What does ‘error 522 timed out’ mean?

Just like many other error pages on the internet, the 522 message is a kind of the HTTP status messages: where ‘5’ signifies a server error, ‘2’ signifies that the server error has occurred in the joining with Cloudflare. It stands for ‘Connection timed out’, which happens when the TCP alignment between the web server & Cloud flare fails to happen. This alignment is very important for making a connection. With the extensive use of Cloudflare, the 522 connection timed out error is the most common browser error messages you will encounter.

How to fix error 522 timed out?

You are in charge of a website that is facing an error 522 issue; you must start diagnosing the error. 

Way 1: Optimizing server capacity

Overloading the web server is one of the most common causes of error 522. There can be ‘n’ number of visitors at any given time and it cannot be generalized to a fix number. Intermittent load peaks mean that the server is unable to keep up with processing HTTP requests – so you should manage the traffic development of your website using any analysis software. Monitor and govern the data on a frequent basis to diagnose errors and upgrade the setup of the hosting atmosphere. Flexible cloud hosting helps you, for example, to level up resources with 100% accuracy so that you can judge the fluctuations. 

Way 2: Checking IP filtering

To know if Cloudflare IP addresses are restricted by our web server, we need to check the firewall settings and other filtering applications. We can also filter Internet addresses in the .htaccess file, which is the reason you should also check for restricted IPs. You can find the list of the addresses the CDN service provider uses can be found on the website. 

Way 3: Customize DNS/IP settings

Does your web host rely on a regular change of web server address? It is your jurisdiction now to send the altered IPs to Cloudflare. The providers are only liable to report the changes only to the own DNS servers. If an error 522 happens, always check your domain’s IP settings. Log in the administration panel of your website and note the current IPv4 and IPv6 addresses of the web server. Now swipe to the Cloud flare configuration and select the error causing domain. 

Way 4: Activating ‘keep alive’ message

If this 522 error is because of the wrong HTTP header settings, it is relatively easy to fix. If ‘keep alive’ is off or very less requests are defined, do correct this in the respective configuration file of the web server. However, prior to that you must make sure that you have the rights to do so, which is sometimes not the case with shared hosting packages. In this scenario you can only contact the provider. 

Way 5: Go for Cloudflare Support

Are you getting error 522 timed out due to a traffic routing problem, call Cloudflare support? Raise a ticket explaining the problem, mentioning the areas you have already checked for errors. The CDN provider will recommend using tools such as MTR or traceroute to get the information about the current packet switching between your web server and the Cloudflare IPs.