As a regular internet user, you might encounter problems that will hinder the normal functioning of the internet. One of the most annoying errors is the ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT error message. This error happens when your internet connection times out, preventing you from accessing a specific webpage. In most cases, this is caused by a poor internet connection that makes the target server take too long to respond. If you use a browser like Google Chrome, you may have already encountered this error.
In this article, we will help you fix the ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT error on your browser.
What is the ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT Error?
The ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT error is a way of the browser telling you that the system has taken too long to establish a connection with the server. To help you understand, here is how the internet works. When you type in a URL or search for a website, the system requests the server for it to access the website’s content.
The target server is supposed to respond within 30 seconds, after which the browser terminates the communication attempt. When this happens, that’s when you’ll receive the ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT error.
It would help if you kept in mind that this error can present in various ways due to the differences in web browsers, OS, and servers.
Some of the causes of the ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT error include:
- Service timeouts when your device waits too long to receive a response from the server.
- Disconnection from ISP when you fail to insert the ISP cable into the WAN port of your modem or router.
- Non-existing timeouts when you try connecting to a non-existent server.
- Network infrastructure overload when your request passes through numerous checkpoints before reaching the server.
- Inability to communicate data when the server fails to send data to your PC
- Your PC or Router blocks the website due to firewall and router Access Control settings
When this error occurs, the problem is that the error page does not offer much helpful information that can help you solve the issue. Luckily, you can take various troubleshooting steps to eliminate this error. Read on to learn how you can fix the ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT error when it happens.
Now, let’s look at the various ways to fix the ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT error. They include:
1. Restart your internet connection
In most cases, you’ll receive an ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT error due to a poor internet connection. When your internet connection is slow, it is difficult for a browser to communicate with the server. When you receive this error, your browser will recommend checking your internet connection.
Therefore, you should ensure that you have a good network connection. You should also ensure that the hardware components are correctly connected to your computer. If you’re using a wireless connection, you can test to see if it works on other devices. If you’re still receiving this error, you can try the following.
- Restart your router: You can power cycle your router by disconnecting it from the power supply, waiting for a few minutes, and reconnecting it.
- Connect to another network: If you’re on a bad or slow wi-fi connection, you can switch to a faster network connection.
However, if there is no problem with your internet connection, other factors may play. You can try any of the other methods listed below.
2. Disable your Firewall and Antivirus software
Security programs like Firewalls and Antiviruses help protect your computer by blocking malicious activities and programs. Therefore, your Firewall and Antivirus could block certain websites by mistaking them for security threats. Consequently, you can fix the ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT error by temporarily disabling your Firewall and Antivirus software.
Even though Firewall and Antivirus are meant to block suspicious activities, they may sometimes block pages or entirely safe content. If you’re sure you are visiting a legit site, you can disable them to see if it removes this error. Given how vital your Firewall or Antivirus software is, you should re-enable it to ensure your system is not vulnerable to attacks.
3. Disable Proxy Server Settings or VPN
Proxy services allow you to go online without exposing your IP address by filtering the communication between your computer and the servers. However, a proxy server could mistakenly block the website you’re trying to access, causing the ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT error.
The web servers might reject the request from the proxy server due to poor configurations or other errors. Therefore, it is advisable to check the proxy server settings or disable the proxy temporarily and check whether the error is fixed or not. You can check whether proxy servers are causing the error by:
For Windows
Step 1: Tap on the Windows logo key and go to the Control Panel. Select Network and Internet and click on Internet Options from the drop-down menu
Step 2: Open the Connections tab.
Step 3: In the Internet Properties window, click on LAN settings.
Step 4: You should ensure that all the proxy settings are unticked.
For Mac
Step 1: In the System, Preferences Network, click on Advance.
Step 2: Uncheck each item on the Proxies tab and then click OK
Step 3: You can then refresh the page to see if the error is fixed.
If disabling the proxy servers fixes the problem, you should reconfigure your proxy settings or use a different hosting provider.
This error is also experienced by those using VPN services. If that’s the case, you should switch your VPN protocols to prevent conflicts with your ISP or firewall.
4. Clear browser cache and browsing data
Browsers store information in a cache on your computer to help improve your experience. However, cache data, like cookies and browser history, can prevent your computer from communicating effectively with the target server. Therefore, you can fix this error by clearing your browser data or the cache memory.
Remember that this will delete your browsing history, saved login data, and cookies. Therefore, your web pages will take longer to load when you visit them. How to clear browser cache and browsing data varies based on your web browser.
How to clear cache in Google Chrome
Step 1: Click the three dots icon in the top right corner
Step 2: Click on More Tools
Step 3: Select Clear Browsing Data
Step 4: You can then select either to clear the Browsing history, Cookies, and other site data or Cached images and files
Step 5: You can then click the Clear Data button
How to clear cache in Mozilla Firefox
Step 1: Open Mozilla Firefox and click on the Hamburger icon in the upper right corner.
