knownissues

We think this is fixed now! We've made some changes that make LiveJournal be more compatible with ISPs who are re-writing HTTP headers and providing cookie data in unexpected ways. I also want to say that I'm pretty sure AT&T has also made some changes to their proxy configuration to stop doing this, so thanks to everyone out there who helped make that change happen!

If you're still having issues with staying logged in, please open a support request.


We've been receiving regular reports from users whose mobile data provider is AT&T that they can't stay logged-in to LiveJournal. This seems to happen regardless of whether they are using the full version of the site, the mobile version (m.livejournal.com), or the LiveJournal app. In the past, we've also seen this happen with 2 other satellite based ISPs (Hughes Net & WildBlue), although we don't have recent reports of this happening and the issue might not be caused by the same problem. If you're on an ISP that isn't mentioned here, and believe this issue is happening to you, please comment to let us know who your ISP is, when it first started happening, and if the problem always happens or if the problem is intermittent. Note: the IP addresses we see having this problem actually come from "Wireless Data Service Provider Corp" which is a third party used by multiple wireless data providers, and may be related to this issue.

What it looks like:

When trying to view any LiveJournal page, you will see it as though you were logged out. When you attempt to login, you'll go through the process of entering your username & password, then either be taken directly back to the login page as though nothing happened and you're still logged out, or will see the next page you try to load as though you are still logged out. If attempting to view content that is marked as "adult", you'll be put into an endless loop of trying to either login or clicking the link to verify you are over 18 only to be brought back to the same warning.

What is really happening:

When a request is sent through AT&T's network, we have verified that they are changing the cookie your browser sends (this includes your login information) to remove all spaces from it. These spaces, however, are relevant and removing them prevents your login information from being correctly passed to LiveJournal. AT&T may also be ignoring other headers being sent to them, including the Cache-Control settings which instruct them to serve a fresh version of the page, not a cached version. This has affected other websites as well, and there's an open thread about this issue on AT&T's forums at http://forums.att.com/t5/Data-Messaging-Features-Internet/3G-proxy-wnsnet-attws-com-strips-HTTP-response-headers/m-p/3321231/.

Why doesn't LiveJournal fix this?

We haven't fixed this because the problem is being caused by AT&T's network removing important information from the headers that are included when you send them a request to load pages from LiveJournal. AT&T's technical support has suggested to several people that the problem is caused by their "ultra-dynamic" IP addresses which cause every request to be sent from a different IP address. This is not, however, consistent with rules within our system; unless you have selected the option to bind your login to your IP address, you can retain your login when switching to a different IP address. We also receive the login requests; if you are able to use an alternate internet connection to login, you can view your login history at http://www.livejournal.com/manage/logins.bml to see your recent login history. Generally, there will be many open logins from AT&T if you are having this problem. Many people have also reported (and we have verified) that using a wireless internet connection on the same device having this problem on AT&T's network will allow them to login and stay logged-in, leading us to believe there is no problem with any settings on the devices being used.

What will it take to get this fixed?

We need someone from AT&T, likely in their operations department rather than technical support, to take an interest in resolving the problem. Any representative of AT&T is welcome to contact us at webmaster@livejournal.com with any questions they have about this issue, or to suggest any changes we can make to prevent this behavior. We are also attempting to contact them directly through other channels regarding this issue.