If you want to stop routing your website’s traffic through the WEDOS Protection proxy and send it directly to your web hosting server (the origin server) again, you need to update your domain’s DNS records. This is a required step before permanently removing a domain from WEDOS Protection, and it’s also useful if you only want to temporarily bypass the proxy — for example while troubleshooting an issue or migrating hosting.
In this article, you will learn:
- Why you need to redirect DNS away from WEDOS Protection
- How to find your origin server’s IP address
- How to update DNS records using:
- How to verify the change took effect
- Troubleshooting common issues
- Frequently Asked Questions
Why Redirect DNS Away from WEDOS Protection?
While your domain is active in WEDOS Protection, its A and AAAA (and in some setups, CNAME) DNS records point to the WEDOS Protection proxy servers, not to your web hosting. The proxy inspects and filters traffic before forwarding it to your web server.
To send traffic directly to your web server again, you need to replace those DNS records with the IP address (or CNAME) of your actual hosting. This is required in the following situations:
- You’re permanently removing your domain from WEDOS Protection — see Protection – Terminate for the full removal procedure.
- You want to temporarily bypass the proxy, for example to test whether an issue originates from your hosting or from the Protection service.
- You’re migrating to a different hosting provider or proxy/CDN solution.
Redirecting DNS away from WEDOS Protection does not remove the domain from the service by itself. If your goal is a full, permanent removal, follow this guide first, then complete the steps in Protection – Terminate.
Finding Your Origin Server’s IP Address
Before changing any DNS records, you need to know your origin server’s real IP address (the server WEDOS Protection currently forwards traffic to).
You can find it in the WEDOS Global administration panel:
- Log in to the WEDOS Global administration panel ⧉.
- Select your domain from the User Dashboard.
- In the left menu, click Target IPs / CNAME.
This page lists the target IP address(es) or CNAME records of the web server(s) your domain currently points to behind the proxy — this is the address you’ll use as your new A/AAAA record.
If you host with a provider other than WEDOS, confirm the correct IP address with that provider as well — the Target IPs / CNAME page only reflects what is currently configured in WEDOS Protection.
Updating DNS Records
How you update your A and AAAA records depends on where your domain’s DNS is managed. If you’re using WEDOS DNS servers, you make the change directly in the WEDOS Zone interface, and it typically takes effect within minutes. If your domain uses DNS servers from another provider, you’ll need to log in to that provider’s own control panel instead — WEDOS has no access to DNS records that aren’t hosted on its own servers.
If you’re not sure which case applies to you, check your domain’s current nameservers (NS records) or ask your provider. Then jump to the relevant section: WEDOS DNS (Zone) if you use WEDOS DNS servers, or Third-Party DNS Provider if you don’t.
WEDOS DNS (Zone)
If your domain uses WEDOS DNS servers, update the records directly in WEDOS Zone:
- Log in to the WEDOS Global administration panel ⧉ (or WEDOS Zone directly, if you access it separately).
- Open the Zone section and select List of domains in DNS.
- Select your domain to open its Domain Records.
- Locate the A (and AAAA, if used) records for your domain — typically one record with no name (the root domain) and one with
*(wildcard, covering subdomains). - Click the edit icon next to each record and replace the current value (the WEDOS Protection proxy IP) with your origin server’s IP address.
- Click Apply Changes to save.
Leave any A/AAAA records for specific subdomains unchanged unless those subdomains are also protected and you want to redirect them too. Also avoid changing MX records — these handle email and are unrelated to Protection.
Changes to DNS records via WEDOS Zone are usually applied within minutes, though full propagation across all DNS resolvers worldwide can take up to a few hours.
Third-Party DNS Provider
If your domain does not use WEDOS DNS servers, you’ll need to update the records in your DNS provider’s own management panel instead. The general steps are the same in principle:
- Log in to your DNS provider’s control panel.
- Find the DNS zone management section for your domain.
- Locate the A record (and AAAA, if present) currently pointing to the WEDOS Protection proxy.
