IP Filter not working for Classic Quizzes (but works for New Quizzes)

J_Kurosaki

I’m hoping to get some advice on an issue I’ve encountered recently with Classic Quizzes.

Until about six months ago, I was able to use the "IP Filter" setting without any problems. However, when I tried it today, students were unable to start the quiz.
They are seeing the following error message:

"This quiz is protected and is only available from certain locations. The computer you are currently using does not appear to be at a valid location for taking this quiz."

What I’ve checked so far:

Correct IP Addresses: I’ve double-checked that the IP addresses entered are correct.

Tested with Multiple Users: We tried accessing the quiz from different computers and user accounts, but the result was the same.

Comparison with New Quizzes: Interestingly, when I set up an IP filter for "New Quizzes," it worked perfectly.
The issue seems to be specific to Classic Quizzes.

Environment:

Canvas LMS (Browser version)

Browser: Chrome 143

Has anyone else experienced this lately?
It’s strange because it used to work fine.
I would appreciate any insights or suggestions you might have.

Thank you so much for your help.

jeremyfw

Hi @J_Kurosaki

My best guess, this isn’t a misconfiguration, it’s an architectural limitation of Classic Quizzes.

Classic Quizzes use a legacy IP-filtering mechanism that no longer plays well with modern networks (IPv6, proxies, NAT, and Canvas’s newer edge routing). As a result, Canvas may not see the student’s “real” IP address at the moment the check occurs, even when the range is correct. New Quizzes enforce IP restrictions later in the request flow and handle IPv6 properly, which is why the same IP filter works there.

Because Classic Quizzes are in maintenance mode, this behavior is unlikely to be fixed.

Recommendation: migrate IP-restricted Classic Quizzes to New Quizzes (or use access codes). If location-based access matters, New Quizzes are the only reliable option going forward.

Why access codes still work in Classic Quizzes

Access codes are enforced inside Canvas’s own application layer, after the student has already loaded the quiz successfully. Canvas isn’t trying to infer anything about the student’s network, it’s simply checking:

“Did the user enter the correct code?”

No IP detection, no IPv4/IPv6 ambiguity, no proxy or routing issues. It’s a straight comparison against stored quiz settings, so it remains reliable even in Classic.

The key distinction

• IP filters depend on network identity → fragile in Classic
• Access codes depends on user/session identity → stable in Classic

That’s why Classic Quizzes can still reliably use access codes even though IP filtering is increasingly unreliable.

Cheers,
J