"Sentries" blocking me from ALL WordPress sites?

What browser are you using when this happens, and can you change the symptom by using a different browser?

Thanks for thinking of that.

So, I’m on a very old Lubunutu (light Ubuntu) on an old, slow computer. That Lubuntu shipped with Firefox 4.0.1, and it’s hard to upgrade it cleanly (because newer versions are not in the repository for that Ubuntu version). Also, because it’s an old, slow system, newer Firefoxes are much slower than 4.0.1 (require more RAM, etc.).

HOWEVER, if I run a stand-alone FireFox 28 on the same machine, the “Lost?” pages aren’t triggered and I can access these sites.

“Just run Firefox 28” isn’t exactly a solution, though, because I’m on old, slow computers.

Any idea why this “WordPress sentry” is being triggered by an old Firefox?

Also, I’m answering this forum post from FireFox 4.0.1, and everything looks and works fine.

Also, what do I mean by “old and slow”?

My other machine here is a Dell laptop from 2000 with 256 MB of RAM. It’s running Xubuntu (an even older, lightweight Ubuntu) that has Firefox 2.0.0.4 on it. Admittedly, this browser renders more modern pages in a semi-broken way. BUT… it does NOT get caught in the “Lost?” sentry pages…

Anyway, when you’ve got 256 MB of RAM, you can’t exactly run FF 28.

So, as far as I can tell, only one browser (Firefox 4 on Lubuntu) seems to be affected by this.

Any idea why this “WordPress sentry” is being triggered by an old Firefox?

I’m guessing that the user agent string in the older version of the browser is causing you problems. If you can’t use an updated browser, maybe you can find an add-on for the version you’re currently using that will let you change the user agent string and essentially “impersonate” that of a different browser. Of course, that won’t negate any security or rendering issues present in the older browser, but it might change the blocking issue symptom.

Just a guess, mind you… And if it does work, it’s probably not the best solution for the long term.

Yeah, that would be a solution for my end specifically.

But this is essentially broken WordPress (or maybe some security plugin?) behavior. The page should at least say “sorry, your old browser isn’t supported.” The LOST message is confusing and looks too much like a 404 error page. But even if an older browser is really not supported, it should at least let you through after a warning (like YouTube). It should be a soft, not hard, failure. Proceed at your own risk.

Here’s a deleted thread from a few weeks ago documenting similar behavior for the Midori browser:

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:kJxESZjYUA0J:en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/lost-are-servers-say-you-shouldnt-be-here+&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=ubuntu

Just grep’ed the WP source code for the word “sentries” or “lost?” and found no matches. So it must be an optional plugin.

Is there any way to query a WP site externally to get a list of installed plugins. Like a php-info type call? You know, to figure out what plugins time.com is running?

Finally, this plugin is erroneous directing people to WP tech support for help:

“If you are sure this is the place you are trying to go, please contact us and we will be happy to help.”

Where “contact us” links to: https://en.support.wordpress.com/contact/

But this is essentially broken WordPress (or maybe some security plugin?) behavior.

For now, I have to say I don’t really see any evidence to support that conclusion (yet). I think you’re seeing a polite – yet normal – error warning being issued by wordpress.com servers.

Finally, this plugin is erroneous directing people to WP tech support for help:

I’m not convinced that it is.

time.com: – hosted by automattic

katiecouric.com: – wordpress.com name servers

Some simple things you can try:

1) intentionally visit a page where the message pops up and look at the server responses. Does the error message accompany a 403 or a 404 error in the response, or something else entirely?

2) just send https://en.support.wordpress.com/contact/ a quick message asking them why you see the “Our server sentries tell us you should probably not be here. Maybe you are lost?” message when you use that browser to access sites associated with wordpress.com.

I suspect the common denominator is wordpress.com, not the www.remarpro.com software,or a plugin. Just a guess, mind you.

You’re right! I see the same message on wordpress.com (but not .org, here).

Sorry, I didn’t realize there was a distinction.

Also, yes, it is a 403 error (forbidden).

Will contact them. Funny that I get the same LOST? page for the contact form, though:

https://en.support.wordpress.com/contact/

Anyway, will access it with another browser. Thanks for the help!

You’re welcome!

This is very clearly NOT RESOLVED. Newest version of Firefox, didn’t make ANY difference. Still getting error, restarted, everything. This is a very very very bad problem, as it is actually CENSORING sites, and this isn’t just some little WordPress problem, it looks very INTENTIONAL.