Why does our website only work with its internal IP?
Websites often load correctly when accessed via an internal IP address from inside the network, but fail to load when using the domain name or DNS entry. This blocks internal users from accessing the site using its normal URL while inside the building.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Accessing the website using its internal IP address directly instead of the domain name
- 2Removing the internal DNS entry and letting it resolve the external address only
- 3Choosing a small variation of the domain name
- 4Using something completely different for the domain
- 5Grabbing the domain sooner rather than later
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Also, any tips on how to navigate the .com domain being taken?”source ↗
“If you're pretty confident about the name, I'd grab the domain sooner rather than later. We've seen plenty of people wait until they're ready to launch, only to find the domain got registered by someone else. And if the exact .com is taken, don't force it. Sometimes a small variation that's easy to remember is better than paying a premium for a domain you don't really need.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 5Why are websites and APIs suddenly unreachable?
- 2Why does DNS stop working across the domain after an update?
- 2What to do when your dot com domain is taken or parked
- 5Why is my website silently blocked without any notification?
- 2How to manage internal DNS without running a domain controller
- 2KB5124008 breaking domain trust?