Forum

IP Address Q&A - Proxies, AOL, VPN, Broadband - IP Tracking
 

One of the most important aspects in creating an eBay account is making sure you IP address is unique to eBay. You IP address is the number one way eBay can identify you and your accounts. Every time you log into eBay, your IP address is recorded. Not just when you create an account but every time you log in. If you forget to change your ip address one day, and you accidentally log into multiple accounts using the same IP, consider those accounts linked.

What is an IP Address: IP Tracking: EBay uses your IP address to track your location and to link you to an account. Every time you log into your eBay account, your ip address is recorded and kept in eBay's system forever.

Sharing an IP address with a suspended user will sometimes link accounts; this is especially true when there are similarities between accounts. If the accounts have no similarities then it's harder for eBay to link. A large network where there could be multiple users using the same IP address is the reason why eBay can't just suspend your account for sharing an IP. But eBay does seem to keep a closer eye on you, waiting for you to slip up like forgetting to delete cookies of another account when logging in.

Note: Something to watch out for when changing your IP address, make sure you don't end up with the same ip address you've used with another eBay account. Every time you change your IP address, your ISP cycles through available IPs, and sometimes you end up with an IP address you had weeks ago. It's best to keep a log of your IP addresses to make sure you don't reuse the same one for multiple accounts.

How to find your IP Address:

• IP Burger - What is my IP Address? Find Your IP Address!
• Type 'ipconfig' into command prompt. Go to start, run and type 'CMD' to run command prompt.

Using Proxies: Using a proxy IP address to connect to eBay will sometimes cause problems like limitations and suspensions to your account. EBay uses the unauthorized 3rd party excuses when limiting you. To reduce limitations, make sure not to make any major changes to your account while using a proxy.

AOL: AOL proxies have shown better results for users then any other proxy service. EBay knows AOL's IP addresses are proxies, and so they give AOL users more leeway. But be careful about your IP address being the same each time you log in. Make sure to keep a log of IP addresses you use when logging into your account; try not to use the same IP address for multiple accounts.

Download the AOL Browser at Free Software From AOL - Discover AOL, and sign up for a new account; it's as simple as that. When you finish downloading the software, install it and select new user. When asked to pay for your account, click cancel, and you'll receive an offer for a temporary FREE account. Click okay, continue. When you use AOL's browser, your IP address is masked.

Virtual Private Network: Another option for connectivity is a VPN (virtual private network). VPNs are better then most proxies, but still not ideal. When looking for a VPN, do research on the company you go with. Find the location of their servers, and create your eBay account accordingly. Most suspensions occur when you create an account out of the range of your IP address. EBay calls this inconsistent, and suspends you account. With a VPN, you're usually able to get a static IP address, or even dynamic IP address per account. Do a Google search for more information.

Virtual private network - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If you are suspended because of a proxy connection, you are usually able to request reinstatement without a problem.

How to Change Your IP Address: Most ISP (internet service providers) allows you to change your IP address. If you ISP does not then it's time to switch.

Using a Router: Having a router as we all know is great! It shares your IP address with other computers in your network, which makes it a must have. The bad thing about a router is it retains your IP until you RESET it. It holds on for dear life and makes it a pain in the ass to change. It may be easier to direct connect to your modem. To reset your router, you can do this with software.

Cox Cable: Usually turning your modem off for a few minutes and then back on will change your IP. If you're using a router, you'll need to reset it to accept the new IP address. This will work for most dynamic IP addresses.

Comcast: Most Comcast subscribers use a static IP address. In order to change your IP address, you'll need figure out when you IP address is set to expire. Go to command prompt, (start, run, 'CMD'), then type in IPCONFIG /ALL. Look for 'lease expire date'; this is when you IP address will expire. To change your IP address, all you have to do is keep your modem off the day the IP expires. When you start up again, your IP should be different. Your IP address expires weekly.

USB and Ethernet Port Options: A member suggested if you're having problems changing your IP address with a cable modem. You can do it with USB / Ethernet Ports. First of all you must have a modem with both an Ethernet port and USB port. The idea is both ports have their own IP address. So what this guy does is switch between ports whenever he wants to change his IP address. Basically unplug the Ethernet cord and plug in the USB to your computer and restart your modem, you should have a new IP address when you start up. To switch back unplug the USB cord and plug in your Ethernet, and restart your modem again. Make sure to leave your unused port unplugged to release it's IP address to switch over whenever you need to.

Still Having Problems? Try turning your cable modem off overnight. The longer it's off, the better chances or you'll have being assigned a new IP.

Other Options: Using a long range wireless adapter, you're usually able to pick up unsecured connections pretty easy. Use this as a temporary solution; in some states it's illegal to steal your neighbor's internet. You can also go to your local library, Starbucks, or Gaming Café and use their connection/computers.

