The error (ERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVED) indicates that your computer requested the IP address for your subdomain from the Domain Name System, or DNS, and didn’t obtain a helpful result. In essence, the error occurs because your browser recognizes the name of the webpage you are attempting to access, but not its physical location. On free subdomain pages, the error is not usually related to the pages themselves, but can be the result of caching, ISP blocking, the temporary unavailability of the domain, or having the subdomain deleted because the account is suspended.
Step 1: Isolate the Issue
Before you go ahead and modify anything, it is important that you determine whether this is an issue with your present Internet connection or not. Open the URL using mobile data, disabling Wi-Fi, and open it in Incognito/Private browsing mode. A successful fetch of the webpage using mobile data but not with Wi-Fi is an unmistakable indicator that the webpage is being blocked either due to a stale DNS cache in your router or an ISP filter. Check whether other sites with the same parent domain (such as other sites with the *.unaux.com domain) are being fetched or whether there is an issue with the entire platform, which is probably experiencing a DNS hiccup.
Common Causes on Free Platforms
Follower-subdomains may cease to function due to various reasons, including:
- Stale DNS Cache: Your ISP or router has records of an “empty” result for your domain from before, and they’re not searching for the new result yet.
- ISP Filtering: Certain Internet service providers will filter out domains associated with “free hosting.” These are meant to be security or parental control software blocks.
- Account Suspension: If your hosting service has deactivated your account, it has likely removed the DNS record for your subdomain, so it becomes “invisible” on the internet.
- Network Interception: VPNs or “Secure DNS” settings in browsers, or aggressive antiviruses, can sometimes intercept and not resolve specific free domains.
- Recent Changes: If you recently added or recreated the subdomain, the DNS records might not have had time to propagate around the world yet.
Quick Fixes
To resolve the error, try these steps in order:
1. Change DNS: Configure your computer or router to rely on an independent public DNS service such as Cloudflare’s DNS service at 1.1.1.1 or Google’s at 8.8.8.8. This substitutes the possibly filtered or outdated
2. Flush Your Cache: Get rid of the cache of old information currently stored on your computer. For a Windows computer, you can go to the “Command Prompt” and type “ipconfig /flushdns.” For Chrome, go to “chrome://net-internals/#dns” and click “Clear host cache.”
3. Power Cycle: This entails turning your router off for 30 seconds and then turning it back on to establish a new connection with your ISP.
4. Check Account Status: Check the status of your hosting account to confirm that it has not been suspended. Your account may take a few hours to update on the global DNS if it was restored recently.
Long-Term Solution
If you discover that your ISP is repeatedly blocking free subdomains, or you find that the resolution is not reliable, the most reliable way forward is with a custom domain (such as .com or .net). The process of linking your custom domain to your hosting, and then perhaps using Cloudflare to handle this, is far more reliable than the existing DNS issues with free shared domains.