Domain registration, DNS, hosting and HTTPS explained.

How to read your results

CheckWhois combines domain registration, DNS records and HTTPS checks. This example follows the layout of a lookup result, with an explanation beside each section.

Example only: these provider names and records are made up. They are not live results for example.com.

Whois Information

Domain

example.com

IP: 192.0.2.10

Organization: Example Hosting Ltd

cPanel hosting detected

Who is likely hosting the website?

The Organization shown beside a website’s IP information is associated with its network. It is often the hosting company, or the network provider used by that host.

A service such as Cloudflare may appear instead when a website uses a proxy or content delivery network (CDN). In that case, the actual hosting server may be hidden behind it.

This is a useful clue, not proof of who owns the website. An organisation in a domain registration contact has a different meaning: it may be the registrant or a privacy service.

cPanel hosting detected or Plesk hosting detected means the website’s server accepts connections on the ports used by those hosting control panels. It usually means shared or reseller web hosting managed through cPanel or Plesk. It is not shown for sites behind Cloudflare, which hides the server.

HTTPS

✓ https://example.com — 200 OK

TLS certificate: valid

Certificate matches example.com

Response codes

↪ http://example.com → 0.05s 301 redirect

✓ https://example.com → 0.12s 200 OK

⚠ https://example.net → 0.34s 403 Forbidden

What is the server saying?

Every request returns a three-digit HTTP response code. The first digit gives the general meaning: 2xx succeeded, 3xx redirects somewhere else, 4xx means the request was rejected, and 5xx means the server itself failed. CheckWhois follows each redirect and lists every step, so you can see the whole journey a visitor takes.

200 OK: The page loaded successfully.
301 Moved Permanently: The address has moved for good. Browsers and search engines follow it to the new one. A redirect from http:// to https:// is normal and desirable.
302 Found: A temporary redirect. Visitors are sent elsewhere for now, and the original address is meant to return.
307 / 308: Temporary and permanent redirects that keep the original request method.
401 Unauthorized: The page needs a username and password before it can be viewed.
403 Forbidden: The server refused the request. Often this is the site’s security or bot protection turning away an automated check rather than a fault a visitor would see: the page may open perfectly well in your own browser.
404 Not Found: No page exists at this address. The server is working, but this address is not in use.
429 Too Many Requests: The server is limiting how often it will answer, and asked the check to slow down.
500 Internal Server Error: The website’s own code or configuration failed while building the page.
502 / 504: A server in front of the website, such as a proxy or CDN, could not get a valid answer from the one behind it, or waited too long for it.
503 Service Unavailable: The site is temporarily unavailable, often through overload or maintenance.

A timeout or connection error means no response code arrived at all, which is different from a server answering with an error.

Certificate details

Shown when you hover over an address in the HTTPS results:

Issuer: Example Certificate Authority

Valid from: 2026-07-29T22:10:08+00:00

Valid until: 2026-10-27T22:17:21+00:00

Status: Within validity dates

Expires in: 35 days

Valid for: example.com, *.example.com

What is in the HTTPS certificate?

A certificate is the file a website presents to prove it is the site your browser asked for, so the connection can be encrypted. CheckWhois reads the certificate the server actually sent for each address in the redirect chain.

Issuer: The certificate authority that issued it, such as Let’s Encrypt or a commercial provider. Browsers trust the certificate because they trust the issuer. It is not the website’s owner, and often not its host either.
Valid from and Valid until: The period the certificate may be used, in UTC. Outside those dates browsers show a warning, whoever issued it.
Status and Expires in: How long is left. CheckWhois flags a certificate expiring within 30 days as 🟡 Expiring soon, and within 7 days, or already past, as 🔴. Most certificates renew automatically, so a short remaining life is normal; only one that runs out matters.
Valid for: The names the certificate covers. A certificate for example.com does not cover www.example.com unless that name is listed too. A wildcard such as *.example.com covers any single level below the domain. If the site’s name is not in this list, browsers reject it even though the certificate is genuine and in date.

The line beside the response code reports the outcome of the check itself: Certificate and hostname verified means it was trusted, in date and issued for the name being visited. An expiry date here has nothing to do with the domain’s registration expiry, and a valid certificate does not make a website’s contents trustworthy.

