opinion and info about dial-up

Hi, all,

I have a question I am hoping some of you techie types can help me with. I know with dial-up ISPs like AOL, you end up with a different IP each time. Is is only when you connect??

Here's the thing.......... my 20 year old daughter wants to do freebies, but doesn't have internet at her apartment. She will be spending 3 weeks house-sitting for her dad, who has AOL dial-up. She really wants to do some freebies from her dad's (and I'd really like for her to lol ), if we can work around the issues.

We have already thought that, when she leaves there, she can open a support ticket on any site she hasn't finished and tell them she is moving back home, so that they will expect the IP to change. She will soon have internet at her apartment, so as soon as that is set up, she will open a new support ticket and say "Here is my new IP", which I don't see any reason why that wouldn't work.

But as far as the AOL - she was wondering this if she never disconnects but keeps it connected for the whole 3 weeks (because she won't need her dad's phone anyway), will the IP stay the same, or will it still randomly change?? Anybody know if you can keep AOL open for that period of time???

Thanks in advance for all your computer-savey techie person help.....

Laurel

Everybody's home IP changes, unless you're one of the rare few who have a static IP on a home ISP account. Or are on a private LAN behind a residential gateway.

DSL/Cable broadband use dynamic IP's that will change anywhere from every few days to every few months, it just depends on the ISP and local policy on DHCP leases. Dial-up will get a new IP on every call, so the frequency of IP change will be much higher than most broadband services -- however AOL broadband will have the same issue, because AOL uses dynamic proxies that route almost every web hit through a different gateway. Which means that even if you have AOL broadband, you'll appear to come from a hundred different IP's at the same time.

It should be pretty apparent to a site owner that dial-up is being used. At any rate, changing IP's shouldn't be a problem, and if it is then that site needs to get with the program because that's a ludicrous reason to DQ someone. The only time IP's should raise any suspicion is when there are duplicates, but in the world of dynamic IP's and freebie popularity rising, that's going to be a more common, legitimate occurrence that has to be taken into account as well.

So the issue isn't so much with a changing IP. I'd be more concerned about it being AOL -- some sites have a no-AOL policy (due to the aforementioned mass-IP issue which makes fraud harder to track), so be sure to check their TOS and/or ask via support ticket, just in case.

Thank you for (mostly) clearing that up. Some of this still confuses me (and here I though my DSL gave me the same IP all the time........)

Anybody know which sites will let you use AOL and which ones won't?? I'd hate to have to re-read the TOS of all of the networks just to find out (but I will if I have to.....)

Thanks,
Laurel

[quote7725a0483c="laurelwm"](and here I though my DSL gave me the same IP all the time........) [/quote7725a0483c]
Nope. In fact, just checking your login history here at FiPG, you've logged in from at least [b7725a0483c]80[/b7725a0483c] different IP's. They all don't look like your home ISP account, but I'm betting at least 3/4 are. And you've only been here a couple months. ;)

My DSL IP changes about every 4-12 weeks. It isn't very consistent. Used to be every 2 weeks, though.

[quotee63e28df10="dmorris68"][quotee63e28df10="laurelwm"](and here I though my DSL gave me the same IP all the time........) [/quotee63e28df10]
Nope. In fact, just checking your login history here at FiPG, you've logged in from at least [be63e28df10]80[/be63e28df10] different IP's. They all don't look like your home ISP account, but I'm betting at least 3/4 are. And you've only been here a couple months. ;)

My DSL IP changes about every 4-12 weeks. It isn't very consistent. Used to be every 2 weeks, though.[/quotee63e28df10]

WOW. I have checked in here maybe once or twice from the library, and other than that it's always been from home.

If this is the way it works, how does this too many IP adresses rule work?? Seems like eventually my IP would match that of another user, even if I don't know them. Now I'm worried..............

Laurel

[quote944b48a35d="laurelwm"][quote944b48a35d="dmorris68"][quote944b48a35d="laurelwm"](and here I though my DSL gave me the same IP all the time........) [/quote944b48a35d]
Nope. In fact, just checking your login history here at FiPG, you've logged in from at least [b944b48a35d]80[/b944b48a35d] different IP's. They all don't look like your home ISP account, but I'm betting at least 3/4 are. And you've only been here a couple months. ;)

My DSL IP changes about every 4-12 weeks. It isn't very consistent. Used to be every 2 weeks, though.[/quote944b48a35d]

WOW. I have checked in here maybe once or twice from the library, and other than that it's always been from home.

If this is the way it works, how does this too many IP adresses rule work?? Seems like eventually my IP would match that of another user, even if I don't know them. Now I'm worried..............

Laurel[/quote944b48a35d]
It's a very real concern, and one that I've been talking to (or at) site owners about for awhile now. However, thus far, I've not heard a lot of reports of IP's causing problems until dupes show up between accounts that are connected somehow, such as between referrals or family members. So it's too early to say the sky is falling.

That said, I am seeing a tendency for new site owners that don't understand internet infrastructure, to blindly treat a script warning as proof of fraud. Scripts cannot accurately determine fraud, all they can do is raise flags on certain characteristics that are sometimes indicative of fraud. It still takes diligence and sound judgment on the part of the site owner to analyze the account(s) in question to determine if fraud really occurred. Even when things are spelled out in the TOS, some customers don't even realize they're in violation. A good example is the "no proxy" rule. I've helped convince site owners in the past that a customer wasn't knowingly going through a proxy -- some ISP's channel you through their own proxies without your knowledge.

Most reputable sites are flexible enough that, even if they DQ you for something like an IP or proxy issue, they will consider appeals and take a second look if you approach them professionally and respectfully to state your case. Those who aren't flexible will either become flexible or go out of business, because with the proliferation of freebie participants and dynamic IP issues, they'll eventually DQ their entire customer base otherwise. ;)

So, anybody know which networks will let you use AOL and which won't??? I want to give my daughter the right info and not get her into a mess of reds just because I sent her to the wrong sites..........

Site owners, anybody else??????

Thanks,
Laurel

I know FusionCash allows AOL. The bigger ones like Trainn and Freepay probably do as well. Beyond that, when you get into the smaller sites, I can't say.

To be sure, simply have your daughter (or yourself) read the TOS thoroughly before signing up. If they don't specifically forbid AOL, then I wouldn't sweat it, but if you're really paranoid you or she could drop them a support ticket. Make sure they understand your daughter isn't in the same household as you, and make sure neither of you ever check your account from the other's PC, since that seems to be a common gotcha at a lot of sites now.