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IP Location Block

By Ideologix

Security & Privacy / Security Scanning & Malware Protection

Reviewed by Omar Dabbas

Trusted WordPress expert with 20+ years of experience evaluating plugins for the WP ecosystem.

IP Location Block Review - In-Depth Analysis

Block visitors by country, state, or ISP provider. Protects against spam, login attempts, and malicious access.

Performance Overview

WPS Score

6.89/10

User Rating

4.5/5 (based on 35+ reviews)

Active Installations

10,000+

Update Frequency

Below Average It is calculated using the weighted average of same category plugins.

Security Score

1 / 10 (Very Low Risk) It is calculated using the weighted average of all versions.

What It Does

The IP Location Block plugin allows you to block access to your site based on the visitor's location while keeping your site safe from malicious attacks. It employs powerful protection methods such as WP Zero-day Exploit Prevention and WP Metadata Exploit Protection.

This plugin uses IP address geolocation to identify and block undesirable access effectively. After installation, you will notice a significant number of malicious attempts logged by the plugin.

With features like native geo-location, privacy by design, and immigration control, you can configure access based on country codes, CIDR notation, and AS numbers. The plugin also guards against brute-force login attempts and minimizes server load during such attacks.

Additional capabilities include blocking malicious uploads, managing bot traffic, and supporting BuddyPress and bbPress. You can customize HTTP response codes and manage validation logs for auditing purposes.

The plugin is designed to work alongside other security solutions and offers extendability through predefined filter hooks. It ensures a clean uninstallation process, leaving no traces in your database.

Comparing to Alternatives

IP Location Block is a solid choice among country-based blocking plugins, offering straightforward geolocation blocking features. It competes with several other plugins that provide similar functionality, each with their own unique strengths.

Top alternatives

Strengths

Easy to set up and use for country-based blocking
Effectively reduces unwanted login attempts and spam
No recorded security vulnerabilities
Free to use without a paid version
Works well for backend access control and visitor redirection

Weaknesses

User interface can be difficult to navigate
Some users report issues with whitelist and blacklist rules not working as expected
Frequent upsell and marketing prompts annoy some users
Limited advanced features compared to some alternatives

User Sentiment Analysis

With a strong majority of 5-star ratings (80%) and an overall rating of 4.5, users generally appreciate the plugin's effectiveness and ease of use. However, a small portion of users express frustration mainly due to functionality issues and intrusive marketing.

Positive highlights

"Perfect for Country-Based Blocking!" - arultamilnadu
"Exactly What I Needed for GEO Blocking!" - dmac
"Good Geoblocking Tool" - allbutone
"Works as promised" - tom4all
"Funciona força bé i redueix trànsit innecessari" - ibosch

Common complaints

Intrusive upsell and marketing within the plugin
Whitelist and blacklist rules sometimes fail to block or allow IPs as expected
Plugin does not always effectively block spam from specified locations

Weaknesses

Occasional issues with rule matching and blocking accuracy
User interface is not very intuitive or user-friendly
Marketing prompts can disrupt user experience

Who Should Use This?

Best for

Users seeking a free, straightforward plugin to block or allow traffic based on country or IP location, especially those wanting to reduce spam and unwanted login attempts without complex setup.

Not ideal for

Users who require a highly intuitive interface, advanced features, or who are sensitive to frequent upsell marketing may find this plugin less suitable.

Pricing & Value

Free version includes

The free version includes core country and IP blocking features sufficient for most users to manage access and reduce unwanted traffic.

Final Verdict

IP Location Block is a reliable and effective plugin for country-based blocking, praised for its ease of setup and ability to reduce unwanted traffic. Its lack of security vulnerabilities and free availability make it an attractive option for many users.

However, some users report issues with blocking accuracy and find the user interface challenging, compounded by intrusive marketing within the plugin. Users seeking a more polished experience or advanced features might consider alternatives.

Other Notable Features

Here are a few other notable features of this free IP Location Block plugin.

Block

Country

Geolocation

IP Address

IP Geo Block

Screenshots

FAQ

This plugin is designed based on the principle of “Privacy by design” so that you can compliantly run it to GDPR. As guarding against personal data breach, IP addresses in this plugin are encrypted and also can be anonymized by default. It also provides some functions not only to manually erase them but also to automatically remove them when those are exceeded a certain amount/time.

However, these are the part of GDPR requirements and do not guarantee that the site is compliant with GDPR. Refer to 3.0.11 release note for details.

Please find the solution in Quick recovery from blocking on your login page at first.

You can also find another solution by editing “Emergent Functionality” code section near the bottom of ip-location-block.php. This code block can be activated by replacing /* (opening multi-line comment) at the top of the line to // (single line comment), or * at the end of the line to */ (closing multi-line comment).

/**  * Invalidate blocking behavior in case yourself is locked out.  *  * How to use: Activate the following code and upload this file via FTP.  */ /* -- ADD '/' TO THE TOP OR END OF THIS LINE TO ACTIVATE THE FOLLOWINGS -- */ function ip_location_block_emergency( $validate, $settings ) {     $validate['result'] = 'passed';     return $validate; } add_filter( 'ip-location-block-login', 'ip_location_block_emergency', 1, 2 ); add_filter( 'ip-location-block-admin', 'ip_location_block_emergency', 1, 2 ); // */

Please not that you have to use an appropriate editor.

After saving and uploading it to /wp-content/plugins/ip-location-block/ on your server via FTP, you become to be able to login again as an admin.

Remember that you should upload the original one after re-configuration to deactivate this feature.

This document can also help you.

Please find the solution in Quick recovery from blocking on your login page at first.

/**  * Invalidate blocking behavior in case yourself is locked out.  *  * How to use: Activate the following code and upload this file via FTP.  */ /* -- ADD '/' TO THE TOP OR END OF THIS LINE TO ACTIVATE THE FOLLOWINGS -- */ function ip_location_block_emergency( $validate, $settings ) {     $validate['result'] = 'passed';     return $validate; } add_filter( 'ip-location-block-login', 'ip_location_block_emergency', 1, 2 ); add_filter( 'ip-location-block-admin', 'ip_location_block_emergency', 1, 2 ); // */

Please not that you have to use an appropriate editor.

After saving and uploading it to /wp-content/plugins/ip-location-block/ on your server via FTP, you become to be able to login again as an admin.

Remember that you should upload the original one after re-configuration to deactivate this feature.

This document can also help you.