AI service up but not loading? Is it a regional or network block?

When our page and the provider’s page both say a service is working and it still will not load for you, the cause is often somewhere between you and the service. This guide helps you find where.

What our check can and cannot see

Our test runs from Cloudflare’s network, in one place. It can tell you whether the service answers there and what the provider reports. It cannot tell you whether the service is reachable from your country, your internet provider or your office. “Operational” on our page means “reachable and healthy from where we check”, not “working for you”.

1. Change one thing: the network

Try the same service on a different connection, such as mobile data in place of home Wi-Fi, with nothing else changed.

It works on the other network. The problem is the first network: a filter on a work, school or public connection, your router, or your internet provider. Our guide on why AI tools fail on work networks lists what an IT team can check.
It fails on every network. The cause is more likely your account, a usage limit, your browser, or the service not being available where you are. Work through what to do when an AI chatbot stops working.

2. Is the service available in your country?

Providers do not offer every service everywhere. OpenAI’s documentation, for example, says its API returns a 403 error when the country, region or territory is not supported. If you are travelling, or you recently moved, check the provider’s own list of supported countries before assuming a fault.

3. Could it be a regional incident?

Traffic goes through different data centres in different places, and a provider’s status page can report a partial outage that affects only some users or regions. Read the latest incident text on the provider’s page and on our service pages, which name the affected components. If an incident is listed, wait for the update.

4. Where a VPN fits

A VPN sends your traffic through a server in another place, so a website sees that location in place of yours. For troubleshooting, that makes it a test, not a cure. If a service loads over a VPN and not without one, the problem is probably on your usual network or with your internet provider, not with the service. If it fails both ways, you have ruled that out.

5. When a VPN is worth having

Beyond troubleshooting, a VPN is a sensible tool in some everyday situations:

On public Wi-Fi. In a café, hotel or airport, a VPN encrypts the connection between your device and the VPN’s server, so others on the same network cannot see what you are doing. Most websites already use HTTPS, which protects the content of what you send, so the gain is smaller than some advertising suggests, but it is a useful extra layer on a network you do not trust.
Working remotely. Many employers provide a VPN so staff can reach internal systems securely from home or abroad. It also lets the company protect its data and, in many cases, monitor and filter the traffic that passes through it. If yours provides one, use it as instructed. Do not run a personal VPN on top of it, or switch the company one off, without your IT team’s permission: it can break company policy and look suspicious. If an AI tool fails while the company VPN is on, take the details to your IT team instead.
Keeping your browsing from your internet provider. A VPN hides which sites you visit from your internet provider and from the local network. It does not make you invisible: the VPN company can see that information in their place, so you are choosing whom to trust.
Travelling. Some people use a VPN abroad to reach services as they would at home. Check the service’s terms first, because some do not allow it.
Where access is restricted by the authorities. In places where sites are blocked, a VPN can be an important way to reach information. Local law and the risks to the person using it vary a great deal, so it is worth understanding both.

Used for a clear reason and from a provider you have checked, a VPN can be well worth the small cost.

6. Cautions before you use one

Do not use a VPN to get round a country restriction. If a provider does not offer its service in your country, using a VPN to get in may break its terms. Check them first.
A VPN can be the cause. Cursor’s documentation says a VPN can trigger a “suspicious activity” block, and GitHub lists VPNs among the things that can stop Copilot reaching its servers. If it only fails while a VPN is on, switch the VPN off.
A VPN adds a company that sees where your traffic goes. Read its privacy policy, and be wary of free services.
Do not bypass a work or school network or VPN without permission from whoever runs it.

7. What to tell support or your IT team

Write down the exact error message, the time (with your time zone), which network you were on, what worked on another network, and whether our page and the provider’s page showed a problem. That saves them a round of questions.

Still stuck? Read why a service can be up but broken for you.

Sources

Read on 8 October 2026. Providers change their documentation, so check it for anything important.