Freshping's Checks run in one-minute or five-minute intervals, as configured. We ping the site and wait for a response from the server. The wait time is linked to the timeout setting configured during setup.

If downtime is identified from a monitoring location, we trigger a ping from a second location to confirm the downtime and avoid reporting false alerts. If we don't receive a response within 30 seconds, we report it as a Timeout Error and mark the site as 'down.' If we receive 200 OK as the response, we mark the site as 'up'. We also consider all 4xx and 5xx error codes as 'down.' 

Role of Monitoring Location:

Freshping allows you to configure the monitoring locations for each Check. Ten different monitoring locations are supported. You can configure the monitoring location under 'Advanced monitoring settings,' while adding or editing the check.

                                        Freshping's monitoring locations

We recommend you add the nearest location to your check's server to reduce the response time. This will also help prevent reporting false positives due to high response times. If no location is specified, the pings are sent from the nearest server, by default. Check out Freshping's monitoring locations here.

Alert Sensitivity:

The 'Alert sensitivity' feature was introduced as an added feature to prevent micro-downtimes from being reported. If you wish to be alerted immediately even for millisecond-level downtime, you can set the sensitivity to 'High' and if you don't wish micro-downtimes to be reported, set it to 'Low.' 

Low sensitivity triggers email alerts only when the URL is continuously down for at least 2 minutes. High sensitivity alerts are triggered immediately. You could toggle between 'Low' and 'High,' by navigating to Settings > Account Settings 

                                                Alert sensitivity settings under Settings>Account Settings

Alert fine-tuning:

Alert fine-tuning settings help configure alerts at the Check level. This configuration helps reduce the frequency at which you receive alerts by offering additional control. It triggers alerts only when the site is continuously down or up for between 1 and 30 minutes.

You can also configure the use of status codes and response string checks to make decisions on whether the site is up or down.

                    Alert fine-tuning under the Edit-Check/Create-Check screen

What is the difference between Alert Sensitivity and Alert Fine-tuning?

Alert Sensitivity is an account-level configuration while Alert Fine-tuning is a Check-level configuration. With Alert Sensitivity, If the sensitivity is set to 'Low,' Freshping will send out an alert only if the Check is continuously down for 2 minutes. With Alert fine-tuning, the alert setting can be configured differently for each Check, from alert instantly to alert only when own for up to 30 minutes. 

Note: Alert fine-tuning feature is available in the BLOSSOM plan. You can check out the full feature list and pricing here.