Every now and then we encounter an individual user who routinely experiences this problem. What we have worked out is that the problem is not a fault with the FOTR Forum. This seems to be entirely related to the user's internet connection and/or his computer. Indeed, we have had users who, when they log in from one location get the problem, yet when they log in from another location, do not. Same computer, same user, same forum but different connection point (POP) and/or different internet service provider (ISP).Dylan Knott wrote: This forum INSISTS I log in every 5 seconds!!!
For the technically inclined, the forum checks the user's IP address in each message exchange to ensure that it has not changed from the one initially used at log in. This is to ensure that the user's connection and session to the forum is not "captured" and falsely used by another unauthorised user at another computer. The purpose is to prevent fake or fraudulent logins and through that, fraudulent and spam posts.
The user's IP address is automatically and dynamically assigned to the user's computer by his ISP when a connection to the ISP is first made. It should remain the same throughout the period of connection to the internet, right up to the time of disconnection. However, it seems that some ISPs frequently re-assign the user's IP address during a session, perhaps because the connection is unreliable, making the ISP think that the user has disconnected and reconnected. That change of IP address is detected by the Forum software as a possible switch of user or computer and causes the software to ask for a new login to authenticate the user again. Connection reliability and IP address changes are not usually an issue with normal web-sites because being public and not needing to identify and ensure user security, they do not check and compare those addresses.
Unfortunately there is little we can do to fix the problem. It is between the user and his own ISP to resolve. Changing connection paths or even ISPs is the last resort that you have which is almost guaranteed to fix the problem.
