GoDaddy hosting issue. Site times out from external networks but works when forcing IP
Posted by Altruistic_Ad377@reddit | sysadmin | View on Reddit | 17 comments
I’m dealing with a strange issue on shared hosting and wanted to check if anyone has seen something similar.
A WordPress site suddenly became inaccessible publicly without any relevant changes at that moment. This doesn’t look like a typical WordPress or plugin issue.
What we validated:
the domain resolves correctly to the expected IP
normal access to the domain times out
tested from multiple external networks
tested from different homes
tested from multiple phones using mobile data
tested from different devices and operating systems
same result everywhere
Technical checks:
normal curl to the domain times out
forcing the domain to the server IP using --resolve returns 200 OK
forcing HTTP to the IP returns a proper redirect to HTTPS
cPanel is accessible
At this point, the server, Apache and WordPress seem to be working on origin, but the domain is not reachable from the public Internet.
Support says the site loads from their side and suggested it could be an ISP issue, but this has already been tested across multiple independent networks and carriers.
From what I see, this looks more like a routing, edge or infrastructure issue rather than an application problem.
Has anyone experienced something similar recently with GoDaddy hosting?
MudDifficult2911@reddit
This is a pretty common issue with godaddy, i would recommend change your host.
Altruistic_Ad377@reddit (OP)
Issue resolved after ~24h, but the experience with support was poor.
From the first message I provided full technical context (DNS OK, traceroute reaching GoDaddy but dropping inside their network, curl timeouts externally). Despite that, first-line support repeatedly asked to clear cache, disable plugins via file manager, and test from other networks/devices. All of that had already been done.
The key point was simple: the site worked from their network but not from external networks. That clearly points to an infrastructure or routing issue, not WordPress. Instead of escalating early to infra, the case stayed stuck at level 1 across multiple agents, repeating the same questions.
After several interactions and insisting on escalation, the issue was finally fixed. The only explanation given was a “mitigation error” on their side, with no technical detail.
From my side, re-running the same terminal tests showed that traffic was no longer dropping inside GoDaddy, and the site started working immediately. No changes were made to the site itself.
Conclusion: • The problem was not in the application. • The diagnosis was clear from the beginning. • Escalation to infra should have happened much earlier.
Recommendation: If you have a similar case (works internally but not externally), push for escalation immediately. Otherwise, you risk losing hours repeating basic checks.
Not recommended for critical environments. Support tends to rely on scripts rather than technical analysis, and resolution depends on persistence more than efficiency.
upvotes2doge@reddit
Is there a Cloudflare proxy or GoDaddy's own CDN toggled on for the domain? What you're seeing, origin responding fine to --resolve but public requests timing out, is almost textbook for an edge/proxy layer that's broken or stuck. I'd check the GoDaddy panel for any "website firewall" or CDN options and try flipping them off temporarily to see if that clears it. If GoDaddy has Cloudflare bundled into their plans and it's misconfigured, that would explain the exact behavior you're describing.
Altruistic_Ad377@reddit (OP)
We’re not using Cloudflare or any CDN on this domain. There’s no proxy layer configured on our side. That’s why this points even more to something on GoDaddy’s side (edge/routing), since the origin responds correctly but public traffic never reaches it.
upvotes2doge@reddit
Good, that rules out the obvious culprit. Worth checking if GoDaddy has a "Website Security" product (Sucuri-based) enabled on the account, it can silently block external traffic without showing anything in DNS or your panel config. Also run a traceroute from an external network and see where the packets die. If you escalate to GoDaddy support, the
--resolveevidence is your strongest argument: origin is healthy, public routing is broken, something on their edge is dropping traffic.Altruistic_Ad377@reddit (OP)
DNS resolution is correct, the domain points to the expected IP.
Traceroute reaches GoDaddy’s network but the connection is lost within their infrastructure before reaching the final server.
Normal HTTP/HTTPS requests to the domain fail with a timeout and no connection is established.
Direct connection tests forcing the IP with the domain succeed, and the server responds correctly, confirming that WordPress and Apache are operational.
Connection attempts to ports 80 and 443 from external networks fail with a timeout, indicating that external traffic is not reaching the server.
Conclusion: the server is functioning properly, but external access to the domain is failing at the network or infrastructure level within GoDaddy.
u/godaddy Given the evidence, this needs escalation to a technical team, as first-line support has not been able to diagnose beyond basic checks.
Titus_Oates@reddit
rewrite .htaccess to something like .htaccess.old and retest
Altruistic_Ad377@reddit (OP)
Yes, DNS resolves correctly and the domain is set as the main domain in cPanel pointing to /public_html. I already renamed the plugins directory and .htaccess with no change. Given that forcing a direct connection to the server works but normal access times out from multiple external networks, this doesn’t seem to be a vhost or WordPress issue. It looks more like something in the hosting network (routing/edge) rather than configuration on my side.
stufforstuff@reddit
There are literally a Bazillion posts about the levels of suckitude that Godaddy is. Did you do ANY research before you signed up with them? Find a decent host - NOW.
flunky_the_majestic@reddit
I am not a fan of how rudely this language comes across, but this is accurate. Godaddy has the distinction of being one of the few companies so bad at hosting that they were fined by the government.
If a professional chooses Godaddy for hosting, it is generally considered to be an embarrassment.
stufforstuff@reddit
Who died and made you jr high school hall monitor?
newworldlife@reddit
This doesn’t look like WordPress at all.
If curl --resolve works but normal access times out, your origin is fine and traffic isn’t reaching it through the normal path.
I’ve seen this with bad edge routing or something broken in the host/CDN layer.
The 443 “connect but no load” is the giveaway.
I’d stop digging locally and push GoDaddy to trace traffic from their edge, not just say “it works for us.”
And yeah… this is the kind of thing that makes people leave GoDaddy
Papfox@reddit
Friends don't let friends use GoDaddy. They have an awful reputation. About the only people I would be less inclined to use would be Verisign, after they tried to my friend off by counting how many DNS hits his website got them emailed him, saying that his dimension was "popular" and they were going to massively increase his renewal price
techbloggingfool_com@reddit
It sounds like something is blocking. Test specific port connectivity 80, 443, etc. on both the public and private sides.
Altruistic_Ad377@reddit (OP)
Yes, already tested. Port 80 times out, while port 443 establishes a connection but the site still doesn’t load normally. Also, when forcing a direct connection to the server, it responds correctly. So it doesn’t look like a simple port issue, more like something in between blocking or misrouting external traffic.
Ken0r1988@reddit
Are you able to access it by using the IP address instead of the domain name?
Altruistic_Ad377@reddit (OP)
Accessing the site via IP does not work, which is normal for this type of hosting. However, when I test it from my computer’s terminal by forcing a direct connection to the server, the website responds correctly. This indicates that the site is working, but normal access to the domain is not reaching the server from external networks.