A customer says they can't reach your website

Every so often a customer tells you your website will not load, while you and everyone else can open it fine. When it is just one person, the cause is nearly always something between their device and the internet, not your site.

The usual causes

• Internet provider security filters. Many home internet plans include a "security" feature that blocks sites it decides are risky. Spectrum Security Shield is a common example. Gun stores get caught by these more than most.
• A router or antivirus filter at home, or parental controls.
• A work, school or public network that blocks firearms sites.
• A browser extension that blocks content.

What to ask the customer

1. Try mobile data. Turn off Wi-Fi on their phone and open your site again.
2. If it loads on mobile data but not at home, the block is on their home connection. Usually it is their provider's security filter.
3. They can turn the filter off, or allow your site, in their internet provider's app or account settings, or in their router or antivirus settings.
4. If it does not load anywhere, ask them to try another browser or device, and send you a screenshot of the exact message they see.

A short reply you can adapt:

Sorry you are having trouble. The site is up for everyone else, so something on your connection may be blocking it. Could you try opening it on your phone with Wi-Fi turned off? If that works, your internet provider's security filter is the likely cause, and you can allow our site in their app or account settings.

We can check our side

If you want to be sure, email support@2adata.com with the customer's approximate time of the attempt and, if they can find it, their IP address (searching "what is my IP" shows it). We can confirm whether their connection reached the server at all. If it never arrived, the block is on their side.