blocks “bots” and virus-infected computers that automatically scan the server to look for vulnerabilities. Other times it blocks computers that attempt to make suspiciously large numbers of connections in a short period of time.

Sometimes, but only once in a while, ToolGuyd’s server firewall will block readers that don’t deserve to be blocked. Most of the time the block will be temporary, but every now and then it will be permanent.

If your IP address is permanently blocked, then the server will deny your access to the site and you will see an error message.

In 5-1/2 years, maybe only 4 readers and 1 corporate IT professional have ever contacted me to complain about lost access. In each case I was able to unblock the IP address easily and quickly.

In case this ever happens to you on ToolGuyd, here’s what to do:

Step 1: Check Your Other Devices

If you cannot access ToolGuyd on your desktop or laptop computer, try to connect using your mobile device, assuming the different devices don’t share a common internet connection.

If you seem to be blocked on a mobile device, try connecting using a desktop or laptop that connects to the internet through different means.

In other words, if your computer and mobile device both connect to the internet through the same WiFi connection or access point, then you won’t learn much by switching between the two as they share the same internet connection and external IP address.

If you cannot check your access through a different site, then maybe ask a friend or relative to give it a try.

Step 2: Is it Down for Everyone or Just Me?

http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com/

Fire up Google and search for down for everyone, and the website-checking utility comes up as the first result. Enter ToolGuyd.com.

If it gives you an answer right away, it will usually be to tell you that the site’s up and the issue could be with your connection.

If the utility takes a bit of time to tell you an answer, there’s a chance the ToolGuyd server or the datacenter where the server is located is having issues.

There was one time when Is it Down for Everyone or Just Me reported that ToolGuyd.com was up and operational, but access was blocked to the entire Northeast and Mid-Atlantic USA regions. The issue was with the datacenter improperly routing connections from these areas.

Step 3: Is it Intentional?

I manually issued one digital time-out in 5-1/2 years. It takes a lot to push me to such measures.

Step 4: Contact Me

If you’re suffering from a connection issue that you believe is due to a false-positive IP block by the server, let me know about it. If you cannot email me, let me know via Facebook, Twitter, or any other means. There are a lot of ways you could contact me.

Server firewall blocks are automatic security responses. I cannot unblock your IP address and restore access if I don’t know you were blocked.

Step 5: What to Say

Whether it’s through the ToolGuyd contact us page or social media, keep the message short but provide information that could be helpful.

When did you lose access? If you can narrow it down to the approximate day, great! If not, no problem.

What’s your IP address?

http://www.whatismyip.com/ will tell you in big bold letters at the top. Or, if you’re computer savvy, look it up the old-fashioned way.

192.168… is the shared internal IP address given to your devices by your router. I need your external IP address, which the above link will give you. Or type in what is my IP address in Google and it will often lead you to the right place.

I cannot remove the IP address block if I don’t know your IP address!

What were you doing when you were blocked? If I know what you were doing when the server blocked you, I could potentially ensure you’re not blocked repeatedly in the future, assuming your activities weren’t nefarious.

A Special Note for Readers at Tool Brands, Retailers, PR Firms, and Corporate HQs

A lot companies have a few outgoing/external IP addresses that are shared by many users. This means that if you cannot access ToolGuyd, and your coworkers cannot access ToolGuyd, it is possible that your entire office or building was blocked. Or, the issue could be local to your network, but that’s not something I could help with.

If you lose access to ToolGuyd while you’re browsing and clicking around, it’s possible that something you did caused the block. Sometimes it’s as simple as too many connections at once.

If you cannot connect to ToolGuyd and have no idea why, but you can access the site through a mobile device and separate internet connection, it’s possible – and likely – that one of your colleague’s browsing activities inadvertently triggered the firewall’s response.

Sometimes it is best for you to contact your IT guy or gal, if you have one, in case the issue repeats itself.

Random Notes About Comments

If you post a comment and it doesn’t show up, let me know. There are certain types of comments, such as spammy self-promoting ones by first-time commenters with names like BuyToolsDirect, that I delete. But there is also the rare occasion that your comment was flagged as spam. Although false positives are very, very rare, they could still happen. Enough spam comments are filtered out that I can no longer go down the list every week to check for potential false positives.

All comments pass through a spam-fighting filter. Comments with 1 or 2 links that pass through the filter are automatically posted. Comments with 3 or more links that pass through the spam filter must then be manually moderated. I am usually quick about this, but it’s something you might want to keep in mind in case you write a long comment with many links and are surprised that it doesn’t show up on the site right away.

I also tend to truncate the links included in comments. There’s a lot of unnecessary junk in URLs, and the long run-on links sometimes break the comment boxes. Sometimes there are personal identifiers as well, such as if you clicked on a link in an email newsletter.

For instance, I will often truncate

http://www.amazon.com/Klein-32561-Stubby-Screwdriver-Cushion/dp/B005FQDHHC/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1398311717&sr=8-7&keywords=hand+tools

to read

http://www.amazon.com/Klein-32561-Stubby-Screwdriver-Cushion/dp/B005FQDHHC/

You didn’t do anything wrong, I sometimes just like to tidy up. If a link is really, really long and cannot be truncated, I will wrap it in some code and label it LINK or similar.