Secondary rate limit affecting multiple students on the same network in a training institution

[shinejeies]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Question

💬 Feature/Topic Area

Other

Body

Hello,
I am an instructor at a vocational training institution in South Korea, and we use GitHub for web development classes.
We have approximately 15 students, each using a separate computer but connected to the same institutional network.
Yesterday, while the students were creating their GitHub accounts during class, many of them started receiving the following error:
“Too many requests – You have exceeded a secondary rate limit.”
Because of this issue, we stopped the registration process and asked the students to complete their account registration individually.
However, when we tried again today, many students are still seeing the same error even when they are simply trying to sign in to their existing GitHub accounts.
Interestingly, my own GitHub account works normally on the same network, while many of the students continue to receive the secondary rate limit error.
Our environment is:

• Approximately 15 students
• Separate computers for each student
• Same institutional network
• Public IP address: available upon request
• Location: South Korea
• The issue has continued for two consecutive days
  Since all students are accessing GitHub from the same network for legitimate educational purposes, we are wondering whether the shared network or the pattern of multiple new accounts accessing GitHub from the same location may be triggering the secondary rate limit.
  This issue is currently preventing us from conducting our GitHub-based classes.
  Could you please advise us on the following?

1. Could our network currently be subject to a secondary rate limit or other restriction?
2. Is there a recommended way for a classroom of approximately 15 students to access GitHub from the same network without triggering this restriction?
3. Is there anything we can do to have the current restriction reviewed or resolved?
   I can provide our public IP address or any additional information privately if needed.
   Thank you for your help.

[FrMahon]

do you have any VPNs or proxies ?

[shinejeies]

We are not intentionally using any VPN or proxy on the student computers. As far as I know, all computers are connected to the institution's network and share the same public IP address.

[ibu-cyx0]

Hi @shinejeies,

This looks like an automated, IP-based secondary rate limit. I can't see GitHub's internal systems, so I can't confirm it, but here is my read on your three questions.

1. Could your network be restricted?
   Very likely. Secondary rate limits are triggered by request patterns, not just volume. About 15 new accounts being created and signed in from one public IP in a short window looks like automated signup activity. Your own account works because it's established and has a normal usage history, while new or recently created accounts on the same IP are more likely to be throttled.

2. How can a class of ~15 use GitHub from one network?

Stagger sign-ups instead of having everyone register at once (a few at a time, minutes apart).
Don't retry repeatedly. Refreshing or resubmitting after the error can extend the restriction. Wait the full period (up to an hour, sometimes longer).
Have students create accounts beforehand from other networks (home, mobile data) and verify their email addresses before class.
Once signed in, stay signed in. Repeated logins and logouts from the same IP add to the pattern.
Avoid scripts, bulk cloning, or automated tools from the shared network during the first sessions.
Consider applying for GitHub Education as a teacher, which offers classroom tooling and a direct support channel.

3. Can the restriction be reviewed?
   Community members can't lift it. Please open a ticket at https://github.com/proxy/support.github.com/contact with:

Your institution's public IP address
The dates and times (with timezone) the errors started
A screenshot of the "Too many requests" page
The number of students and the educational purpose

If it's still happening after 24 hours without retries, that ticket is the way to get it reviewed.

Hope this helps!

[Fanxy13]

One thing I would add is that I would avoid testing the limit by repeatedly refreshing or trying to sign in again.

Since all students share the same public IP, even if each computer has a different local IP, GitHub can still see the traffic coming from the same external address. I would let the students create and verify their accounts before the class, preferably from their home/mobile networks, and then use GitHub normally during class.

For the current situation, I would stop the login attempts for a while rather than having everyone keep retrying. If the problem still happens after the network has been idle for a longer period, contacting GitHub Support with the public IP, timestamps and screenshots would probably be the best next step.