What is a 502 Bad Gateway Error?
A 502 bad gateway error is an HTTP status code. It indicates an error in the communication between two web servers. When the website you are trying to visit gets an invalid response from its host server or encounters other problems, you are most likely to receive this error.
What Causes the 502 Bad Gateway Error?
A 502 bad gateway is a generic error that does not pinpoint the problem. There are several things that can cause it; some of them are mentioned below:
- Server Overload: When the web servers get overloaded, visitors cannot access the server and receive the 502 bad gateway status code.
- Backend Server Issues: At times, the problems are related to the backend configurations of the website. Only the developers are able to identify the issues and fix the error code.
- Network Issues: Poor connectivity or no connection can prevent servers from communicating with each other. This may happen due to router misconfiguration or something basic like a loose cable.
- Configuration Errors: If the servers are facing any configuration issues, they will have trouble communicating with each other. This may lead to a 502 bad gateway error.
- Security Software: Security software-related problems can also lead to certain network problems. An intrusion detection/prevention system (IDS/IPS) or firewall on the gateway server could suspect malicious activity and cause disruption to the communication.
- DNS Issues: The gateway server often cannot resolve the IP address of the backend server due to misconfigurations in the domain name system (DNS) servers. It may lead to a 502 bad gateway error.
- Temporary Glitches: Temporary glitches or server hiccups that resolve themselves without intervention may often lead to 502 errors.
502 Bad Gateway Error Variations
It is important to understand that 502 bad gateway errors do not always present themselves as a white page with “502 Bad Gateways” written on it. Here are some of the common variations of such errors:
- 502 Proxy Error
- 502 Service Temporarily Overloaded
- 502 Server Error: The server encountered a temporary error and could not complete your request
- 502 Bad Gateway Apache
- 502. That’s an error
- 502 Bad Gateway Cloudflare
- 502 Bad Gateway Nginx
- Bad Gateway: The proxy server received an invalid response from an upstream server
- Error 502
- HTTP 502
- Temporary Error (502)
- HTTP Error 502 – Bad Gateway
- A blank screen without any error message on it.
502 Errors Impact on SEO
If the website you own gets 502 Bad Gateway errors frequently, it can negatively affect your website’s search engine rankings. Search engines usually prioritize the sites that offer a hassle-free user experience. Frequent errors on the website can signal to search engines that the website may be poorly maintained or unreliable.
502 Bad gateway prevention and solutions
As a developer, you can prevent and solve 502 errors by using the following measures:
- Assessing:
Assessing will help you understand what vendor to reach out to.
- Testing:
Use a traceroute or ping to check if your server is accessible or not.
- Balancing:
Depending on your requirements, you can scale back firewalls or allow all traffic to reach you. Measure the security risks before you find the right balance of traffic and safety.
If you are a visitor, you can solve the 502 error using the following measures:
- Reload:
Traffic-related problems get resolved if you wait a little longer and try the site again.
- Clear:
Since your browser cache can interfere with the browsing experience, you can clear the cache and try again.
In most cases, it gets resolved on its own as the traffic issues get sorted. If it does not, the ISP, web admins, and hosting provider usually take care of this problem.
