DNS error

Hi everyone

I've had my site on SquareSpace for years but have my domain with 1&1. I just noticed when I logged in today that in my domain settings, it says 'DNS error' and when I click through, it says the Current Data is deprecated. I'm not very technical so don't really know what this means. How do I fix this? 

See screenshots attached from my SquareSpace and 1&1 screens. 

Thanks!

Hi Lucy

Let me try to explain what has happened.

In summary, when you created your site, you entered some settings. Those settings were superseded (deprecated) in 2015 and have now finally stopped working. The longer explanation follows.

When you host your domain with someone other than Squarespace, you connect your domain to your website by adding "DNS records". These records point your domain to the Squarespace web servers so that when a user types your domain name into their browser, it knows to go to Squarespace.

In 2014, there was just one Squarespace address. It was 198.185.159.135 as pictured in your screenshots. This was the address you used at that time to connect your domain name to your website.

However, this changed in 2015. To improve performance and resilience (make it faster and less likely to fail) Squarespace replaced the single address with four new ones:

• 198.185.159.144
• 198.185.159.145
• 198.49.23.144
• 198.49.23.145

You'll also require a CNAME record.

You can therefore:

1. delete the existing A record that points to 198.185.159.135
2. add four new A records, one for each of the addresses shown above.
3. add a CNAME record called www that points to ext-cust.squarespace.com.

The support guide Connecting a domain to your Squarespace site explains this in detail and there's also a specific guide for 1&1 IONOS.

I hope this helps.

Paul

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Thanks very much Paul! I really appreciate you taking the time to help me.

I have followed your advice and it seems to have worked - I'm no longer getting the 'DNS error' message in my SquareSpace settings. 
However, one question: I still have an A record in my 1&1 settings with a host name 'ftp' that goes to the old SS address. Should I just delete this or do I need to do something else with it?

(Incidentally, the guides you linked to seem to be written as if you are connecting a new domain, and don't tell you how to edit the DNS records on a domain that is already connected, hence why I was stuck. I can't see the 'new' IP addresses you list for SS anywhere in those guides for instance.)

Many thanks

Hi, Not sure if this is still being reviewed. but I have a similar issue. I went to our site today and I'm getting a dns error like this, but my ip addresses and the name are all correct in my registrar (register.com). So I'm not sure what the issue is? according to dnschecker.org, it's seeing the A records with no problem, but it is not seeing the CNAME at all? And according to register.com, there is no error there either? 

22 minutes ago, Sequel said:

I have a similar issue.

Please provide further details:

• What changed?
• What symptoms are you seeing?
• What is the built-in domain of your Squarespace website?
• What is the primary domain name?