Do i need to block user agents and IPs separately in .htaccess file?

Hi wbaig, I am currently using that security options to block all bad ip address. My websites have not slowed down. So the answer to your question is No.

However please test all advanced security options in the plugin one by one “Make sure you read the instructions first” before you enable any of them.

Then carry out a test as mentioned above. Enable one by one the security options and check to see if they cause any issues on your website.

Let me know if this answers your question.

Kind regards

Hi mbrsolution, Thanks for your reply. I guess i didn’t explain myself clearly as I’m just starting.

I understand that using plugin security features might not slow down my website, as per plugin’s developer claim.

There might be two ways to block spammers and harvesters:

(1) Take their names & ips from above sites and disallow them in htaccess file. (question was, will this slow down my site as there might me so many ips; thousands of, i read in a forum that it does)

(2) Use few of the features of this plugin, esp.

5G blacklist
Block fake google bots
Blockspambots

Now, these options might already blacklist bad ips and bots i am manually putting them in my htaccess file as they might also use blacklists provide by sites. So question was, do i need to block those bad ips and user agents separately in htaccess file or this plugin already does that for me when those above security options are enabled.

Best,

Hi in regards to your questions.

(1) Take their names & ips from above sites and disallow them in htaccess file. (question was, will this slow down my site as there might me so many ips; thousands of, i read in a forum that it does)

It depends on many factors i.e. your host, the kind of server, what account you have with your host. And if you add a thousand entries or more in your .htaccess file. I personally have not reached such number of entries on my .htaccess file.

(2) Use few of the features of this plugin, esp.

5G blacklist
Block fake google bots
Blockspambots

So question was, do i need to block those bad ips and user agents separately in htaccess file or this plugin already does that for me when those above security options are enabled

The plugin is designed to add those entries for you automatically once you enable that option in the settings. Of course this plugin is growing more as we speak and more features will be added in the future.

If you feel there is an option you would like to be added, please create a support thread with a request.

Let me know if my answers help you.

Kind regards

Hi. Thanks for your reply. I’m using bluehost $3.95 per month package that normally sells for $4 per month something. I bought 3 years hosting. Currently i banned 2782 ips thru htaccess using this list:

https://myip.ms/files/blacklist/htaccess/latest_blacklist.txt

After doing it, editing my htaccess file takes time. It kind of feel unresponsive for few seconds. It looks like banning these ips in htaccess does have benefits as i also use vpn by a company whose couple of ips are blacklisted (other people might abused them).

After banning those ips, i tried to login to my site with vpn enabled, it gave me a database error, while earlier, with having all security options enabled, i didn’t stop me from accessing the website, so it means banning ips separately does work and plugin is not banning bad ips automatically? Logging in with my real ip doesn’t show any error. Plugin also doesn’t show the source/names of fake google bots and spamsbots it’s blocking.

About user agents, developer does mention that 5g blacklist is being used: https://perishablepress.com/5g-blacklist-2013/

But i used this list https://perishablepress.com/2013-user-agent-blacklist/ and blocked these user agents in my htaccess file.

Q1: Is there a difference between these two user agents list from the same website? I’m not a developer, i see more user agents listed down in the list i used compared to the 5g blacklist, so i might not be blocking the same user agents twice?

Q2: Should i keep banning those ips manually considering what i experienced?

I’ll create a support thread with a request for adding that bad ips list, user agents list by perishablepress or project honeypot depending upon your answer.

Thanks for your help.

Forgot to ask one more question:

Q3: My website is in maintenance mode, but I’m looking to have a link that i can show to someone for getting support, so everyone else see “coming soon” page but that private url lets someone see my site. Can you pls tell how to do that in this plugin?

Thanks