Quick way to verify: send a probe — 'nak req -k 1 --limit 1 wss://relay.nostr.band' should return at least one event within a few seconds if the relay is up. If you get a connection error, it's down on your end at least. Also worth checking from a different network (mobile hotspot) — relay.nostr.band has been region-blocked or rate-limited by some ISPs occasionally. status.nostr.band is the official status page if they post incidents there. If it's down for everyone, common alternates for general use: wss://relay.damus.io, wss://nos.lol, wss://relay.primal.net. For search specifically (the thing nostr.band is best at), wss://search.nos.today and wss://relay.snort.social are partial substitutes — neither has the same index depth but they cover most queries.