Why does Cloudflare free plan now use a fixed IP (104.21.x.1 and 2606:4700:3030::6815:xxx1)?
Hello everyone,
I’ve recently noticed that the free plan of Cloudflare seems to be assigned fixed IPs, specifically 104.21.x.1 and 2606:4700:3030::6815:xxx1. Unfortunately, the internet service at my office appears to block these IPs, and I cannot access them at all.
Interestingly, any other IPs outside of these ranges are accessible without issues. Has anyone else encountered this problem?
Is it true that Cloudflare free plans now use a fixed IP range?
If so, why did Cloudflare make this change?
Is there a workaround to solve this issue without upgrading to a paid plan?
I’d really appreciate any insights or solutions you might have.
Thanks in advance!
1 Reply
It's normal for different plans to be assigned different IP ranges, it's what allows traffic shaping to be implemented (by withdrawing the announcement of certain prefixes from congested PoPs) to prioritize traffic if/when necessary.
From a customer perspective, it doesn't cause any issues to the end user nor can you change the IP you're assigned. Any issues like the one you're experiencing, in your own words, is due to your office blocking those IPs, which is bad practice on their part (even if they're trying to block certain websites).
The only (real) solution is to speak to them about not blocking massive swaths of IPs as a solution to whatever they're trying to block 🙂