Registrar

Example Registrar Ltd

Name Servers

ns1.example.net
ns2.example.net

Dates

Created: 5 years ago

Updated: 2 months ago

Expires: in 10 months

Statuses

clientTransferProhibited — Prevents the domain from being transferred to another registrar

DNS Records

A Records (IPv4 Address)

192.0.2.10

AAAA Records (IPv6 Address)

2001:db8::10

MX Records (Mail Server)

10 mail.example.net

DMARC Record (Email spoofing policy)

v=DMARC1; p=none

DMARC policy is p=none. It may collect reports, but does not ask receiving servers to block spoofed email.

Email routing problem: mail sent from the website may never arrive

The website’s server (192.0.2.10) appears to run cPanel with its own mail service for this domain, but the domain’s public MX records send mail elsewhere. Email sent from the website, such as contact form messages, is likely being delivered to mailboxes on the web server instead of the real mail provider.

Server's own MX: 0 example.com (192.0.2.10)

✓ No email routing issues found

Why aren’t emails from my website’s contact form arriving?

A common cause is local mail delivery on the web server. Hosting control panels such as cPanel and Plesk usually set up a mail service for every domain they host. When the domain’s DNS is managed elsewhere, for example at Cloudflare, and its email is with an external provider such as Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, the web server may still believe it handles the domain’s mail itself.

Email sent from that server, such as contact form submissions, WordPress notifications, order confirmations and messages between accounts on the same server, is then delivered to a mailbox on the web server that nobody reads. Email from the outside world arrives normally, which is why the problem is easy to miss. There is often no bounce message.

Most DNS and email checkers only look at public DNS, where everything appears correct. CheckWhois also asks the website’s own server for the domain’s MX records, and checks whether a mail server answers on the website’s address. When the domain’s mail servers and nameservers are on a different network from the website, but the website’s server gives an authoritative DNS answer directing the domain’s mail to itself and runs a mail server, CheckWhois reports the problem.

How to fix it: in cPanel, open Email Routing and choose Remote Mail Exchanger. In Plesk, turn off both the mail service and the DNS service for the domain, because its local DNS zone otherwise keeps directing the domain’s mail back to the server. If you can’t change these settings, ask your web host to set the domain’s mail routing to remote.

CheckWhois only shows a warning when it finds this problem. It cannot see every server’s settings, so “No email routing issues found” is not a guarantee that every message will be delivered.

A few common questions

Can CheckWhois tell me who owns a domain?

It can show the public registration information returned by the registry or registrar. Personal details are often redacted or replaced by a privacy service. A registrar, hosting organisation and domain owner are different roles, so one should not be assumed to identify another.

Does a failed lookup mean I can register the domain?

No. Timeouts, rate limits and unavailable services can all prevent a lookup. Even a registry “not found” response is only an indication: confirm availability with a registrar before trying to register the name.

Why do results differ after a DNS change?

DNS answers are cached for a period set by their time to live (TTL). Different resolvers may temporarily return different answers. CheckWhois also caches registration lookups briefly, so a result is a snapshot rather than a continuous monitor.

Why do emails from my website go missing when incoming email works?

If your website is on a cPanel or Plesk server but your email is hosted elsewhere, the web server may be delivering its own messages locally instead of sending them to your email provider. Look up your domain: CheckWhois warns you in the MX records section if it detects this. See email routing problems for how to fix it.

What can I look up?

Start with a domain name, a website URL or a public IP address. A domain lookup combines registration, DNS and HTTPS information where available. An IP lookup shows network registration details; it does not list every website sharing that address.

Where can I get more help?

CheckWhois is sponsored by eukhost.com and webhosting.uk.com. Both offer customers 24/7 support from real people by phone, live chat and support ticket. Their teams use CheckWhois in their day-to-day support and administration work, and can help you understand the domain, DNS, email and website hosting issues it highlights. You can move your domain registration, email, web hosting or a combination of these services to them. If CheckWhois reports cPanel or Plesk hosting, tell them when you get in touch: both offer free website migration for eligible moves, and a compatible setup can make the process simpler. Ask what is included, especially if you also need to move email.

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