I know it's not a "Ubuntu" related question but I couldnt ask anywhere else.

Recently I have been having problems browsing as 1 of every 3 websites I visit I get to do a captcha test as to prove I am not a robot. This is not usually a problem as I have a lot of time to complete the captcha or a browser VPN extension can save me from it. But then,I use VLC player and use their VLsub a lot which downloads subtitles directly from opensubtitles.org Now in a browser I have to go through a captcha to access the website but I can't do in a media player extension,thus I cant use that feature anymore.

and this is becoming worse day by day.

What can I do?

3

1 Answer

Make sure you don't have any malware infected devices (including your Ubuntu system) on your local network.

Excessive Captchas are normally triggered by suspicious behaviour (i.e. mass requests) from your specific IP. Home routers normally use NAT to map your local network addresses to the one single public IP you get assigned by your ISP (Internet Service Provider). Therefore any device in your local network can make your whole network suspicious and trigger Captchas.

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Sometimes this happens on another level again, as ISPs may use e.g. Dual-Stack lite to give each customer their own IPv6 address, but only a shared IPv4 address that is used by dozens or hundreds of customers at the same time. If this is the case for you, any random person with the same ISP as you could have made suspicious requests and trigger a ban or Captchas on your shared IPv4 address.

In that case, your home router might possibly offer a button to reconnect to the ISP network and obtain a new IP. Otherwise you just have to wait until the IP lease runs out in a few days, or contact your ISP about the matter.