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The fastest reliable check is layered: verify the hostname, request the page with curl, and compare from another network or location. A browser error alone cannot tell you whether the website is down for everyone, or whether your DNS resolver, device, ISP, route, certificate, or browser is failing.
What “available” actually means
Website availability has several layers. A hostname can resolve in DNS while the web server is unreachable. A server can accept an HTTPS connection but return an application error. A page can work from one country and fail from another. Decide which question you need answered:
- Does the hostname resolve? DNS translated the name, such as
example.com, into an address. - Can an HTTPS connection be established? Your device reached a server or intermediary and completed (or failed) TLS negotiation.
- Did the server return the expected HTTP response? A status code, redirect, headers and response time reveal what the web-facing system did.
- Does the page work from this network or location? Local resolvers, firewalls, routes and regional controls can produce a failure that is not global.
Cloudflare documents browser messages including “This site can’t be reached,” “This webpage is not available,” “err_name_not_resolved” and “Can’t find the server.” Those messages identify a symptom, not the cause.
Check the URL and hostname first
- Read the address character by character. A misspelling can create a different hostname or one with no DNS record.
- Check whether the site uses the apex name (
example.com) or a subdomain (www.example.com,app.example.com). DNS and web configuration may exist for one but not the other. - Try the exact page again in a private window or a second browser. This separates some extension, cookie and cached-page problems from network failures.
If only one hostname fails, do not label the entire website offline. The apex and www names can have different records, certificates or redirect rules.
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Use an independent browser and network
Open the URL on a different device, then—if practical—switch from home Wi-Fi to mobile data. A page that works on mobile data but not Wi-Fi points toward the local network, its DNS resolver or the route used by the ISP; it does not identify which one.
- If every device on one Wi-Fi connection fails but mobile data works, investigate that connection and resolver.
- If one browser fails while another works, inspect extensions, proxy settings, cached data and browser security errors.
- If several unrelated networks fail, an outage at the site or its upstream provider becomes more plausible, although regional blocking or routing can still be involved.
Test the actual HTTP request with curl
A browser includes scripts, extensions, stored state and user-interface behavior. Cloudflare recommends curl when you need to test without browser interference, inspect headers, measure timing or distinguish an edge proxy from an origin server. Run:
curl -svo /dev/null https://example.com/Replace the URL with the exact page. In the verbose output, check these stages in order:
DNS lookup and connection
Confirm that the hostname resolves and that a TCP connection is attempted. A resolution error is a DNS problem until proven otherwise; it is not evidence that the application server is powered off.
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TLS certificate negotiation
For HTTPS, look for certificate validation errors, an unexpected certificate name or a failed handshake. Causes include an expired or misconfigured certificate, a proxy inspecting traffic, a firewall, or a route that never reaches the intended endpoint.
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HTTP status and redirects
Record the status code and the final destination. A successful connection that returns 404, 403, 429 or 5xx means a web-facing server or intermediary answered; it does not mean the requested page is healthy. Redirects can also expose a wrong hostname, an HTTP-to-HTTPS loop or an unexpected login page.
Response time
Separate a quick error from a timeout or very slow response. A delayed response may indicate an overloaded origin, a network path problem or a dependency that the application is waiting for.
Interpret the result by failure layer
| Observed result | What it establishes | Next action |
|---|---|---|
| Hostname does not resolve | The name-to-address lookup failed for your resolver. | Check spelling, apex versus subdomain, DNS records, nameservers, DNSSEC configuration and cached negative answers. A recently added record may not appear immediately. |
| DNS resolves, but connection times out | Your request did not complete a connection in the allowed time. | Investigate routing, firewall rules, filtering and the network path; compare another connection. |
| TLS fails | The HTTPS session could not be validated or negotiated. | Inspect certificate names and validity, proxy behavior and the route to the endpoint. |
| An HTTP 4xx or 5xx arrives | A server or intermediary received the request and returned a response. | Interpret the application, access-control, rate-limit or proxy error. The site is reachable at HTTP level, but the requested function may be unavailable. |
| Works elsewhere but not here | The failure is location-, resolver-, ISP- or route-specific, or the site applies regional policy. | Compare DNS and network paths from the failing and working locations. |
| Ping fails | Only ICMP-style diagnostic traffic failed. | Test HTTP/HTTPS instead. Providers can limit ping and networks can filter it. |
Investigate DNS failures without blaming the web server
Common DNS causes include a misspelled hostname, missing or incorrect records, nameserver delegation errors, DNSSEC problems, a client-side resolver outage and negative caching. If an operator has just created a record, a resolver may retain the earlier “does not exist” answer until its cache expires.
