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Tell HN: 1.1.1.1 appears to be down

135 points Wingy | 1 comments | 14 Jul 25 22:04 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source

Cloudflare's DNS server doesn't appear to be working.

    6:03PM storm ~ % ping 1.1.1.1
    PING 1.1.1.1 (1.1.1.1) 56(84) bytes of data.
    ^C
    --- 1.1.1.1 ping statistics ---
    4 packets transmitted, 0 received, 100% packet loss, time 3103ms
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gerdesj ◴[14 Jul 25 22:34 UTC] No.44566083[source]▶
DNS shouldn't be tested with ICMP. Try dig or nslookup instead. ICMP echo request/reply may help to decide reachability and nothing more.

This is a reasonable test of the DNS service on 1.1.1.1:

  $ dig @1.1.1.1 www.cloudflare.com A

  ; <<>> DiG 9.20.4-3ubuntu1.1-Ubuntu <<>> @1.1.1.1 www.cloudflare.com A
  ; (1 server found)
  ;; global options: +cmd
  ;; Got answer:
  ;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 34112
  ;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 2, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 1

  ;; OPT PSEUDOSECTION:
  ; EDNS: version: 0, flags:; udp: 1232
  ;; QUESTION SECTION:
  ;www.cloudflare.com.            IN      A

  ;; ANSWER SECTION:
  www.cloudflare.com.     36      IN      A       104.16.123.96
  www.cloudflare.com.     36      IN      A       104.16.124.96

  ;; Query time: 39 msec
  ;; SERVER: 1.1.1.1#53(1.1.1.1) (UDP)
  ;; WHEN: Mon Jul 14 23:32:57 BST 2025
  ;; MSG SIZE  rcvd: 79
[EDIT]:

  $ ping 1.1.1.1
  PING 1.1.1.1 (1.1.1.1) 56(84) bytes of data.
  From 141.101.70.116 icmp_seq=1 Time to live exceeded
  64 bytes from 1.1.1.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=50 time=126 ms
So ping fails a bit (and then works - firewall) but DNS works.

The service required is DNS not ping. Test the service.

replies(5): >>44566125 #>>44566149 #>>44566199 #>>44566279 #>>44566284 #
indigodaddy ◴[14 Jul 25 22:47 UTC] No.44566199[source]▶
By using ping or MTR, they are testing general connectivity to an endpoint, doesn't matter what service is in play. For example, if you are getting significant packet loss on the endpoint itself in the output of an MTR, then that IS indicative of a network/route/connectivity problem, somewhere along the route (could still be an endpoint issue but definitely not always). The service in question doesn't matter much at that point. Whether the service itself is healthy or not, you are still troubleshooting the overarching issue presented by the bad ping/MTR.
replies(2): >>44566296 #>>44566803 #
op00to ◴[15 Jul 25 00:44 UTC] No.44566803[source]▶
No, ping can be deprioritized while actual interesting packets pass through with much less latency.
replies(2): >>44567000 #>>44568423 #
1. indigodaddy ◴[15 Jul 25 01:23 UTC] No.44567000[source]▶
Sure, but if ping is not blocked at the endpoint, and there is not insignificant packet loss directly at the endpoint, then that demonstrates a network issue that needs to be looked at.