[1,096 words, 6 minute read time]
When you’re setting up uptime monitoring, one of the first choices you’ll see is Ping (ICMP) vs HTTP/HTTPS checks. They sound similar—both can tell you something is “up”—but they answer different questions:
- Ping answers: “Is the server reachable on the network?”
- HTTP answers: “Is the website usable for real visitors?”
For most websites, HTTP monitoring is the best default, and ping monitoring is a helpful infra add-on once you’re more technical or managing servers directly.
If you want the big-picture roadmap for monitoring, start with the complete guide.
What ping monitoring detects (and what it misses)
What ping (ICMP) detects
Ping monitoring sends a small network request (ICMP echo) to a host and measures whether it responds.
It’s good for detecting:
- The host is reachable over the network
- Some types of network outages
- Latency changes between the monitor and the server
- “Server is completely offline” situations
What ping misses
Ping can’t tell you whether the website is actually working. You can have a perfect ping response while:
- Your web server is down (Nginx/Apache stopped)
- Your app is crashing (500 errors)
- Your database is failing (timeouts)
- TLS/SSL is broken (certificate expired)
- A firewall/WAF blocks web traffic but not ICMP
- Your load balancer is misconfigured
- Your site returns a “maintenance mode” page
Translation: ping = “machine reachable,” not “site usable.”
What HTTP monitoring detects (and what it misses)
What HTTP/HTTPS monitoring detects
HTTP monitoring requests a URL over HTTP or HTTPS—more like what a real visitor’s browser does.
It can detect:
- Web server availability (does the site respond at all?)
- Application issues showing up as HTTP errors (5xx)
- Redirect problems (301/302 loops, wrong destinations)
- TLS/SSL handshake failures (for HTTPS checks)
- Timeouts that affect real visitors
- Keyword/content mismatches (if you use keyword checks)
This is why HTTP checks are the go-to for website monitoring.
To understand status codes, redirects, and keyword validation, see HTTP monitoring explained.
What HTTP monitoring can still miss
HTTP checks can say “up” while users still struggle if:
- Only logged-in flows are broken
- Checkout fails but the homepage is fine
- A specific browser/device breaks the frontend
- A third-party dependency fails intermittently
- The page loads but core API calls fail (UI shell problem)
Those are good reasons to “level up” later with keyword checks, multi-step monitoring, or API monitoring—but HTTP is still the best starting point.
False positives and typical pitfalls (for both types)
“False positives” are alerts that claim something is down when it isn’t (or isn’t down for users). Both ping and HTTP can generate noise if misconfigured.
Ping monitoring pitfalls
- ICMP blocked: Many networks/firewalls disable ping for security reasons
- Result: ping says “down” even though the site is fine
- Different path than web traffic: ICMP may reach the host while HTTP traffic is blocked or broken
- Host pings, service doesn’t: Server responds to ping but the web server/app is dead
HTTP monitoring pitfalls
- WAF/bot protection blocks monitors (403/429)
- Result: HTTP monitor says “down” even though real users can load the site
- Redirect chains or wrong target URLs
- Timeout too aggressive: short timeouts create noise during normal slow periods
- “200 OK” but wrong content: e.g., cached error page, maintenance page, login page shown unexpectedly
- Fix: keyword checks
If you’re seeing noise, fix it early using reduce false positives—it’s the fastest way to make monitoring trustworthy.
Best default: HTTP for most websites; ping as an infra add-on
Here’s the simplest guidance that works for almost everyone:
If you monitor websites (not servers), start with HTTP
- It matches the user experience better
- It catches more real failures (web/app/TLS)
- It gives more actionable signals (status codes, redirects)
Add ping when you manage infrastructure
Ping is useful if you:
- run your own servers or VPS instances
- manage network equipment or internal services
- want an early hint of network connectivity issues
- need a “host reachable” signal separate from “website serving”
A strong combo for technical teams is:
- HTTP monitor for the site
- Ping monitor for the host (optional)
- Keyword monitor for the key page (recommended when revenue is on the line)
Decision tree by site type (what should you use?)
Use this as your quick decision rule.
Personal site / blog / portfolio
- ✅ HTTP monitoring (homepage + one important page)
- Optional later: keyword check for the most important page
WordPress / marketing site generating leads
- ✅ HTTP monitoring
- ✅ Add keyword monitoring to your contact/booking/pricing page
- Ping: only if you manage the server and want extra signals
SaaS / membership site
- ✅ HTTP monitoring (public pages + login)
- ✅ Keyword checks for critical pages
- Later: multi-step checks (login → dashboard)
- Ping: optional (useful for infra teams)
Ecommerce
- ✅ HTTP monitoring
- ✅ Keyword checks (product page/cart/checkout page load)
- Later: multi-step checks for key flow validation
- Ping: optional (infra add-on)
Agency managing many client sites
- ✅ HTTP monitoring as your baseline across clients
- Add keyword checks to revenue-critical pages
- Ping only for clients where you also manage hosting/VPS
Three real-world scenarios (so you know what to choose)
Scenario 1: “Ping up, site down”
Symptoms:
- Ping monitor: ✅ up
- HTTP monitor: ❌ 502/503 or timeout
Likely cause: - Web server is down, app crashed, database failing, overloaded backend
What this teaches: - Ping alone would miss this. HTTP catches what users feel.
Scenario 2: “HTTP blocked by WAF (false downtime)”
Symptoms:
- HTTP monitor: ❌ 403 Forbidden (or 429 Too Many Requests)
- Real users: ✅ site loads normally
Likely cause: - Your WAF/bot protection blocks the monitoring probe
Fix: - Allowlist monitor IP ranges (if available), adjust WAF rules, or use a monitoring method less likely to be flagged
What this teaches: - HTTP is still correct as the default—just configure it to avoid noise. Start with reduce false positives.
Scenario 3: “DNS issue”
Symptoms:
- Ping: may be inconsistent (depends on what you’re pinging)
- HTTP: timeouts or “host not found” from some regions
- Users: some can reach the site, others can’t
Likely cause: - DNS misconfiguration, propagation issue, resolver-specific failure
What this teaches: - One region isn’t enough, and “my site loads for me” isn’t proof. Consider multi-location confirmation and DNS monitoring as you mature.
Quick setup recommendation (minimal but solid)
If you’re just getting started, do this:
- Create an HTTP monitor for your homepage
- Create a second HTTP or keyword monitor for your most important page
- Use sensible defaults (5-minute checks, reasonable timeouts, retries)
- Fix false positives early so you trust alerts
Then learn how to interpret status codes, redirects, and keyword checks in HTTP monitoring explained.
If you run one monitor, make it HTTP (CTA)
Ping is useful—but HTTP monitoring is what most website owners actually need because it answers the question your business cares about:
Can users use the site?
CTA: If you run one monitor, make it HTTP.