{"id":109,"date":"2021-04-08T17:23:53","date_gmt":"2021-04-08T17:23:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/?p=109"},"modified":"2021-04-08T17:23:56","modified_gmt":"2021-04-08T17:23:56","slug":"how-to-whitelist-an-ip-address-in-wordfence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/how-to-whitelist-an-ip-address-in-wordfence\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Whitelist An IP Address In Wordfence (Helpful Examples)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Has a service asked you to whitelist an IP address in Wordfence? Or perhaps you want to whitelist your own IP to avoid being blocked from your site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This article walks step by step through real examples of whitelisting one or more IP addresses in Wordfence. We\u2019ll also look at why it may be difficult to do the same for your own IP, and two solutions to let you do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_64 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-66112ab33596c\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-66112ab33596c\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/how-to-whitelist-an-ip-address-in-wordfence\/#How_to_Whitelist_an_IP_Address_in_Wordfence\" title=\"How to Whitelist an IP Address in Wordfence\">How to Whitelist an IP Address in Wordfence<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/how-to-whitelist-an-ip-address-in-wordfence\/#What_To_Do_When_A_Service_Asks_You_To_Whitelist_IP_Addresses_In_Wordfence\" title=\"What To Do When A Service Asks You To Whitelist IP Addresses In Wordfence\">What To Do When A Service Asks You To Whitelist IP Addresses In Wordfence<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/how-to-whitelist-an-ip-address-in-wordfence\/#How_To_Whitelist_A_Range_Of_IP_Addresses_in_Wordfence\" title=\"How To Whitelist A Range Of IP Addresses in Wordfence\">How To Whitelist A Range Of IP Addresses in Wordfence<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/how-to-whitelist-an-ip-address-in-wordfence\/#How_To_Whitelist_Your_Home_IP_Address_In_Wordfence\" title=\"How To Whitelist Your Home IP Address In Wordfence\">How To Whitelist Your Home IP Address In Wordfence<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/how-to-whitelist-an-ip-address-in-wordfence\/#Have_You_Inadvertently_Blocked_A_Service_Or_User\" title=\"Have You Inadvertently Blocked A Service Or User?\">Have You Inadvertently Blocked A Service Or User?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_Whitelist_an_IP_Address_in_Wordfence\"><\/span>How to Whitelist an IP Address in Wordfence<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There are several ways to access the area where you can add IP Addresses to a whitelist. Be aware that Wordfence calls this an \u201cAllowlist\u201d, it\u2019s the same thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From the main dashboard of the plugin\u2019s settings, you can use the \u201cManage Firewall\u201d link near the top of the page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"630\" height=\"319\" src=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/manage_firewall.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-110\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/manage_firewall.png 630w, https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/manage_firewall-300x152.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Alternatively, you can find the Firewall Options cog if you scroll down the dashboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"407\" height=\"113\" src=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/all_firewall_options.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-111\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/all_firewall_options.png 407w, https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/all_firewall_options-300x83.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 407px) 100vw, 407px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Clicking either will open the Firewall Options management page, which is divided into multiple sections. Whitelisting is considered to be an Advanced option, so expand that section if it&#8217;s collapsed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wordfence gives you a big box to add one or more IP addresses or an actual range of IPs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"220\" src=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/expanded_advanced_firewall_options.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-112\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/expanded_advanced_firewall_options.png 640w, https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/expanded_advanced_firewall_options-300x103.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>If you have multiple addresses, make sure you either put one on each line or use a comma. Here are the two formats:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Format 1:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td>190.238.2900.1923<br>290.338.4900.5923<br>390.438.3900.6923<br><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Format 2:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>190.238.2900.1923,290.338.4900.5923,390.438.3900.6923<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How you do this will probably depend on how you get the IP addresses you want to whitelist. Often, a service will provide them and you\u2019ll just want to copy-and-paste them into Wordfence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019ll walk through a real-life example in the next section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_To_Do_When_A_Service_Asks_You_To_Whitelist_IP_Addresses_In_Wordfence\"><\/span>What To Do When A Service Asks You To Whitelist IP Addresses In Wordfence<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>A typical example is when you sign up for a reputable service that monitors the uptime of your website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These services have to reach out frequently to your site to make that it\u2019s responding. Wordfence may see this as a malicious attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The company has helpfully added one of the most common uptime services by default. You\u2019ll see it immediately below the Whitelist area where there is a group of named services that are allowed. It\u2019s called \u201cUptime Robot\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But I\u2019ll take an example of using a different service that isn\u2019t specially included. <em>This isn\u2019t an endorsement of this service, just an example<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/watchful.net\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Watchful<\/a> is one example of a company that provides a monitoring service to watch your site\u2019s availability. If you sign up for their services, they will send the support documentation for whitelisting their IP addresses. Here&#8217;s a glimpse of their details:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/watchful_ip_addresses.