Advice to T-Mobile IPv6 users

From Miraheze CVT Wiki

Advice to T-Mobile IPv6 users

Abusive IPv6 users from T-Mobile USA can be difficult to deal with. This page explains solutions to T-Mobile users, and provides information on dealing with malicious users operating from T-Mobile's mobile internet proxy servers.

IMPORTANT: To have an autoblock on you lifted please use contact local administrators on the local wiki where affected, typically by posting a request on your user talk page or, alternatively, to the Counter Vandalism Team by sending an e-mail message to cvt[at]miraheze.org.


Why are T-Mobile IPv6 users often blocked?

Miraheze's wiki software, MediaWiki, identifies users either by a Miraheze account username, or by a device's allocated IP address. Unregistered users (those not using an account) are identified by their IP address alone.

When you access a Miraheze hosted wiki from an IPv6-compatible device on the T-Mobile network, a proxy server (with its own IPv6 address) retrieves and sends data to Miraheze's servers on your behalf rather than your mobile device doing so directly. However, a T-Mobile IPv6 user editing a Miraheze hosted wiki without an account cannot be uniquely identified as their IP address rapidly changes. T-Mobile has also configured their IPv6 servers in such a way that a single user may have their IP address change each time they restart their phone. These factors all make it nearly impossible for us to block a single vandal without causing some "collateral damage" by inadvertently range-blocking innocent users.

In order to stop an ongoing vandalism spree from T-Mobile, it is often necessary to block not just one IPv6 address, but an entire range of them. Since neither our software nor our administrators can easily distinguish an innocent user from an anonymous vandal, we strongly encourage you to create an account on a desktop or laptop computer and then log in with your phone. This gives you your own contribution history, which administrators can use to determine if you are a trustworthy user.

Solutions

Create an account

Blocks on T-Mobile IPv6 servers are set to "anonymous only" (sometimes abbreviated as "AO" or "AB") meaning only registered users who have logged in can edit from this IP address. If you are currently blocked from creating an account, we suggest the following:

  • Create an account on a desktop or laptop computer and then log in with your phone.
  • Ask a trusted friend on a different network to create an account for you. You may also e-mail the global Miraheze Counter Vandalism Team at cvt[at]miraheze.org, identifying the wiki URL where affected, the username you were trying to create, the block ID, what page you were looking to edit, and any other relevant particulars, and they may create an account for you.
  • Try again after the block on your IP address expires. Go to my contributions and follow the Block log link at the top of the page to find the length of the block.

See Why create an account? for a full list of benefits that come with registration.

Bypass T-Mobile's IPv6 servers

The easiest solution to avoid being blocked from editing a Miraheze wiki while using T-Mobile is to bypass their servers altogether. By connecting to the Miraheze servers from your desktop or laptop computer (or from your WiFi), the IP address that Miraheze's server will see is one that is owned by your desktop ISP, rather than that of T-Mobile.

  • Instead of editing Miraheze using the T-Mobile cellular connection, try using your WiFi connection. (This is increasingly a false dichotomy. T-Mobile is pushing into the home Internet market with 5G cellular–to the tune of more than 640k US households at the close of 2021.)
  • Use a desktop or laptop, or WiFi only tablet computer. These computers are most likely not using T-Mobile, and therefore, do not route traffic through T-Mobile servers.

Autoblocked

If you have already logged into an account and your block message reads "Autoblocked because your IP address has been recently used by" followed by a username, or your block log (check via the Block log link at the top of your "my contributions" page) does not list any current blocks, then you have been autoblocked. Please go back to your blocked page and follow the instructions under the Autoblocked? section or alternatively e-mail the CVT team at cvt[at]miraheze.org.

Determining if a vandal is from T-Mobile

T-Mobile IPv6 users come from a very large IP range. Blocking this IP range, even to try and stop an LTA such as the "the nonciclopediawiki LTA", will cause collateral damage.

Note that not all T-Mobile addresses are IPv6 addresses: T-Mobile IPv4 addresses can be treated like any other mobile provider IP address.

Contacting T-Mobile's abuse department

According to ISP contact information, the main abuse contact address for T-Mobile is via email to abuse@t-mobile.com.

Blocking T-Mobile IPv6 users

A large number of T-Mobile users can share a single IPv6 address. Blocking the entire T-Mobile IPv6 range can affect a very large number of innocent users. Unfortunately, the only effective tactic is to block the entire range. Please be sure to disable autoblocking and check "Block anonymous users only".

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