Most often, you might see a “502 bad gateway” error in one of our WordPress hosting plans, because these plans use Apache web servers with Nginx as a proxy server. Read on to find out how proxy servers work.
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How to Fix the 502 Bad Gateway Error
There are many different ways to troubleshoot this error that range from easy to more difficult.
Below you’ll find first the easiest and quickest troubleshooting methods, and then down to the more advanced.
Refresh Your Page
Most easily, it’s quite likely that the 502 error is temporary. Wait a moment and refresh your page to see if the issue clears. Sometimes a random glitch might trigger the error. In this case, the error will clear on its own.
Clear Your Browser Cache
Often, your browser might cache an error page, in which case the error might be clear but you will still see it.
In this case, make sure to clear your browser cache and try the page refresh again.
Checking Other Browsers and Users
As part of your browser troubleshooting, if you are not seeingr results, you should check with other people on different networks to see if they see the site.
Contact Hosting Support
If you have determined, through normal troubleshooting, that there is any issue that will require more advanced procedures to fix, don’t hesitate to reach out to live support anytime.
Some Background Information on Proxy Server Issues
Proxy servers function by sharing information with each other. For example, in our WordPress hosting plans, we use Apache to generate the website. However, Nginx offers other tantalizing benefits for your speeding up your site with caching. So we use Nginx as a reverse proxy for Apache.
This means, in effect, that the single server is using two different web server programs. Sometimes, information being processed and sent back and forth might get garbled or glitch out. In this case, Apache or Nginx might cause the 502 error.
