It is worthwhile to note that Singapore internet users shared IP addresses. Yes, the same IP is shared by thousand and is solely setup and assigned by our Singapore ISPs from their end.
Wikipedia has put up a note to explain that the same Singapore IP address is shared by thousand of Singapore users. See Template: SingNet. Although SingNet is only one of our ISPs, the same principle of shared IP applies to most Singapore internet users subscribed to other ISPs. Henceforth, Singapore internet users can sometimes find that certain websites would behave as if they had visited previously but in reality it is the first time they get on that site.
From my research, it appears that the same IP addresss problem is two-folds for Singapore home broadband users. They are namely as follow:
- Dynamic IP
- Mandatory transparent proxies
When it comes to IP address, there is such thing as a static or dynamic one. In Singapore, static IP is expensive and is given only to business (commercial) users. We home broadband users are given a dynamic IP by our ISPs. This means that one IP address can be shared by a group of people. For example, my previous IP can be 202.112.113.7 and after I reset I get assign a new IP say 202.115.116.198. Now, that means that my previous 202.112.113.7 is now available for use by another user. So far so good? Think farther, that also means that my current IP 202.115.116.198 is shared with someone else assigned with that IP previously. So you see, the same pool of IP addresses is shared among countless users.
On top of it, Singapore ISPs are enforcing mandatory transparent proxies for Singapore internet users. This is to adhere to the Singapore Broadcasting Authority regulations for censorship purposes to keep unwanted sites off limit to Singapore internet users. In addition, the use of transparent proxies to retrieve files from cache IP addresses help ISPs save on bandwidth and cost.
In a way, routing through transparent proxies help to speedup surfing. However, the attempt to find your IP address will only shows that of your transparent proxy server IP (shared among many users that subscribe to the same ISP) instead. For SingNet internet subscribers, currently our transparent proxies IP address is in 220.225.7.* range.
Despite the benefit, this re-routing can sometime create unnecessary complications for Singapore internet users. For sites that keep IP tracking records, it will show multiple visits from the same IP. This could result in us being banned for suspicion of multiple login attempt despite being totally different users. This forced routing applies to both static and dynamic IP subscribers. The only exception is a handful of business internet users that are willing to pay lots of money for it.
Neither dynamic IP nor mandatory transparent proxy were any issue for me. I could care less as long as I could connect to the internet.
Little did I know that it could create a problem for Paid-To-Click (PTC) and Traffic Exchange (TE) sites. First it started with NeoBux, a PTC, when it keep popping message that someone with the same IP has already clicked on the advertisement. What that means is that I cannot earn any credit or cash as someone sharing my IP has clicked on the advertisement before I could.
Why is that so, despite that I have only one account with NeoBux. Well, the obvious answer lies with shared IP. If someone sharing your IP clicked on the PTC advertisement, the PTC site would have already recorded that particular IP address and you are out of luck. The NeoBux forum has Singapore internet users posting and discussing about this issue and currently there is no solution to this problem.
Similarly, I too run into issue with some TE owners that claimed that I surfed with multiple accounts as they detected multiple surfing activities based on the log coming from the same IP. As a result, I was banned on some TE although I diligently surfed manually and have only one account at each TE.
Luckily, some TE owners are reasonable and understanding. After ding-dong emails to and fro, sometimes my account is reactvated if my TE owners are willing to hear me out.
As I am frustrated with having to explain and re-explain the situation everytime this pops up, I posted to share it here and also perhaps to direct TE owners to it if I run into any more similar encounters with other TEs later on.
To all TE owners, please be aware that Singapore home broadband user have no control over our IP address or any transparent proxies that are enforced on our internet connection. Do not ban me due to a false alarm by your "security" system in place.
I certainly hope that I need not to direct any more TE owners to this post in the future.
