Synchronize your transport layer.
curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" --data '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"net_listening","params":[],"id":67}' http://localhost:8545
curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" --data '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"eth_blockNumber","params":[],"id":1}' https://rpc.network.example.com