Step 2: Select History from the drop-down menu
Step 3: Then select Clear Recent History.
Step 4: You can then choose Everything from the time period to the clear drop-down menu
Step 5: Click on the Clear Now button.
How to clear cache for Microsoft Edge
Step 1: Go to the three Dots icon in the top right corner
Step 2: Click on the setting at the bottom of the screen
Step 3: Click on the Choose what to clear button under the Privacy, search, and services tab.
Step 4: Ensure the Cached images and files box is checked
Step 5: You can then click the Clear.
5. Change the DNS Server
A DNS server contains the traffic data that helps your browser find the website you would like to visit. It converts the domain names to IP addresses. Even though your ISP may have in-house DNS servers, they may fail to find your desired results, causing the ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT error.
If that’s the case, you can consider switching your DNS servers. You can switch to third-party DNS servers like Google or Cloudflare that are free and reliable.
For Windows
Step 1: Go to the Control Panel and click on Network and Internet.
Step 2: Click on the Network and Sharing Center
Step 3: Click on Change Adapter Settings on the top left.
Step 4: Right-click on the current connection and select Properties
Step 5: Choose whether to use IPv4 or IPv6 addresses for your DNS settings.
Step 6: You can then click on Properties.
Step 7: Replace the IP addresses with the following:
Step 8: Click OK and restart your browser
- For IPv4, use 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.8.4
- For IPv6, use 2001:4860:4860::8888 and 2001:4860:4860::8844
Step 1: Replace the IP addresses with the following:
Step 2: Click OK and restart your browser
For Mac
Step 1: Open System Preferences Advanced
Step 2: On the DNS tab, click the Plus sign in the DNS Servers section.
Step 3: One by one, type in each IP address.
Step 4: Click the OK button.
6. Flush DNS and renew IP address
Flush DNS refers to the process of resetting your computer’s DNS caches. Your computer stores information about the IP addresses of websites you visit in the DNS cache. This ensures that each time you visit the website, it does not have to translate the domain name to the relative IP address.
Therefore, the IP addresses stored in the DNS cache may be outdated, causing problems when you try to open the site. Therefore, you can flush the DNS cache to renew the IP addresses.
For Windows
Step 1: Press the Windows + R to open the Run command
Step 2: Type in cmd and press OK
Step 3: In the Command Prompt window, type in ipconfig/flushdns
Step 4: To troubleshoot the network and renew the IP addresses add each of the following lines as you press Enter.
ipconfig/registerdns
ipconfig/release
ipconfig/renew
netsh winsock reset
After you’re done, you can restart your computer, open your browser and see if the error is solved.
7. Modify the Host file
Connections between IP addresses and their respective domain names are mapped in the host file. This makes it easier for computers to find the right domain name when you visit a website. If an IP address and website URL are blacklisted in the host file, you’ll receive this error.
Therefore, you can fix it by modifying the Host file and removing the extra website IP added at the end.
For Windows
Step 1: Search for Notepad or any alternative text editor
Step 2: Right-click on it and select Run as Administrator
Step 3: In the Notepad window, click on File and select the Open option
Step 4: In the dialog window, navigate to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\
Step 5: Click on the Hosts file and click Open.
Step 6: Delete the files below the last line that begins with the #.
Step 7: Press Ctrl + S to save your changes.
For Mac
Step 1: Open the Terminal
Step 2: Type in sudo nano /private/etc/hosts
Step 3: Press Enter
Step 4: Remove any URLs listed below the ::1 line.
8. Change the LAN Settings
Sometimes the ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT error might be caused by changes in your computer’s internet setting changed by a virus or accidentally modified. As a result, you can choose to modify these settings:
Step 1: Open the Control Panel
Step 2: Click on Internet Settings and change the view by category to a large icon.
Step 3: Under the Connections pane, click on LAN settings
Step 4: Make sure all the items are unticked, then click OK.
9. Check the maximum execution time
PHP scripts have the maximum amount of time they can execute on a website. Typically, the PHP script’s maximum execution time usually is 30 seconds. Therefore, as said earlier, you’ll receive the ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT error when it takes longer than that. To prevent this, you can ask the hosting providers to increase the upper limit.
You can also increase the PHP memory limit. Some PHP scrips could be exceeding the memory limit causing this error. Therefore, you can increase the limit to ensure there is enough memory based on the maximum amount of memory allocated to your plan by your hosting provider.
Conclusion
Since it’s difficult to determine the source of the ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT error, it is difficult to troubleshoot. However, you can effortlessly get your internet connection working by utilizing the above methods. We hope that one of the fixes above work for you and help you eliminate the ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT error.