Command Prompt: If you don't know what Command Prompt is, go to 'Start' and then 'Run', and type in 'cmd' or 'command'; and press enter. A black screen should pop up, that's command prompt.

Command Prompts that'll help!

• Ipconfig (shows your IP configuration)
• Ipconfig /all (shows ALL information about your IP configuration)
• Ipconfig /renew (renews your IP address)
• Ipconfig /release (releases your IP address)
• Ipconfig /help (displays other ipconfig commands)

Random Note: If you're using a router your true IP address won't be shown using ipconfig. You'll need to go to ipburger.com to view your IP.

Dial UP:
Works great but the obvious problem is a slow connection.

How your IP address and cookies work: An IP address without cookies means nothing to eBay. But if forget to clear your cookies and you're on eBay with a suspended IP address, this will link you. Remember always to delete you browser cookies after each session. Use Firefox to automate this for you.

That's it for now!

PERFECT! Thanks Very Much! Its very helpful to see everything recapped in 1 section, at our fingertips. Thanks, Aspkin :)

Yep, glad you liked it.

aspkin, I have a router, I unplugg it and it still reads the same ip- what can I do?

You need to reset it. There should be a button on the router, press and old it for 30 seconds. Or go into the software part, type http://192.168.0.1/ into any browser, a pompt screen should pop up, type admin as the user name, with no password. And you can reset it that way as well.

Once you reset it, then change your ip address by modem. Your router then should take the new IP.

It's a pain though.

I have t3, no modeum. That didn't work:( any ideas?

Secondplaygames, sounds like your on a corporate network. T3 are not available for residential use.

most routers are 192.168.0.1 however I have also found that some brands use 192.168.1.1 (Netgear)

aspkin, you mention making sure not to log on to AOL with the same address being the same each time you log in but in my experience I haven't even needed to keep track of this.

Another thing is, when I go over to the site What Is My IP Address? - Lookup IP, Hide IP, Change IP, Trace IP and more... (which normally gives some kind of IP, even when you're using a proxy) through AOL it will say that it cannot detect my IP at all and that it's completely anonymous. So I really wouldn't know how to "check my IP" each time I log in anyway. :o

So what's the deal with this? I don't know how it works for most people.. I'm logging in to AOL through a cable broadband connection.

Some users have complained about AOL IP rotating between the same IPs often, just wanted to give a little warning. :)

Try my site: IP Burger - What is my IP Address? Find Your IP Address! It seems to work.

verso, t3 is availble for residential use. surewest.com

worth every penny :)

How fast is the T3? Unfortunately I'm not in their service area. :(

It all depends on how many people is sharing the line.. T3 is just a direct connection. No hops, routes etc...

Yeah I know, but I'm just wondering what kind of speeds he happens to get on average.

20mb upload, crazy fast! love it- I am a she. lol

Well, color me embarrassed. :o

But yeah that's insane! Much less for upload!!

HI I heard that you are more scrutinized by ebay and paypal if you create and account using the aol proxy? I use comcast and IE and have tried twice with DBA, changing my ip, clearing cookies, etc but was flagged the first time by ebay to verify identity and the second account by paypal after I had done about $17k in transfers in 30-45 days (i think that's what got me there). I sell high risk items so i guess this is my problem. It seems as though I will always be looking over my shoulder? Any suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks!

I would suggest a merchant account. Forget about Paypal if you're doing that kind of volume with one account. EBayhatLuv might be able to help you with this.

Thanks bro, L&L

i have a question, if cookies are so important to be used and flushed at the end of every session, is it possible to just set firefox or some third party app to just reject all ebay cookies before they even get into your computer, just a thought ??? cheers

Yes, but you need cookies to login in and to edit your account details. Just set firefox to auto delete cookeis after you close the browser and you'll be fine.

OK, yes I am new and hopefully this has not been stated very clearly somewhere - I have been doing a lot of reading and searching the past few days!!

I was just on the phone with my internet provider, AT&T DSL, to change my ip. I recently got majorly burned by Ebay and PP...hence me recently joining this awesome forum! Now they told me that I had a Static ip, but now I have changed that to Dynamic. Before reading through these forums...this was absolutely foreign to me! Now was this wise of me to do - changing to dynamic? And with dynamic, won't the ip change all the time automatically? Just sounds too easy. And by the way...I do also have AOL - I usually use that with Ebay, but fast access, not dial-up.

And on a side note...I HAD four Ebay accounts and three were suspended at the same time for "abusing Ebay". Then my one and only remaining PP account was linked and also suspended. Now I am extremely grateful that I still have that one remaining Ebay account (which I am not touching until I have this all figured out), but any ideas how and why that one did not get linked? Seems strange...good, but strange. I can't quite figure it out.

I have verizon and my husband said the IP adddress cannot be changed.

