Ban Entire Country IP Range

to dot or not to dot the end of IPs?

[WiseWebDude]

I cannot find an answer for this. If I want to ban an entire country's IP range like 196 do I HAVE to leave a dot at the end? Which is the proper way?

196
196.

? I use vBulletin software so in the user banning section is where this would go. I am just not sure if I have to leave the dot (.) at the end of each one. Does it matter?

[topr8]

i'm not sure of the answer to your question as i don't use that software...

however ...

if you want to ban a whole country, it is not as simple as that!
countries do not have a continuos block of ip numbers, they are in blocks yes but not in one continuous one ... basically countries are all mixed up together (to an extent)

[WiseWebDude]

Hm, ok thanks. Yea, I noticed that 196. was really bad with spammers so I wanted to block them all off.

[wilderness]

Hm, ok thanks. Yea, I noticed that 196. was really bad with spammers so I wanted to block them all off.

As toprB previously advised.
196 is not a lone country.

deny from 196.
would be correct to include the subnet ranges.
196.0-255.0-255.0-255

There are other necessary lines that must accompany this single line and you need to do a search on htaccess AND deny from.

[WiseWebDude]

Ok, thanks. I see what you mean about the country. I do have that set up in .htaccess now. I have other IPs too, but wasn't sure about the . at the end.

:)