Website works for you but not for some visitors
How to tell a problem on the server from a problem with DNS or an internet provider.
You or some of your visitors cannot open the website (it times out, shows a DNS error or an old version), while it works for everyone else. Before looking for a fault in the application, find out where the problem is.
Test the website from other places
Check it from around the world
Enter the address of your website at check-host.net and run the HTTP check. It opens the website from many countries at once.
Read the result
If the website answers with 200 OK from most locations, the server and your application are working. The problem is on the network path of the affected visitor.
Try another network
Open the website on a phone using mobile data instead of Wi-Fi. If it works there, the first network is the cause.
The usual causes
An internet provider blocks or does not resolve the address
Some internet providers and public DNS resolvers in certain countries filter the free subdomains (for example runasp.net) or resolve them incorrectly. We have no control over the filtering done by a local provider.
- For yourself: switch the DNS server of your device or router to a public resolver such as
1.1.1.1or8.8.8.8. - For your visitors: run the website on your own domain. Own domains are not affected by blocks of the free subdomains.
- The affected visitor can also ask their provider why the address is blocked.
DNS has not updated yet
After changing name servers or DNS records, the new values spread gradually — up to 24 hours. During that time some visitors still reach the old server. Your own computer may also remember the old address; restarting the browser or flushing the DNS cache (ipconfig /flushdns on Windows) helps.
The domain still points to another server
If the response does not look like our hosting at all (a different error page, another provider's name in the response headers), the request is not reaching us. Check the A and CNAME records of the domain — see DNS settings for custom domains.
A firewall or antivirus on your side
Company networks, antivirus software and some routers block selected addresses or ports. Test from a different network to confirm it.
When it is the website
If the website fails from all locations, look at the error it returns:
- HTTP Error 500 – the application failed to start
- HTTP Error 403 – forbidden
- Website disabled by the security system
- Free website or database was archived
You can also check the service status page for a current outage or planned maintenance.