If I recall correctly, the data presented is posted by amateurs.
If that remains the case, it's not exactly a credible source for load data.~Muir
Well Mr Muir... you obviously from this post, don't know, which makes you "not exactly a credible source", but more one who rattles on or (sorry but...) spews incorrect info without doing research. Makes you rather amateurish for posting bad info.
For all who are interested... April 2018 StevesPages came under attack from Iran trying to download the entire site, mainly the military manuals. I caught them in the act, killed their process and firewalled them out. Since they were after military manuals I have a legal obligation to protect that info.
And so, started the process which unfortunately has led to blocking most of the world. 3 years later and the attack attempts have not subsided but have increased in sophistication. Had I not begun this process of firewalling any location responsible, I would have had to take the entire site down some time ago.
So, these a-holes in sandy land are responsible for the now, lack of global access and for the military stuff being gone completely, even to US residents who are subscribers. When this process began the goal was to leave everything open unless I got malicious traffic from the network.
The attacks which started 3 years ago have certainly now gone global. China and Russia topped the charts for a while but are almost entirely blocked now. The blocking has followed bad actors around the globe. You may not realize it but the UK was the LAST place to be affected but these blocks.
So why can't UK residents have subscriptions? Because of the way networks are built. With the firewall I am using I am allowed to block class "B" networks (65,534 "IPs" or computers) or class "C" networks (254 "IPs" or computers). There are 254 class C networks within ONE class B network. So if I am firewalling out miscreants and I leave one tiny class C network open for one legitimate user, I have to build an additional 253 filters around that small subnet. On a global scale, leaving 1 tiny class C open would result in many thousands of additional filters. This work has consumed on average, 80 hours per week for 3 years now and while not yet complete, it is getting very close. Traffic has reduced from about 6,000,000 unique visitors per month down to ~20,000. Again, while this was not the original intent, abuse patterns from around the globe have necessitated it.
While this does not fix the "no access" issue to the site, I hope that now you understand the why. With the hours spent building this firewall config, I have truly lost my life for the last 3 years. I want to go shooting again!
