How to read the result
We send one GET request to the address, follow up to 5 redirects, and wait up to 10 seconds. Up means the last answer had a 2xx or 3xx status code. Down means a 4xx or 5xx code, or no valid answer at all.
The response time is the full request: DNS, connection, TLS and the server's answer. Under 500 ms is fine for most sites. Several seconds usually means an overloaded server or a slow database query behind the page.
If the site works for you but is down here, the problem is often between: a firewall that blocks some countries, a CDN rule, or a DNS change that has not reached every resolver yet.
The usual causes
When a site goes down, it is almost always one of these four:
- DNS: the domain expired, or a record points to an old server. The checker then says the name does not resolve.
- An expired certificate: browsers refuse the page. The certificate line above shows how many days are left.
- A firewall or a CDN rule that drops the request. The check times out instead of getting an answer.
- The server or the application is down: a 502, 503 or 504 from the proxy in front of it, or a 500 from the application.
Questions
Is the site down for everyone or just me?
If this checker gets an answer, the site is up from the internet, and the problem is on your side: your network, your DNS resolver or a browser extension. If the checker fails too, the site is down for others as well.
Do you store the address I check?
No. The check runs once and nothing is saved. A result is kept in memory for 60 seconds so that a refresh does not hit the site again.
How do I know the next time my site goes down?
Monitor it. SolidPing runs the same check every minute and alerts you by email, Slack, SMS or one of its other notification channels. The free plan covers 100 monitors.