FAQ

Answers to the Frequently Asked Questions

I forgot my password. What should I do now?
After a failed attempt to log in, a message with a link to reset the password will appear. Click on that link and enter your email address, the same one you used when registering in the system. A message will be sent to that address with a link resetting the password. Click on the resetting link and then, enter a new password twice. Done.

Why three monitorng servers?
Sometimes ISP connection failures occur, as a result of which only some Internet users have no access to a particular website. We do not treat such situations as downtime of the monitored website. That is why – just to be on the safe side – we check availability from three different locations on the global Internet, and only unavailability on all three servers is treated as downtime.

Do I need more than one monitor?
Even if you have only one website, you could make use of multiple monitors, for example:
- one to monitor the availability (uptime)
- one to check if an online form works properly
- one to test your mailserver.

Why only three monitoring servers?
There is no need for a greater number of monitoring stations. Our servers are located on different continents (North America, Europe, Asia), operate within independent data centers and use various connections to the Internet. The probability of a false alarm is minimal.

What kinds of website failures can be detected?
There are four main symptoms of website availability problems:
1. Connection timeout, usually caused by:
a) network failure
b) server hardware failure
c) server software failure.
All the above can also be results of an overload - when web traffic exceeds the infrastructure capacity.
Our system reports a timeout when the three monitoring stations are unable to establish a connection to a website for more than 5 seconds.
2. Server or website misconfiguration, which results in an error message displayed instead of a website.
Most common http errors:
301 Moved permanently (not really an error, but a redirection)
302 Moved temporarily (as above)
400 Bad Request (the request cannot be fulfilled due to bad syntax)
401 Unauthorised (authentication failed)
403 Forbidden (usually when file or folder rights are set improperly)
404 Not Found (missing file or a folder)
500 Internal Server Error (a generic error message, given when no more specific message is suitable)
502 Bad Gateway (the server was acting as a gateway or proxy and received an invalid response from the upstream server)
503 Service Unavailable (usually the first stage of an overload, the second stage is connection timeout)
Our service recognizes and records all http error messages.
3. Wrong or missing page content, can be a result of:
a) database error
b) website functional error
c) human mistake.
Our monitors can be configured to search for a specified text string on the monitored page.
4. Website malfunction.
Our system is able to test simple online forms - even log in with a given username and password.
But more complex processes (i.e. e-commerce) require a dedicated monitoring solution.

Can availability tests disrupt the statistics on my website?
Professional statistics services – such as Google Analytics – ignore connections from our monitoring service. In the case of other tools, we recommend adding "website-monitoring" to the list of ignored UserAgents.

How to add another monitor?
Under the table with your monitors there is a form that allows you to enter the URL address of a new website to be monitored. Adding a new monitor might require upgrading to a higher subscription option.

Why do I only receive email alerts and not SMS alerts?
There are three possibilities for this:
1. You're using the service during a free trial period when we do not provide SMS notifications.
2. Your mobile phone number has been filled in incorrectly (the correct format is as follows: "CCXXXXXXXXX", where CC is your Country Code).
3. You used up your limit for SMS alerts. See below.

How do I increase the limit for SMS alerts?
On the list of your monitors there is a "add more" link, where you can order an SMS package.

Why is there a date next to the number of my SMS messages?
Every SMS package is valid for one year starting from date of purchase. Any unused messages will expire after that time. It is enough to just purchase another SMS package or extend the existing subscription by one year.

When and why do you add the VAT (Value Added Tax) to my order value?
Since we are a European Union based company, we have to add 23% Value Added Tax to all individual customers from the EU. EU companies which provide us with their VAT ID - as well as all non-EU residents - don't have to pay us the VAT.

How do I configure email filtering so that alerts are moved to a separate folder?
We suggest filtering according to the sender’s address, which is "system AT webite-monitoring.com".

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