IP address and an Ebay problem.

[skijay]

Let me know if this sounds possible:

I had an Ebay account, postive feedback, member since 1999. I had feedback all 100% positive and I think it was 177. In the past 2 years, I have used Ebay maybe two to three times a year. I went to buy an item last month and received a message that Ebay had limited my bidding and buying quantity, it was only temporary. I contacted Ebay via a link I received from them after contacting them through a link on "My Ebay". I was told that someone had gained access to my account, but did not buy or sell, so they put a block. They told me to change my Ebay password and my Email password associated with my account.

I did all of the above, and I still had the problem and after numerous emails back and forth to Ebay with canned responses, I gave up and requested the account to be closed. If there was any thing corrupted with the account I would rather shut it down.

Today my friend comes over, logs into his ebay account and he received the same message. When he left his house, he had no issues. I started to think about this. I let someone on my wireless network who was banned from Ebay for not paying for auctions. I think the bidding may have been done from his PC while on my network.

Is it possible, that my IP address has been recorded by Ebay so that anybody on my network is blocked from Ebay? When you are on a Wireless network, are all the IP addresses just assigned a slightly different number but they all originate from the one gateway?

 

[FRITOLAYGUY]

Let me know if this sounds possible:

I had an Ebay account, postive feedback, member since 1999. I had feedback all 100% positive and I think it was 177. In the past 2 years, I have used Ebay maybe two to three times a year. I went to buy an item last month and received a message that Ebay had limited my bidding and buying quantity, it was only temporary. I contacted Ebay via a link I received from them after contacting them through a link on "My Ebay". I was told that someone had gained access to my account, but did not buy or sell, so they put a block. They told me to change my Ebay password and my Email password associated with my account.

I did all of the above, and I still had the problem and after numerous emails back and forth to Ebay with canned responses, I gave up and requested the account to be closed. If there was any thing corrupted with the account I would rather shut it down.

Today my friend comes over, logs into his ebay account and he received the same message. When he left his house, he had no issues. I started to think about this. I let someone on my wireless network who was banned from Ebay for not paying for auctions. I think the bidding may have been done from his PC while on my network.

Is it possible, that my IP address has been recorded by Ebay so that anybody on my network is blocked from Ebay? When you are on a Wireless network, are all the IP addresses just assigned a slightly different number but they all originate from the one gateway?

Wow thats a damn good question , something is up , 2 people with the same problem. Id be pissed i was losing all that positive feedback. I recently had problems as well, also a member since 99 with 61 feedbacks all positive, when receiving a payment thru paypal it left the .com out of my yahoo address so i could not collect the money, my email and ebay has been the same for 8yrs, now problems, wtf?

 

[tcharron]

Today my friend comes over, logs into his ebay account and he received the same message. When he left his house, he had no issues. I started to think about this. I let someone on my wireless network who was banned from Ebay for not paying for auctions. I think the bidding may have been done from his PC while on my network.

Is it possible, that my IP address has been recorded by Ebay so that anybody on my network is blocked from Ebay? When you are on a Wireless network, are all the IP addresses just assigned a slightly different number but they all originate from the one gateway?

Sounds like it. When you use a wireless hub, anything going thru that hub generally on the internet looks to be the same IP address. While your computer is seperate on your little network, to the internet, they are all the same. The box is smart enough to send the data t othe computer IT knows needs it, but anything coming out of it is the same.

Call them.

 

[BushMogulMaster]

Sounds like it. When you use a wireless hub, anything going thru that hub generally on the internet looks to be the same IP address. While your computer is seperate on your little network, to the internet, they are all the same. The box is smart enough to send the data t othe computer IT knows needs it, but anything coming out of it is the same.

Call them.

Correct. Here's a little more detailed explanation:

Your ISP assigns you one WAN (Wide Area Network) IP address per internet account. That IP address can either be static (never changing) or dynamic (changes every time you disconnect and reconnect). Sounds like yours must be static.

When you have multiple computers accessing this internet account via a network, you have your router (gateway), which assigns each individual computer that connects to it its own individual IP address in a certain range (usually in the 192.168.0.2-255 range). This is the LAN IP address, and is only pertinent to your network, and has no effect on your WAN/internet activity.

Therefore, any computer on your network that connects to the internet is browsing the internet with the same IP address... the WAN IP address that your ISP assigned you.

It would then seem logical to me that if Ebay flagged that IP as an offensive user, it is possible that the situation is as you described it. I would definitely try logging on to Ebay from another machine somewhere else (different IP) and see if that makes a difference. Either way, you'll want to be in touch with Ebay, and hopefully be able to get ahold of someone who can actually help you. It may come down to requesting that your ISP assign you a new IP address. Who is your ISP, btw?

 

[BeanoNYC]

Possible workaround for you.

 

[thetrailboss]

And here is a related question...how does one restrict access to your wireless router? I have tried to do it myself for my Linksys Router, but no luck yet....

 

[Greg]

Possible workaround for you.

Will have no effect. What this will do is renew your IP address on the LAN as BMM describes above. Your WAN IP address will not be affected. However, you're on the right track. If the Internet connection is dynamic, perhaps shutting off the router for a period of time may result in it getting issued a new IP address. It might not though. Often times DHCP (the protocol by which IP addresses are leased) will try to renew its lease using the previous IP address. If it's still available in the pool, you might get the same one again. Maybe shut it off overnight and see if that helps. As mentioned above, only do all this if you can confirm your eBay account is working from a different network.

And here is a related question...how does one restrict access to your wireless router? I have tried to do it myself for my Linksys Router, but no luck yet....

What model Linksys router?

 

[Greg]

Will have no effect. What this will do is renew your IP address on the LAN as BMM describes above. Your WAN IP address will not be affected. However, you're on the right track. If the Internet connection is dynamic, perhaps shutting off the router for a period of time may result in it getting issued a new IP address. It might not though. Often times DHCP (the protocol by which IP addresses are leased) will try to renew its lease using the previous IP address. If it's still available in the pool, you might get the same one again. Maybe shut it off overnight and see if that helps. As mentioned above, only do all this if you can confirm your eBay account is working from a different network.

Oh...nevermind. Didn't fully read that article. I'm kind of saying the same thing here.

 

[BeanoNYC]

And here is a related question...how does one restrict access to your wireless router? I have tried to do it myself for my Linksys Router, but no luck yet....

You should be able to set the network up as "closed" , that is, it won't be "visible" to people who don't know the network name. Of course you need to set up a WEP to restrict access to only those who know the password. This way people would have to know your network name because it's not visible AND know your password. But we already know that your password is "IwearPinkPanties123456" so you may need to change it.

 

[thetrailboss]

What model Linksys router?

Linksys Wireless G. 2.4 GHZ, 54Mbps, WRT54G Model. I've gone to the router address and I can't figure out how to set up a restricted network...

 

[BeanoNYC]

Linksys Wireless G. 2.4 GHZ, 54Mbps, WRT54G Model. I've gone to the router address and I can't figure out how to set up a restricted network...

I used to have that router. If the firmware is the same as mine, you can set up WEP in either "advanced settings" or "Security;" I forget exactly where it is. I'm assuming when you say "router address" you mean 192.168.1.1 from your browser.