AI Scrapers, Bots and the Cloudflare "Are you human?" check

overscan (PaulMM)

overscan (PaulMM)

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I've turned on the Cloudflare "Are you human?" check and the site performance has dramatically increased.

Instead of 2000 - 5000 users we have 200 users online at once.

I'm tempted to leave it in place, because its much nicer with the site being super responsive.

Thoughts?
 
So that's why I kept having to wait to access the site earlier today I kept getting 'Cloudflare is checking your connections' messages before reaching the site.
 
When on a computer you should only get a challenge about once a week.

1775979656929.png

However I noticed on mobile it was happening more often - this can happen.

If you use a VPN or Mobile private IP where you IP changes often, Cloudflare may consider you sufficiently changed to issue a new challenge. This is to prevent spammers solving the check once then using the same cookie on thousands of different IP addresses.
 
When did you do this? Performance was a dog late last week, but seems to be much better today.

Agree with the consensus, keep Cloudflare.
 
It's unfortunate that I need to activate Javascript now to access and view the forum, but the change is understandable and I'm glad it's improved site performance. If it's possible to implement a measure that does not rely on Javascript in the future, that would be preferable.
 
overscan (PaulMM) said:
When on a computer you should only get a challenge about once a week.

View attachment 808780

However I noticed on mobile it was happening more often - this can happen.

If you use a VPN or Mobile private IP where you IP changes often, Cloudflare may consider you sufficiently changed to issue a new challenge. This is to prevent spammers solving the check once then using the same cookie on thousands of different IP addresses.
Click to expand...
Weirdly one of my devices is on a a VPN and has had no issues whatsoever. Another is on a fixed WiFi connection and Cloudflare won't authenticate it at all.
 
It authenticated me twice on the phone a moment ago, but it's a one bar connection so that's probable all that is. Just as long as there's still a way to get through and complain if the AI decides I'm not human anymore. :D
 
Thanks Paul! Glad to still have access to this great website.

This is so much better than some other websites, for example, I cannot access nasaspaceflightforum for a while now .....
 
You an old CRAY, like me?
They forgot to turn off the light…

The urban explorer kids sit on me when not trying to scare each other with Aztec Death Whistles….this graffiti is never coming off.
 
overscan (PaulMM) said:
I've turned on the Cloudflare "Are you human?" check and the site performance has dramatically increased.

Instead of 2000 - 5000 users we have 200 users online at once.

I'm tempted to leave it in place, because its much nicer with the site being super responsive.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
I wish the old Eagle Transporter Forum took such precautions. The forum was hammered with spammers before it shut down.
 
Very slow response times now. 30 seconds to a minute to load a page on my phone at the moment. Is there a problem?

EDIT: ...and now it's fine...I think. I've been authenticated 2 or 3 times today though.
 
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Seems like it doesnt like saved site information while using some ISPs. It chokes on Verizon and my fiber but is fine 20 miles away on another ISP. Have to delete site data every page change when not working correctly.
 
Same for me in that phone and work computer work fine. Samsung tablet does not work now.
 
PhysOrg is usually okay as-is on this Chrome browser, but onward links to article references are often tediously cloud-flared until the system decides I'm sufficiently human.

Note :
Such hesitation does not seem to correlate with oft-broken nights, which require much caffeine to re-boot wits....
 
Nigelhg said:
It's chrome and it's up to date....I can get on easily in Incognito mode but not normal browsing.
Click to expand...
Me too. In my case Android tablet +edge.

[edit] edge is chromium... with Firefox the Cloudfare check does not get into a loop and the browsing is normal
 
If you post the "ray ID" given by the challenge, I can look in the event log what happened.

To pass Cloudflare’s "Verifying you are human" check, users must allow JavaScript, accept cookies, and use an up-to-date, standard browser without aggressive privacy extensions or VPNs. The system analyzes browser fingerprints (HTTP headers, TLS handshakes) for bot-like behavior. If stuck, clearing cache/cookies or using Incognito mode is recommended.
Click to expand...

oluen said:
Me too. In my case Android tablet +edge.

[edit] edge is chromium... with Firefox the Cloudfare check does not get into a loop and the browsing is normal
Click to expand...

So what happens when you visit the site in Chrome - it just never logs in?
 
overscan (PaulMM) said:
If you post the "ray ID" given by the challenge, I can look in the event log what happened.





So what happens when you visit the site in Chrome - it just never logs in?
Click to expand...
Cloudflare is continouly checking. Cloudfare banner appears, the progress wheel keeps rolling, and I cannot check the box (the box does not appear)
 
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Like I said before, different ISPs seem to play a role. But when it gets stuck in loops delete site data and it works.
 
Fwiw i had the Cloudfare loop issue on Firefox the last few hours until now, this is first time i've managed to get to the site this evening. At one point the box to click manually that you're not a robot appeared, but clicking on it made no difference at the time.
 
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