I discovered my guilt in baby steps after my return from a trip to Africa. First I was dumbfounded when it happened after my arrival in Johannesburg. When I tried to update my Website, my access to the VPS was completely blocked. I didn’t have access to the InstaFree Forum either, and was unable to contact the Admin or anyone at InstaFree. A VPN also didn’t work.
So after my return in March 2026, when I was able to check in at the Forum, I learned, as to be expected after a long time of absence from my VPS, my VPS had been terminated. Initially I thought I couldn’t have been aware of the country blocking, but after studying the original application, I noticed that when one signs up for a VPS hosting account, it immediately comes up with a country block warning from InstaFree. So when I originally applied in March 2024, I must have ignored the content of the blocked list and assumed the list would contain the usual ones that have been banned by US legislation. So when I finally checked the list I noticed a much more elaborate and detailed list in which the whole of Africa had been blocked. I should have been more careful when I signed up for the VPS. So this is my fault entirely.
Regardless, there were so many good things that came from having the VPS and participating in the discussion Forum. InstaFree provided me with a VPS account that was of very high quality. The VPS came with an IPv6 instead of the easy IPV4. So I was provided with a challenge and opportunity for learning for the first time how to use an IPv6 to set up a VPS. And also how to create a working WordPress site on a VPS that works with an IPv6. I discovered through this learning experience that WordPress is not as on the level as it should be with IPv6. I was unable to automatically update my plugins. It will be interesting when one day I have an opportunity again to work with an IPv6 on a VPS, to check whether WordPress has finally caught up with IPv6 times.
Here is a list of InstaFree’s forbidden countries:
https://www.instafree.com/forbidden_countries.php
| AFGANISTAN | AFRICA – CONTINENT | ALBANIA |
| ALGERIA | ARGENTINA | BANGLADESH |
| BELARUS | BRAZIL | CHINA |
| COLOMBIA | EGYPT | INDIA |
| INDONESIA | IRAN | IRAQ |
| ITALY | IVORY COAST | KOSOVO |
| KUWAIT | LIBYA | MALAYSIA |
| MOROCCO | MYANMAR | NIGERIA |
| OMAN | PAKISTAN | PHILIPPINES |
| POLAND | PORTUGAL | ROMANIA |
| RUSSIA | SAUDI ARABIA | SERBIA |
| SINGAPORE | SOMALIA | SPAIN |
| SRI LANKA | SUDAN | SYRIA |
| TAIWAN | THAILAND | TUNISIA |
| TURKEY | UKRAINE | UZBEKISTAN |
| VENEZUELA | VIETNAM | YEMEN |