Overview
Sometimes, false negative downtime alerts can happen if your web hosting provider’s firewall blocks WP Umbrella from accessing your website. This guide will walk you through how to fix this issue quickly by contacting your hosting provider and ensuring WP Umbrella's monitoring IPs are allowed.
Estimated Time to Complete: 5 minutes
Prerequisites:
Access to your web hosting provider’s support
Ability to adjust firewall or security settings (or contact someone who can)
Steps to Follow
Step 1: Contact Your Hosting Provider
If your hosting provider’s firewall is blocking WP Umbrella, here’s a message you can send to their support team:
I’m using an uptime monitoring service called WP Umbrella, but it looks like your firewall is blocking their bot.
To fix this, could you please stop blocking WP Umbrella's bot? All the details are available here: https://wp-umbrella.com/communication-with-our-service/
I appreciate your help!
Copy and paste the above message when contacting your hosting provider.
Step 2: Whitelist WP Umbrella's IP Addresses
If you’re using a firewall or a service like Cloudflare, make sure that WP Umbrella’s IP addresses are whitelisted to prevent false downtime alerts:
Whitelist these IP addresses:
167.99.218.170/32
206.189.101.66/32 By adding these to your allowed list, WP Umbrella will be able to monitor your website without being blocked.
Common Issues & Troubleshooting
1. Why does WP Umbrella show my site as down when it's working fine?
Your hosting provider’s firewall may be blocking WP Umbrella’s monitoring bot, preventing it from confirming your site's status.
2. How do I know if my firewall or Cloudflare is blocking WP Umbrella?
If you’re receiving false downtime alerts and everything else looks fine, it’s likely that our IPs are being blocked.
3. Can I fix this myself, or do I need my hosting provider?
If you don’t have access to firewall settings, contact your hosting provider using the message provided above.
4. What if I don’t know how to whitelist IPs?
Reach out to our support team at support@wp-umbrella.com, and we'll help you through it!
5. Will whitelisting WP Umbrella compromise my site's security?
No, we only use these IPs to check your website’s status. They are safe to whitelist for monitoring purposes.
Final Thoughts
False downtime alerts can be frustrating, but they’re usually easy to fix with a quick chat with your hosting provider or a firewall adjustment. 
If you need help or have questions, don’t hesitate to contact us at support@wp-umbrella.com — we’re here to help! 