But I'm still trying to get clarifiaction on static vs. dynamic ip.
According to the phone tech that I spoke with yesterday (AT&T DSL)...I changed to dynamic because he said that the ip will now change, as opposed to static where it stays the same. It takes 24-48 hours, so I can not check this out yet. I am hoping I did the wise thing by changing to dynamic :confused:

Yes. With the dynamic IP, you reduce the chance of having a trip up with
ebay tracking you. Good move.

Thanks GreenBean for the input :)
I feel like I am starting from scratch, so I want to get everything right!

Dynamic is what you want to get. It doesn't change by it self though, well it does initially but after that when you want to change your Ip you'll need to reset you modem to do it. Which is just unplugging for a few minutes and plugging back in; that'll usually do it.

Good luck, pm if you need anything.

Thanks for the clarification :) ...I was kind of wondering why it hadn't yet changed. The techs that I spoke with made it sound so simple - that it would just change all the time! Sounded too good to be true.

I have been on here for hours. Read one thread with 9 pages to it. Just one of many threads I've gone through. Maybe I've just got too much info running around in my pea sized brain, but I have a couple of things I need to get clarified:

I have set up a different widows user for each ebay/pp acct. I understand that as long as I keep them separate they cannot "share" cookies.
However, if I am in my google mail and am switching back and forth between emails associated with different ebay ids, will that get me linked? Will it only get me linked if I am perusing emails from buyers or from ebay? Will it only get me linked if I click on links taking me to ebay, but not where I would be signed in under my account name? Or will it only nab me if I click on a link within the email, sign into ebay from there? Being that I'm operating under the window id for another account, but getting to ebay and signing in via links from a gmail acct associated with the ebay acct I've just signed into?
Aaaaaacccckkkkk <in the words of Bill the Cat, for those of you who remember that comic series....sigh>

Did any of what I asked make one iota of sense? I'm just very worried because I didn't think it would matter, the switching around gmail accounts within one window id, as long as I didn't actually sign in to ebay or click on any of their links?

I already change the ip every single time I intend to sign in to ebay or paypal. But I don't change it when I log out of one windows user id and sign on to another if I'm not doing anything ebay or paypal related. That should be safe, right?

And lastly, everyone keeps generically referring to cookies as "tracking what we do" but is that only true for tracking what we do while on an ebay or paypal site, whether signed in or not? Are ebay's cookies or beacons capable of having a picture of the sites I go to outside of their sites? I'm sure that is an incredible simple question that I should know the answer to, but sometimes when people are very learned in a particular area, they tend to chat about it as if everyone has a basic understanding, which they don't. Yeah, I know I should, I'm working on it.

Thanks to anyone for answering.
Do I get a prize when I hit my 100th post?

Did any of what I asked make one iota of sense? I'm just very worried because I didn't think it would matter, the switching around gmail accounts within one window id, as long as I didn't actually sign in to ebay or click on any of their links?

Specifically, I was using that to be able to check to see what auctions had sold without actually having to switch ips each time, you know, just signing into gmail, checking my messages for the info on what sold, not going to the site?

AOL Dial Up
 

I have a regular AOL account that I have had for years. Thought that I would keep everything separate, new windows user, new gmail so thought I would download separate AOL into the new user to use dial up. Created new free account on AOL. It states that I cannot use dial up with a free account. Is there any way to get linked if I use the dial up through my original AOL account. I am so paranoid now please help.

I have read conflicting views on this forum regarding deleting cookies after each session. I am currently using Mozilla Firefox exclusively for my new ebay and paypal accounts. Are you still recommending setting Foxfire to delete cookies after each session even though some have said this could flag ebay/paypal?

Ok this information is very help, i have an internet card from my phone company, how does this work with the ip address.

Aspkin, your a dam genius

My question is about the cookies. If I have a unique ip for each user account on my machine then I DO NOT want to delete cookies. But if I only have one user account with the ability to change to multiple Ip's, then I DO want to delete cookies.

Is that correct?

This thing is still here?

Yes boss - you didn't close the thread =P ha

Just joined the subscriber forum and wondering if the AOL browser option is still viable if coming from an overseas IP? What is the best option for accessing stealth usa paypal from overseas?

I was using AOL dial up then AOL on cable modem when I started ebay selling. The AOL program is sooo slow that it took a half an hour to make one listing and this was on the cable speed. Last time I tried to create a new account they killed it within a day. I don't remember too much about it now, something about identity, but upon listing a pair of slippers, to test, I was kicked within hours.

I have been educating myself all day on ip and routers, (after asking 100 dumb questions) so I may soon be ready to try again. There is a good video on youtube about ip and router voiced by some stoner kid, he sounds cute but more importantly it was helpful.

luck to us all!
pinkmilk ~ :)