Compare the same hostname using another connection or resolver, and verify whether the apex and subdomain are configured independently. If the name resolves from one network but not another, focus on resolver and caching differences before escalating a server outage.
Trace a slow or unreachable route
When curl shows a timeout or unusual delay, use path diagnostics:
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- Traceroute displays the hops and observed latency toward the destination.
- MTR repeatedly observes the path and can reveal latency or packet loss patterns.
These tools diagnose the route, not the application. A hop that does not answer may simply filter diagnostic packets, and apparent loss at an intermediate hop may not affect the final destination. Treat the results as clues and compare them with an HTTP request.
Compare independent locations and provider status
An external monitoring location or a second Internet connection helps distinguish a local failure from a regional or global one. If a named provider—such as a DNS, CDN or hosting service—is involved, consult its official status page. Cloudflare’s Status API documentation describes endpoints for page summaries, components, incidents and maintenance. Such a provider page reports that provider’s systems; it is not a direct availability test for every customer website.
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For site owners: turn a one-time check into monitoring
If you operate the website, recurring checks are more useful than repeatedly testing by hand. Cloudflare Health Checks documentation describes monitoring origins or applications from its edge network, selecting protocols and paths, defining expected response codes and intervals, and receiving notifications. Availability depends on the plan. Configure checks against a meaningful path—not only a static asset—and define which status codes represent success for your application.
- Monitor the public hostname users actually visit.
- Choose an interval that matches how quickly you need to detect an incident.
- Alert on sustained failures rather than a single transient timeout when your tool supports that policy.
- Keep an independent check so an outage at the monitoring provider does not look like an outage at your site.
Common problems and fixes
“Name not resolved” or “Can’t find the server”
Confirm spelling and the intended subdomain. Check DNS records, nameserver delegation and DNSSEC. Try another resolver or network to identify a local cache problem. Do not conclude that the origin web server is down until the name resolves.
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The request hangs until it times out
Test the same URL from another network. Use traceroute or MTR to look for a route issue, and check firewall or proxy policies on the failing network. A timeout supplies less evidence than an HTTP error because no web response was received.
curl reports a certificate error
Read the certificate name and validity details in the verbose output. Check whether you reached the correct hostname, whether a corporate proxy is intercepting TLS, and whether the site’s certificate covers the apex and subdomain you used. Avoid disabling certificate verification as a “fix”; it removes an important security check.
The server returns 403, 429 or a CAPTCHA
The endpoint is reachable, but access controls, rate limits, bot protection or authentication are affecting the request. Compare a normal browser request with curl, and test only with authorization. A blocked automated request is not the same as a globally unavailable website.
The page loads but key content is missing
HTTP success proves that a response arrived, not that client-side scripts, APIs or images succeeded. Inspect the browser’s network errors and test the affected dependency separately. A clean document response can coexist with an unhealthy application feature.
It works on mobile data but not Wi-Fi
Focus on the Wi-Fi network’s resolver, firewall, proxy and route. Restarting a router may clear a local cache, but compare results before and after so you know which layer changed.
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Or skip the browser setup
ScreenshotNeo makes a one-request screenshot or PDF check when you need visual evidence from a clean page. Before capture it accepts cookie or consent banners and removes more than 60 known consent platforms, newsletter popups and chat widgets; each cleanup step can be disabled. Bot checks or CAPTCHAs, blank pages, timeouts, failed loads and cache hits are not billed, and the response identifies the page verdict and billing result in X-Page-Verdict and X-Billed headers. It is useful evidence of what a page rendered, but a screenshot cannot replace DNS, TLS or route diagnostics.
cURL
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open("shot.webp", "wb").write(r.content)Node.js
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A compact decision sequence
- Confirm the exact hostname and page.
- Try a second browser and another network.
- Run
curl -svo /dev/null URLand record DNS, TLS, status, redirects and timing. - If DNS fails, investigate records, delegation, DNSSEC, resolver behavior and caching.
- If connection or TLS fails, investigate route, filtering, firewall and certificate configuration.
- If HTTP responds, interpret the status and application behavior rather than calling the site “down.”
- Use path and location comparisons to identify local, regional or provider-specific failures.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a 200 status code prove that a website is fully available?
No. It proves that an HTTP response with status 200 arrived. JavaScript, API calls, images, authentication and other page functions can still fail.
Can I use ping to check a website?
Ping is not a reliable website test by itself. Hosts and networks may limit or filter it, so test the web protocol with HTTPS and inspect the HTTP result.
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Record the exact URL, time and timezone, network and location, browser result, curl output, status code, redirect destination and whether another network succeeded.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
