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Visiting my site results in error ERR_NAME_RESOLUTION_FAILED or This Site Cant be Reached Print

  • 3

Problem Description

Visiting a URL hosted with us results in the browser indicating one of the following:

  • Firefox: "Hmm. We’re having trouble finding that site."
  • Chrome: "This Site Can't be Reached" with error DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN or ERR_NAME_RESOLUTION_FAILED
  • You've made changes to your DNS records or Name Servers for your domain, but you don't yet see those changes live
  • Checking for those changes on another network connection might show the changes are live there, or checking that the changes are live using a propagation testing tool like whatsmydns.net shows successful globally or in most locations, yet your computer still isn't seeing those changes

Head to https://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/ and type in the same URL you were trying to access. If it says it's up, then the issue is just you and you'll likely find that issue resolution 3 or 4 will work for you. If it says it's down, then issue resolution 1 or 2 below should take care of the problem.

Problem Resolution

This indicates that there's a DNS problem. There are a number of possible causes and solutions.

  1. Your domain registration's name servers are not set to the correct values. To fix this, grab the correct name servers from your Websavers Account and set them at the registrar for your domain. The name servers to use with our hosting differ depending on which server you're hosted upon. You'll find the correct ones listed in the Websavers Client Centre under your hosting plan's settings page.
  2. You have updated your name servers at the domain registrar, but they haven't taken effect yet. If it has been longer than 24 hours, log in to your domain name registrar's control panel and make sure your Name Servers are set correctly. If they show as having been changed in the registrar control panel, but the live WHOIS records still don't show them updated after a few hours, contact the domain registrar for assistance - only they can resolve this.
  3. DNS hosting is disabled in the web hosting control panel. To fix this, log in to Plesk, choose Websites & Domains > Select the domain you're having trouble accessing > DNS Settings and check to ensure it's enabled there. If it's not, you'll see a button called "Enable" in the upper left corner - click that to enable DNS hosting.
  4. You've made some changes to your DNS or domain registration and haven't waited long enough for them to propagate. Propagation of changes can take up to 48 hours to complete globally. To fix this, simply wait out the changes OR see below to learn how to change your computer's DNS settings to make this faster.
  5. There's a DNS server cache that's not updating properly somewhere on your Internet connection. This could be your computer, your router or modem, or your Internet service provider. To fix this, see below to learn how to change your computer's DNS settings to make this faster.
  6. You have a HOSTS file override on your computer: this means your computer will never successfully see these changes until the HOSTS file override is removed. We don't have a specific guide to help with this, but we do have a guide that shows you how to find and edit your hosts file here (scroll to Option 3). Rather than adding to the hosts file like that guide describes, you'll be looking for one or more existing line in the file that contains the website/domain in question and removing them.

How to change your computer's DNS servers

If you've reached this section, then it's because one of the devices on your network has a very aggressive DNS cache. In these instances the first thing to try is rebooting your computer. If that doesn't solve it, power cycle your router or modem or both. If that doesn't solve it, then you can work around the issue by configuring your computer's network connection to bypass the layers of possible DNS caches, and go directly to a fast-updating DNS provider, like CloudFlare DNS or Google Public DNS. These providers have directions to help you set this up here:


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