How to identify and fix site connection issues with your Internet Service Provider (ISP).

If you can't access a specific URL, your Internet Service Provider (ISP) may be incorrectly blocking it. You can resolve this by changing your network settings or by contacting your provider directly.

Identify signs of a connection block

When your internet provider blocks a URL, your browser usually displays an error message instead of your site. Because the block happens at the network level, you may see messages like:

• "The connection for this site is not secure."
• “The connection was reset.”
• “This site can’t be reached.”
• “Your connection is not private.”
• "A branded page from your ISP stating the site is “unsafe” or “malicious”.

Confirm if your ISP is blocking a URL

To determine if the issue is specific to your network, access your site using a different connection, like your phone's cellular data. If your site loads on a different network, your primary internet provider is likely blocking the connection.

Contact your internet provider

If your site is still blocked, contact your internet provider's support team and ask them to unblock the URL. Report that the URL has been incorrectly classified as malicious.

To help your provider identify where the connection is failing, send them:

• A screenshot of the error messages, including the browser’s address bar.
• The results of a traceroute run on the blocked URL. 

We can't contact your internet provider on your behalf.

Unblock a blocked site or domain 

If your site is accessible on other networks but blocked by a specific ISP, the provider may have incorrectly flagged your domain as "malicious." These blocks are managed externally and are unrelated to your Squarespace settings. 

To ask your provider to unblock your site:

1. Contact your ISP, or the network security vendor that’s blocking your site, and file a false positive report. For a list of common network security vendors and their reporting links, visit the False Positive Center. This is an external resource not associated with Squarespace.
2. Submit the report as the site or domain owner. You must file this yourself because providers often require private account and ownership details that Squarespace can’t provide.
3. Complete any required verification forms and monitor the status of your request. Most providers review these within a few business days.

Add security exceptions or switch your DNS servers

Some internet providers use security measures that flag certain URLs as malicious. To get around this, add squarespace.com or the affected URL, like login.squarespace.com, as an exception in your provider's security portal or any local security software that’s running on your device. 

By default, your device uses DNS servers provided by your internet provider. If your provider has blocked a URL at the DNS level, try switching to a well-known public DNS server, such as Google Public DNS. Because these settings are managed outside of Squarespace, we can’t provide specific steps to locate them. For help finding these settings, contact your internet provider.

Note: Network changes fall outside the scope of our support. We can’t guarantee these changes will work with your specific network configuration or remain compatible after future platform or provider updates.