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-113\" width=\"320\" height=\"160\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite the HTML bullet points, you can copy the list straight into the Wordfence box. In this example, you\u2019d get three lines of addresses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"575\" height=\"107\" src=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/wordfence_with_cloudful_ip_addresses.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-114\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/wordfence_with_cloudful_ip_addresses.png 575w, https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/wordfence_with_cloudful_ip_addresses-300x56.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 575px) 100vw, 575px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>If you want to commit the whitelisting, don\u2019t forget to hit the \u201cSave Changes\u201d button at the top of the page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_To_Whitelist_A_Range_Of_IP_Addresses_in_Wordfence\"><\/span>How To Whitelist A Range Of IP Addresses in Wordfence<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Wordfence box accepts IP address ranges that follow the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ipaddressguide.com\/cidr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CIDR guidelines<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This can let you whitelist an entire network. You may only want to do this for a temporary fix to a specific problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_To_Whitelist_Your_Home_IP_Address_In_Wordfence\"><\/span>How To Whitelist Your Home IP Address In Wordfence<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Wordfence keeps thinking your own activity is malicious and blocks you? What a pain in the neck. But surely the simple solution is to throw your own IP address into the Whitelist box.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You will find articles out there that suggest you do this. And they helpfully show you how to get your IP address (just type \u201cwhat&#8217;s my IP address\u201d into Google).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The problem is that your home IP address is probably dynamic instead of static. This means that it changes from time to time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The worst-case scenario is that someone else gets your \u201cold\u201d IP address and now has super-access to your site. In reality, Mary Smith in downtown Poughkeepsie is hardly likely to take advantage of this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But your new IP address is now going to get blocked \u2013 depending on your activity on the site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The way to address this is to access the internet from a static IP address. I\u2019ll go through two ways to do this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Option 1: Purchase A Static IP Address From Your Broadband Provider<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>My own broadband provider has this to say:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p><em>All residential [company] customers are provided with a Dynamic IP address\u2026.We are unable to provide a Static IP address to residential customers.<\/em><\/p><cite>Home Broadband Provider<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>However, they cheerily inform their customers that <strong>business accounts<\/strong> can be assigned a static IP address. It\u2019s a fairly hefty price, but a reliable solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You will probably find a more cost-effective route by using a VPN provider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Option 2: Purchase A Static IP Address From A Reputable VPN Service<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>A VPN is a virtual private network between you and the internet. You access the web via an encrypted tunnel that, among other things, hides your IP address and protects your online identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There\u2019s a large number of free, cheap, and not-so-cheap services out there. Be careful with choosing a service, because there are bad actors in this space that will install bad stuff on your machine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019ll use NordVPN as an example of a reputable provider. The VPN service itself is very cheap. At the time of writing, it&#8217;s about five bucks a month on a one-year plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, the standard service does not include a static IP address. You can purchase a dedicated IP for about seventy bucks for a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Is this worth the cost? It depends on how much hassle you\u2019re going through with unblocking your access to your website. Is this happening every day? I\u2019d throw $70 at the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If it\u2019s a very occasional issue, then there\u2019s probably no need for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Have_You_Inadvertently_Blocked_A_Service_Or_User\"><\/span>Have You Inadvertently Blocked A Service Or User?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If someone reaches out to you asking for their IP address to be whitelisted, you should check why they are being blocked by Wordfence in the first place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You may have spotted suspicious activity on your website in the past, and taken the steps to review and <a href=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/how-to-block-an-ip-address-in-wordfence\/\">block the IP address in Wordfence<\/a>. You will have added a reason for doing so &#8211; now you&#8217;ll appreciate the jog to your memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wordfence also lets you block an entire country using the premium service. This may have affected more users than you intended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We have an article which explores <a href=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/does-wordfence-stop-bots\/\">how to use Wordfence to block bots<\/a>. You may have increased or lowered specific thresholds within the Brute Force options, and inadvertently blocked legitimate activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Use the <a href=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/how-to-block-an-ip-address-in-wordfence\/#Wordfence_Live_Traffic_View\">Wordfence Live Traffic View to watch activity <\/a>on your website for a while. You&#8217;ll see who is being blocked, and how often. This should give you clues as to why someone is complaining.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Has a service asked you to whitelist an IP address in Wordfence? Or perhaps you want to whitelist your own IP to avoid being blocked from your site. This article walks step by step through real examples of whitelisting one or more IP addresses in Wordfence. We\u2019ll also look at why it may be difficult &#8230; <a title=\"How To Whitelist An IP Address In Wordfence (Helpful Examples)\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/how-to-whitelist-an-ip-address-in-wordfence\/\" aria-label=\"More on How To Whitelist An IP Address In Wordfence (Helpful Examples)\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":117,"href":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109\/revisions\/117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}