Overview
Misspelled domains in the test URL may cause unexpected and incorrect test results. In tests using Last-Mile Nodes, certain ISPs will resolve misspelled domains to point to their own pages. For example, Time Warner Cable redirects invalid domains to their own domain, www.dnssearch.com. In tests using Backbone Nodes, there will be no redirection. The webpage will simply fail to load.
This also applies to tests involving HTTP overrides, such as Request Override and DNS Override. It can be more difficult to spot typos in domains in request overrides than in the test URL. It is likely that the webpage will still be able to load, even with a misspelled override domain. However, there will be a noticeable impact to the performance and test results, especially for tests using Last-Mile nodes. In tests where a DNS override with a misspelled domain is being applied to the test URL, the test results will be as if the test URL was misspelled.
Example
Refer to the below example tests to see the difference between similar web tests, one using a last-mile node and the other, a backbone node.
Test 1 (Last Mile With Invalid URL):
Test 2 (Backbone With Invalid URL):
Test 1 and Test 2 demonstrate what can happen in the results when a URL's domain is misspelled (Using the domain "www.priceline.comt" instead of "www.priceline.com").
Test 1 successfully loaded a webpage. There is a screenshot of the loaded page at the top-left (this option can be enabled under the Advanced Settings section by selecting Capture Screenshot at Test End). However, the user was not expecting to see this webpage. The incorrect domain, "www.princeline.comt", was provided, and since the test is using a last-mile node, the ISP handled the domain error by providing a response and redirecting the test to "www.dnssearch.com."
Test 2 was unsuccessful in loading the webpage at all, and returned the error response "[50010] - DNS failure." In this case, the backbone node did not provide any response and the webpage was unable to load at all or be redirected. In the screenshot, the browser displayed "This webpage is not available." This is true because the top level domain ".comt" does not exist.
When Catchpoint test results are similar to the example test results provided above, review all provided domains, and verify they are working properly.