503 Error When Not Behind VPN

#1

Summary:
I can’t access my Wordpress site and receive a 503 error when I’m not behind a VPN/on a different network. All my other DH sites work fine from the home network. There was a mod_security .htaccess workaround which is no longer viable (Dreamhost disabled it). Any other ideas?

The Gory Details:
After not being able to load http://insurance-geek.com/ (Wordpress), I decided to re-install via a Duplicator backup. However, I couldn’t get passed the first or second step with any of the backups I made in the last year, and everything was slow. I spent the better part of Monday afternoon on it, when suddenly, I got a 503 (Service Temporarily Unavailable | The server is temporarily unable to service your request due to maintenance downtime or capacity problems. Please try again later.).

Across browsers and with emptied caches, I could not access even a test index.html… until I tried accessing the site from my mobile phone/network. Voila! There was the test page, and I could access the Duplicator installer again. So I tested via VPN on my desktop with success, and I finished the re-install.

I could probably move on now, but I’d really like to be able to do this without needing VPN for a single site. It also still intermittently goes down when I test at isup.me.

Based on research here and elsewhere, I’ve tried:

  • disabling mod_security via Extra Web Security in the Dashboard
  • disabling pagespeed in the Dashboard
  • modifying .htaccess

The last was most promising since it specifically addressed my IP address, but it appears this setting was disabled by Dreamhost in April (see previous link).

I’ve contacted Support, but it’s become clear that they aren’t really reading the ticket, and we’re at the point where they are saying there’s no issue and it’s my problem.

Anyone have any ideas of how to proceed? Depending on VPN to access this single site (vs the others on the same account) seems wonky to me.

#2

This issue amazes me. Your site is blocking you as an owner but I myself can open it. I just tried earlier and it loads fine. Just to isolate the issue, can you comment out all the lines at htaccess and see if it let’s you in? This is so that you will be in the right direction on checking what’s going on.

#3

Aloha Peleus, thanks for the response. I commented out everything in the htaccess with the same result-- 503, Service Temporarily Unavailable. Do you have any other ideas? Now some of my other sites on the same account are getting the same error but others are not; this was not the case the other day.

Working for me:
http://rightsized.net
http://charityk.com/
http://buffalowelding.net/

Not working (besides http://insurance-geek.com):
http://demo.rightsized.net/buffalowelding
http://demo.rightsized.net/buffalowelding2
http://demo.rightsized.net/hwga/

Scouring the Internets for answers with little success.

#4

I can definitely confirm it’s my IP address. Took my router out of the mix and connected directly to the modem with a laptop to get a new dynamic IP from my ISP (Comcast) and voila! I could see the site. Problem is multi-fold at this point:

  • I need my wireless router
  • I would like to avoid getting a new router just so I can get a different IP from Comcast to access the affected sites
  • It’s difficult to get a new dynamic IP from Comcast in the current setup without disconnecting for several days (not an option as I work from home)

I’m trying to keep my sites here at DH, but this is getting ridiculous. Seems obvious that I’m being blocked from the server somehow and there should be a way to whitelist me or something. I’ve tried what I could from my end and now just hoping for a miracle (read: fix) from Support.

#5

Drop me an email using the button below this post and I’ll tell you something I won’t post publically (it’s about Comcast, not dreamhost). I would have emailed you that same way, but the email button isn’t showing up for you.

#6

Thanks! E-mail sent.

#8

f the issue is indeed temporary, reloading the web page a few times might resolve the issue automatically. You can do this easily by right-clicking anywhere on the page and selecting Reload.
Warning: If you encounter the 503 Service Unavailable error while making a purchase, do not reload the page, because you might end up making multiple orders. Most big e-commerce websites have protection against this type of issue, but if you’re shopping from a small site, you might not be so lucky.

ShowBox Mobdro

#9

Warning: If you encounter the 503 Service Unavailable error while making a purchase, do not reload the page, because you might end up making multiple orders.
Thanks & Regards,
James

#10

Hii, I’m still having this issue, can you suggest some other alternative way? I’ll be very helpful.

See: https://freeaccountsonline.com/free-upstore-premium-account/

#11

tried your described method still not be able to solve my problem on my website.
You can check the error here, https://gmail-helps.org/gmail-login/ and let me know! I am also finding error solutions on the internet!

#13

503 Error meaning that the problem is usually with the website’s server or host. It’s possible that your computer is having some kind of problem that’s causing the 503 error but it’s not likely and not because of the browser. Try reloading the page and connect your computer to another wifi or internet connection as a primary fix.
Regards,
GHD Sports TV

#15
#16

HTTP Error 503 (Service Unavailable) on landing page is due to heavy traffic on that page or maybe server issue, if we can reload the page it will sort out…!!

redbox tv cloud tv

#17

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