diff --git a/docs/source/data-publishing/ogcapi-coverages.rst b/docs/source/data-publishing/ogcapi-coverages.rst
index 140843f..9387b7a 100644
--- a/docs/source/data-publishing/ogcapi-coverages.rst
+++ b/docs/source/data-publishing/ogcapi-coverages.rst
@@ -45,6 +45,10 @@ capable of handling.
              name: GRIB
              mimetype: application/x-grib2
 
+.. note::
+   The rasterio provider ``format.name`` directive **requires** a valid
+   `GDAL raster driver short name`_.
+
 xarray
 ^^^^^^^^
 
@@ -89,3 +93,4 @@ Data access examples
 .. _`rasterio`: https://rasterio.readthedocs.io
 .. _`xarray`: https://xarray.pydata.org
 .. _`NetCDF`: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NetCDF
+.. _`GDAL raster driver short name`: https://gdal.org/drivers/raster/index.html
diff --git a/pygeoapi/provider/rasterio_.py b/pygeoapi/provider/rasterio_.py
index f3affba..68fdefa 100644
--- a/pygeoapi/provider/rasterio_.py
+++ b/pygeoapi/provider/rasterio_.py
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@
 #
 # =================================================================
 
-import io
 import logging
 
 import rasterio
@@ -36,6 +35,7 @@ import rasterio.mask
 
 from pygeoapi.provider.base import (BaseProvider, ProviderConnectionError,
                                     ProviderQueryError)
+from pygeoapi.util import read_data
 
 LOGGER = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -178,9 +178,8 @@ class RasterioProvider(BaseProvider):
         shapes = []
 
         if not bands and not subsets and format_ != 'json':
-            LOGGER.debug('No parameters specified, returning native file')
-            with io.open(self.data, 'rb') as fh:
-                return fh.read()
+            LOGGER.debug('No parameters specified, returning native data')
+            return read_data(self.data)
 
         if (self._coverage_properties['x_axis_label'] in subsets and
                 self._coverage_properties['y_axis_label'] in subsets):
diff --git a/pygeoapi/provider/xarray_.py b/pygeoapi/provider/xarray_.py
index c3222a3..ecb429a 100644
--- a/pygeoapi/provider/xarray_.py
+++ b/pygeoapi/provider/xarray_.py
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ from pygeoapi.provider.base import (BaseProvider,
                                     ProviderConnectionError,
                                     ProviderNoDataError,
                                     ProviderQueryError)
+from pygeoapi.util import read_data
 
 LOGGER = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -183,6 +184,10 @@ class XarrayProvider(BaseProvider):
         :returns: coverage data as dict of CoverageJSON or native format
         """
 
+        if not range_subset and not subsets and format_ != 'json':
+            LOGGER.debug('No parameters specified, returning native data')
+            return read_data(self.data)
+
         if len(range_subset) < 1:
             range_subset = self.fields
 
diff --git a/pygeoapi/util.py b/pygeoapi/util.py
index 194ca61..cbe78cb 100644
--- a/pygeoapi/util.py
+++ b/pygeoapi/util.py
@@ -32,11 +32,13 @@
 import base64
 from datetime import date, datetime, time
 from decimal import Decimal
+import io
 import json
 import logging
 import mimetypes
 import os
 import re
+from urllib.request import urlopen
 from urllib.parse import urlparse
 
 from jinja2 import Environment, FileSystemLoader
@@ -335,3 +337,21 @@ def get_provider_default(providers):
 
     LOGGER.debug('Default provider: {}'.format(default['type']))
     return default
+
+
+def read_data(path):
+    """
+    helper function to read data (file or networrk)
+    """
+
+    LOGGER.debug('Attempting to read {}'.format(path))
+    scheme = urlparse(path).scheme
+
+    if scheme in ['', 'file']:
+        LOGGER.debug('local file on disk')
+        with io.open(path, 'rb') as fh:
+            return fh.read()
+    else:
+        LOGGER.debug('network file')
+        with urlopen(path) as r:
+            return r.read()
diff --git a/tests/test_util.py b/tests/test_util.py
index 671ccc9..d98b927 100644
--- a/tests/test_util.py
+++ b/tests/test_util.py
@@ -158,3 +158,9 @@ def test_get_provider_default():
     assert pd['name'] == 'CSV'
 
     pd = util.get_provider_default(d['resources']['obs']['providers'])
+
+
+def test_read_data():
+    data = util.read_data(get_test_file_path('pygeoapi-test-config.yml'))
+
+    assert isinstance(data, bytes)