It is a disadvantage, but it's also the best down detector there is. I think there are a couple of others that just ping websites to see if they're up, and very

It is a disadvantage, but it's also the best down detector there is. I think there are a couple of others that just ping websites to see if they're up, and very few websites actually go down down nowadays. Downdetector.com is meant to be an instantaneous sanity check of whether you should go unplug your router for the 3rd time today or not, and it's pretty great at that, even if it exaggerates a bit.