Unable to log in to lottery web site

[#1]

Message says I am not resident in UK as ISP not registered as being in UK. Screen shot attached.

[#2]

Can  you post the result from this site please - you obviously are in the UK, but the Lottery appears to be using incorrect/out of date geolocation data

Where is my IP location? (Geolocation)

[#3]

@Scrooge37, there are several ways to get around being allocated a non-UK IP address:

• wait (a few weeks) for the details to propagate through all the geo-location registers
• switch your router off for 30 mins, in the hope that you will allocated a different address when it reconnects. IPs tend to be quite sticky, so you may just get the same address, if it is different it is likely to be from the same address block - which will have the same geo-location problem
• switch to use a static IP address - this costs a one-off £5 fee - Plusnet static IPs are all recognised as being in the UK. You might be able to get Plusnet to provide a temporary static IP for free if you complain enough.
• tether to your mobile phone - this will use the address block of the mobile provider, which should be UK based
• use a VPN with a UK endpoint - however I'm not sure whether national lottery block popular VPNs, as that is one way to appear to be in the UK if you are abroad which is something they are obviously trying to block. 

[#4]

Screen shot attached of the problem as it appeared on my laptop.

[#5]

As my original reply - can you post the results you get from here; https://www.iplocation.net/ip-lookup

[#6]

Strangely, after being locked out from the lottery last night, I then got a message saying I had been locked out from the internet! Just opened Lottery login again and it has now let me in. No idea what has changed.

Internet access now  seems ok again. Did the usual restart twice, which now seems to have done the trick.

Thanks for all responses.

[#7]

@corringham 

The National lottery blocks most, if not all VPNs.  This is similar to banks, many credit card companies, and even some companies including on-line shopping.  Some of those pushing VPNs gloss over these facts.  I do use VPNs but also know what the issues are and how to remedy them.  You'll often get messages like "we cannot action your requirement at present please try later" or you try logging in and you go around in circles.  Many times people forget that they are using a VPN and think there's another issue when all they need to do is disable the VPN.  I am waiting for the government to make using VPNs illegal like they appear to be doing for all encryption.

[#8]

@Total_Chaos, actually it depends on just what you consider a "VPN" to be - technically you can't ban the technology as a lot of the internet would stop working.

What is often blocked is the VPN services that are sold as a way to spoof your location or hide your identity - which are popular with criminals, spammers, and hackers (and paranoid people).

However, there are plenty of reputable VPNs (encrypted or not) that are not typically blocked - for instance Plusnet static IPs are implemented by using a L2TP tunnel (which is a type of VPN), and they aren't usually blocked. I use an AAISP L2TP service to gain static IPv4 and IPv6 addresses, and again they aren't the target of blocks.

I also use (secure) VPNs for work - and they would never be blocked.

I don't believe the government would attempt to ban VPNs - the most they could do is force your real identity to be registered with the VPN provider.

[#9]

Yes I understand that as I was in the industry myself, but what the general public think of as a VPN is a way to hide your location by using a different IP address, and therefore geo location to where they actually are, with no way of tracking you.  The banks, etc know, or can locate the IP addresses associated with most ISPs, companies, etc so can allow those whereas the IP addresses used by these VPNs are not.  So if you reside in Manchester and use a VPN located in London, the bank, etc will still reject it.

[#10]

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@Total_Chaos wrote:

So if you reside in Manchester and use a VPN located in London, the bank, etc will still reject it.

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No they won't. 

I use various banks, and the IPs I use may appear in various parts of the UK (or overseas - and they don't block those either as I access my accounts from abroad). In fact none of the addresses I have access to have a geo-location anywhere near my actual address. 

[#11]

I’ve setup many site to site and client to site VPN connections but I can’t see any reason to use a VPN program to connect to any site unless trying to bypass restrictions.

[#12]

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@corringham wrote:

I don't believe the government would attempt to ban VPNs - the most they could do is force your real identity to be registered with the VPN provider.

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The government would have a major problem if it tried to ban VPN's, given that many, perhaps most, government departments use them for their internet-facing connectivity.  Certainly we did, as there was no way on earth that we were going to expose our true IP or location to anyone outside the wire.

Not just a security measure, but a key employee safety measure.  We had enough trouble with nutters tracking down employees to harass, or even attack, them without making it any easier for them to do so.  Not fun having a pack of rapid nut jobs throwing paint over your house and car, or doing as one lot did and pouring petrol along the road gutter and setting fire to it just as we were driving out.

[#13]

@Champnet, if you are thinking about a single computer connecting to websites over the internet, I'd tend to agree.

However, if you think about using a VPN client to connect to a network (say work), and then browsing sites outside that network, then unless your VPN is set up for split tunnelling (and a lot of business VPNs block split tunnelling), your browsing will use the VPN. Nothing illicit or underhand happening, but your apparent address won't be related to your physical location.

Or think about using a VPN to gain a static address (say if your ISP or mobile provider uses CGNAT, or doesn't provide IPv6). Again, nothing underhand, but you'll be behind a VPN.

In a typical day I can be using one incoming and several outgoing VPNs simultaneously (I do use split tunnelling).

[#14]

@corringham wrote:

"However, if you think about using a VPN client to connect to a network (say work), and then browsing sites outside that network,"

Isn't that questionable ?  I've never worked for a Company that would allow that...

[#15]

I guess it would depend on the company and what their business is. As a software developer collaborating with a number of other companies I have to access many external sites. The job wouldn't be possible without connecting to external sites.