diff --git a/dzgui.sh b/dzgui.sh
index 33fb0d1..0e609a0 100755
--- a/dzgui.sh
+++ b/dzgui.sh
@@ -493,20 +493,47 @@ stale_symlinks(){
         unlink "$l"
     done
 }
+
+check_availability() {
+    if [[ -z $1 ]]; then
+        return 1
+    fi
+    local url=$1
+    local timeout_sec="3"
+    if [[ $2 ]]; then
+        timeout_sec=$2
+    fi
+    if ! ping -w "$timeout_sec" "$url" > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+        logger WARN "Failed to reach $url, service may be down."
+        return 1
+    fi
+}
+
 local_latlon(){
     if [[ -z $(command -v dig) ]]; then
-        local local_ip=$(curl -Ls "https://ipecho.net/plain")
+        local url_ipecho="https://ipecho.net/plain"
+        if ! check_availability "ipecho.net"; then
+            logger WARN "Failed to get external ip address, ipecho.net service may be down."
+            return 1
+        fi
+        local local_ip=$(curl -Ls "$url_ipecho")
     else
+        # TODO : implement checking remote
         local local_ip=$(dig -4 +short myip.opendns.com @resolver1.opendns.com)
     fi
-    local url="http://ip-api.com/json/$local_ip"
-    local res=$(curl -Ls "$url" | jq -r '"\(.lat)\n\(.lon)"')
+    local url_ip_api="http://ip-api.com/json/$local_ip"
+    if ! check_availability "ip-api.com"; then
+        logger WARN "Failed to get local coordinates, ip-api.com service may be down."
+        return 1
+    fi
+    local res=$(curl -Ls "$url_ip_api" | jq -r '"\(.lat)\n\(.lon)"')
     if [[ -z "$res" ]]; then
         logger WARN "Failed to get local coordinates"
         return 1
     fi
     echo "$res" > "$coords_file"
 }
+
 lock(){
     [[ ! -f $lock_file ]] && touch $lock_file
     local pid=$(cat $lock_file)
diff --git a/helpers/funcs b/helpers/funcs
index e8f35ef..4b65df6 100755
--- a/helpers/funcs
+++ b/helpers/funcs
@@ -369,6 +369,10 @@ local_latlon(){
 get_dist(){
     shift
     local given_ip="$1"
+    if [[ ! -f $_cache_coords ]]; then
+        printf "Unknown"
+        return
+    fi
     readarray -t coords < "$_cache_coords"
     readarray -t n < <(<<< "$given_ip" awk 'BEGIN{RS="."}{$1=$1}1')