- Replace it with your origin server’s IP address, as found in Target IPs / CNAME.
- Save/apply the changes in your provider’s interface.
Since every DNS provider’s interface is different, refer to your provider’s own documentation for the exact steps.
If your domain (or hosting) is with VEDOS — WEDOS’ hosting brand — see Domains — DNS Servers for detailed instructions on managing DNS servers and records.
Verifying the Change
DNS changes are not instant everywhere — propagation can take anywhere from a few minutes to up to 48 hours, depending on the TTL (Time to Live) of your records and your DNS provider.
To confirm your domain is now resolving to your origin server rather than the WEDOS Protection proxy:
- Use a command-line tool such as
nslookup yourdomain.comordig yourdomain.comand check that the returned IP address matches your origin server. - Use an online DNS propagation checker to see how the change has propagated across different regions.
- Open your website in a browser (ideally after flushing your local DNS cache) and confirm it loads correctly directly from your hosting.
Troubleshooting
Common issues with directiong the domain to the web server from WEDOS Protection include:
Domain Resolves to Proxy IP
Issue: The domain still resolves to the WEDOS Protection proxy IP.
Cause: DNS changes haven’t propagated yet, or your browser/local resolver is using a cached (old) DNS result.
Solution: Wait for propagation (see the TTL value of your record — this is the number of seconds a resolver will cache the result) and try again. Flush your local DNS cache or test from a different network/device to rule out local caching.
Errors on Website
Issue: The website is unreachable or shows errors after the change.
Cause: The IP address entered doesn’t match your actual hosting server, or your hosting provider restricts incoming connections to WEDOS Protection’s IP ranges only (a common setup for extra security).
Solution: Double-check the IP address against the Target IPs / CNAME page or your hosting provider’s records. If your server was configured to accept traffic only from WEDOS Protection’s proxy network, ask your hosting provider to allow direct traffic again before or right after making the DNS change.
Email Doesn’t Work
Issue: Email stopped working after the DNS change.
Cause: MX records were accidentally modified along with the A/AAAA records.
Solution: Check your MX records and restore them if needed. Only A and AAAA records need to change to redirect web traffic away from the proxy — email routing (MX) is independent of WEDOS Protection.
Subdomains Don’t Work Correctly
Issue: Wildcard/subdomain traffic still goes through the proxy.
Cause: Only the root domain’s A record was updated, while the wildcard (*) record was left pointing to the proxy.
Solution: Update the wildcard A/AAAA record as well if you want all subdomains to bypass the proxy too. If only specific subdomains should stay protected, update their individual A records selectively instead of the wildcard.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to change my domain’s DNS servers (NS) to redirect traffic away from WEDOS Protection
No. You only need to change the A and AAAA records so they point to your origin server’s IP address. Changing DNS servers (NSSET) is a separate, unrelated action.
Will redirecting DNS also remove my domain from WEDOS Protection?
No. Redirecting DNS only stops traffic from passing through the proxy. To fully remove the domain from the service, follow the steps in Protection – Terminate after redirecting DNS.
What if there are multiple IPv4 addresses on the Target IPs page?
Check which of them are active (they have a Deactivate IP address link in their table row). Check with your web hosting provider whether to use non-active IPs or not.
How long will my website be affected while DNS propagates?
It depends on your record’s TTL and your DNS provider, but propagation typically completes within a few minutes to a few hours, and can take up to 48 hours in rare cases.
Can I redirect DNS temporarily and switch back to WEDOS Protection later?
Yes. As long as your domain remains active in WEDOS Protection, you can point the A/AAAA records back to the Protection proxy IPs (found on the Target IPs / CNAME page) at any time.
My domain uses a third-party DNS provider — where do I make this change?
In that provider’s own DNS management panel, not in WEDOS Zone. See Updating DNS Records with a Third-Party DNS Provider above, or, for VEDOS-hosted domains, refer to Domains — DNS Servers.