Fix: Add timeout to external IP address retrieval to prevent indefinite blocking

[mayank-quicksig]

Problem

The SmartConnect class contains module-level code that executes on import, making HTTP requests to api.ipify.org without a timeout. This causes several critical issues:

1. Indefinite blocking: When api.ipify.org experiences outages (which can last hours), the get() call blocks indefinitely waiting for a response
2. Import-time execution: Since this code runs at module level (outside __init__), it executes whenever the module is imported, even if the class is never instantiated
3. Cascade failures: Any application importing this module becomes unavailable during api.ipify.org outages, regardless of whether SmartConnect is actually used

Root Cause

# This runs at import time, not at class instantiation
clientPublicIp = " " + get('https://api.ipify.org').text  # timeout is missing

The requests.get() call lacks a timeout parameter, causing it to wait indefinitely for a response when the external service is unavailable.

Solution

Add a 5-second timeout to the get() request to ensure the import process completes within a reasonable timeframe, allowing dependent applications to continue functioning even when the external IP service is down.

Changes

• Added timeout=5 parameter to the requests.get() call
• No other functionality changes - the existing exception handling and fallback logic remain intact
• The 5-second timeout value was chosen to balance between allowing sufficient time for the request under normal conditions while preventing indefinite blocking

Code Changes

# Before
clientPublicIp = " " + get('https://api.ipify.org').text

# After  
clientPublicIp = " " + get('https://api.ipify.org', timeout=5).text

Testing

• Verified that normal IP retrieval continues to work with the timeout
• Confirmed that when the service is unavailable, the code now fails fast (within 5 seconds) and falls back to the hardcoded values as intended
• Tested import behavior - modules importing SmartConnect no longer hang indefinitely during service outages

Benefits

• Improved reliability: Applications importing this module will no longer experience indefinite hangs
• Faster failure recovery: 5-second timeout allows quick fallback to default IP addresses
• Backward compatibility: No breaking changes to existing functionality
• Production stability: Eliminates cascade failures during external service outages

Risk Assessment

Low Risk: This is a defensive change that only affects error scenarios. Normal operation is unchanged, and the existing exception handling ensures graceful degradation when the timeout is reached.

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Note: While this PR addresses the immediate blocking issue, consider refactoring the module-level execution in a future release to move IP retrieval into the class initialization or a lazy-loading pattern to further improve import performance and reliability.