How do you know for sure what’s happening?
Follow these guidelines and troubleshooting steps to understand where the issue lies. This will help tremendously in knowing if you need to call your ISP or if you simply need to wait for a website to come back online.
Side Note: If you find that a website, video, etc., is blocked permanently by your ISP or country, see this list of the cheapest VPN services to bypass the restriction.
1) Try a Few Other Websites
The first and easiest step is to see if the issue is isolated in terms of other websites. Google seems to be the path most take because it's usually never down. Try opening Google.com. If Google doesn't work, try a few others such as MSN.com or Apple.com.
If none of these other websites open as they should, then something is definitely wrong with your connection... go to Step 2.
If Google and the other websites do open, but the problem site still won't, go to Step 3.
2) What to Do When No Site Will Load
If you’ve tried a few well-known websites and none of them work, the issue either lies with your ISP or something going on at your own place like a browser or connectivity issue.
Before calling your service provider or following through in this article, just try restarting your computer. A restart is sometimes necessary to flush out problems like network connectivity issues.
After the reboot, open Command Prompt from the Start menu and enter the following:
ipconfig
You’re looking for the number next to IPv4 Address. This number should start with something like 10. or 192.
If this number starts with 169., go to Step 5.
If this number is normal, call your service provider. You can let them know you have a regular private IP address, which means you’re connected to the network. You can also tell them that the issue likely rests with them since no site will load, like the experiment you performed in Step 1.
3) What If Every Other Website Loads But One?
You’ve identified the problem still rests in that one original website that wouldn’t load. The most probable case at this point is that the website is down and there’s nothing you can do except wait for them to correct it. However, we should be certain by looking a little further.
The most common thing to do at this point is open ISUP.me. This site will check the domain from their own servers and tell you if it’s down from their location too.
Now open Command Prompt from the Start menu and try to ping the website. Use the same format as this except replace tnlplanet.com with the one in question:
ping tnlplanet.com
Enter this in to get a response. If you see replies like this, that means the website is actually up but for some reason you still can’t get to it.
Reply from 192.64.117.52: bytes=32 time=56ms TTL=49
Reply from 192.64.117.52: bytes=32 time=55ms TTL=49
Reply from 192.64.117.52: bytes=32 time=56ms TTL=49
Reply from 192.64.117.52: bytes=32 time=56ms TTL=49
If you get replies like this from the domain, go to Step 4.
If no reply is made and you instead get the following, the problem is most likely a server issue you can’t resolve.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
You must wait for the domain admins to correct this.
4) I Can Ping a Website But It Still Won’t Load
This can be tricky because although the website is up and responding, it won’t display as if it’s actually up and working. The first step is to see if maybe the actual page you’re on is the issue and not the actual domain. By this, I mean go to the website’s homepage and ensure that is actually down as well. This could just be a perceived idea of the site being down when really only one or a few pages are inaccessible.
Maybe an extension or add-on in your browser is not functioning properly and it’s conflicting with the website. Try a different browser. If you’re using Internet Explorer, open Opera, Safari, Firefox, or Chrome. You only need to interchange between these once to see if this is the problem.
If the problem persists and the site is down no matter the browser you use or page you try to access, the most probable case at this point is that the website is down; there’s nothing you can do except wait for them to correct it.
5) All Websites Are Down and I Don’t Have An IP Address
Thus far, no website works for you and doing an ipconfig from the Command Prompt indicates you can’t get a private IP.
Start by going back to the Command Prompt and entering the following:
ipconfig /release
Count to 10 and then enter this when the previous command looks to have completed:
ipconfig /renew
This will attempt to get you a regular IP address that can be used on the network. Try opening a few websites again like in Step 1.
If the websites still don’t load, try ipconfig like in Step 2. If you get the same IP address as the improper one (169.), open the Control Panel from the Start menu.
Search for Network and Sharing Center and click on the link. Choose to Change adapter settings from the left menu. Then, right-click the Local Area Connection if you’re on a wired network, and press Disable.
Wait 10-20 seconds and then right-click the connection once more and re-enable it.
Try opening a few websites again like in Step 1. If the websites still don’t load, call your service provider. You can let them know you cannot get a regular private IP address and therefore no website will load.
Final Thoughts on Why a Web Page Isn't Loading
These steps should help anyone have connectivity issues better identify where the problem may exist. This is important for a speedy resolution, as it's always important to know what, exactly, is the problem before determining the best solution.
If you still can't get to the website you want, or if all website are down from your computer or device, comment on this post or email me from your phone or a working computer.