Bad connection

[Mark Slater]

I have a very bad connection to this site. It takes minutes to load a page - and more often than not a page won't load at all. It isn't due to graphics loading, in fact once the page starts to load an image, the response is usually much better. A few times I've checked source html and sometimes only the first few lines load - then no further response.

It has taken around a dozen trys just to get this far posting.

Is this a problem for anyone else?
Perhaps there is a browser setting I have that is preventing good response??

[T Paul]

What browser are you using (Internet Explorer, Netscape....)? Is it the lastest version? Also are you running any firewall programs such as Norton Internet Security or Zone Alarm? Are you running Windows, and if so have you check for the latest updates/patches?

~T

[chris h]

There's so many variables its hard to know where to start, connection speed etc. I run IE6, Opera and Firefox and the site loads very quickly on all.

[Mark Slater]

Thanks for quick response!
I'm using latest IE6 SP1 (2800.1106IC)
The firewall is very light - integrated with 602lan. I don't have the same problems with any other site, so I don't think it's this.
Win98SE fully updated with MS security CD + windows update only last week. This had made no difference to the problem.

Mark

What browser are you using (Internet Explorer, Netscape....)? Is it the lastest version? Also are you running any firewall programs such as Norton Internet Security or Zone Alarm? Are you running Windows, and if so have you check for the latest updates/patches?

~T

[Doug Nelson]

Check any privacy software you have, make sure we're whitelisted or trusted or 'friendly' or whatever they call it.

[Mark Slater]

Thanks Doug, I have tried Opera and Firefox recently also with same slow loading. BUT ... today speed is quite good! This problem has been with me for the last few weeks at least, perhaps since the site upgrade.

I posted here thinking that there might be an issue your end - but I guess not. I haven't had the sme problem with any other sites, at least not at the moment.

I vaguely remember one other site I visited that also was very slow until I has posted at least once.

I wil check my white/trust listings. The only problem I could think of was I had third party cookies blocked, but I tested that here and of course no problem in that area!

Occasionally I think there are personality viruses on the net, they just get into a huff over something and don't co-operate. Lol

Hopefully, all will continue OK from now. Again.. thanks for your reply!

Mark

PS love your animated warning. I can relate whether the poor little chap is nodding off or just plain head-banging! :-)

[Flora]

Hi all,

Particularly in the last 10 days or so, I've had the same problem, (still have), as Mark has....

Sometimes I'm "only" having a very hard time in trying to connect to RP, other times I don't even get the connection ... other times no problem at all .... Like for Mark, this only affects my connection to RP!

From where I am at the moment, I connect to the Internet via dial-up .... that says it all about speed .... But I've been here nearly a month now, and never had a problem before...

I use Netscape 7.1, I didn't change any of my settings, I'm not behind a firewall ...

Does anyone know if the Gremlins exist???

[T Paul]

Why is it taking so long for the pages to download?

Typically when only a few sites load slowly it may simply be popular pages on overloaded servers.

Why is it taking so long for the pages to download?

Even using the best equipment available, you may experience delays when viewing web pages. Below are some of the major reasons for slow loading of web pages.

The Internet/Network/Server is busy
The Internet uses a series of connected computer networks to transfer information. Any point in the chain of communication is potentially a weak link. So if any part of the network connection is slow the whole process is slow. Similarly at peak times servers may experience high demand and therefore slow down. The only option is to be patient or to try again later!

The page is ‘big’
Good web site design focuses on keeping file sizes as small as possible. The smaller the size the quicker the page loads.

And finally!
Poor network connections or bad signals from telephone companies can also affect the quality and speed of your Internet connection.

[Mark Slater]

In one way I'm pleased that I'm not the only one having trouble - at least Im not imagining things!! Though, I'm sorry to hear Flora is also having difficulty.

The behaviour seems to be like a very overloaded or flaky server. It also seemed to vary in difficulty according to time of day?? I did find a timeout message somewhere in a log when I looked. Just want to say again - it was only happening with RetouchPro. Sometimes a page would load only as far as the doctype tag.

It is only happening infrequently now for me.

[Flora]

T Paul,

Thank you *so much* for your patient explanation ....

Mark,

In one way I'm pleased that I'm not the only one having trouble - at least Im not imagining things!! Though, I'm sorry to hear Flora is also having difficulty.

...my feelings exactly after reading your post ....

[Paris]

Sorry to hear that both you, Mark, and Flora are having this problem. If there is a spare seat I'd like to join you.

I'm having exactly the same problem as you good folks. Takes forever for the site to load. All my browser settings are fine, firewall is permitted to access site, but still problems. At times nothing loads, yet later when I get on the site it says I last visited at such-n-such a time, which was the time that I couldn't access the site. I'm in Australia so the problem is not localised to just Flora and Mark.
I have tried the work computer with the same results. I wonder if it's a bandwidth problem - server wise?
Very frustrating, because even though I don't get a page loading it logs as I've been there and this makes new posts unavailable in the "New Posts" menu.
I don't seem to be having this problem with other sites.
HELP - I'm missing a great site. Open to suggestions.

**Paris**

[Doug Nelson]

Sounds like it's loading fine, just having trouble displaying. So many things could cause this, from privacy software to browser plug-ins that conflict.

We've had a few situations where I screwed something up and most people were having problems, but the only case I can remember where only a handful were having problems were related to embedded data in uploaded images. There's an in-depth thread here somewhere about that. The only way to fix that is for someone to methodically find which image is causing the problem and then I can delete it.

[Mark Slater]

Paris, I'm in Australia too! Like you I'm just annoyed that access is limited for me to such a great site!

We had a problem similar on another board. It appeared that member's sites hosted with Verizon would not load for anyone in Australia or New Zealand. We didn't resolve it. Someone suggested that it was "a bad hop". I don't know, but we were totally locked out, although I could view verizon's home page.

The difference here is that pages do load but only partially and sometimes fully if a bit slow.

Doug, I don't know if it would be an image, because I've consistently seen pages stop loading just after doctype tag.

This only took three attempts to post!! :-)

[Doug Nelson]

Another possible solution is a cache flush. It's possible a corrupted version of one of the support files has been cached, and instead of reloading a new one it's referring back to the old one.

Reaching for straws here, but this has actually happened.

[Mark Slater]

Thanks Doug.

I'm not sure if you're referring to client or server side cache. I do have a proxy running, but cache is turned off.

I've flushing my browser cache regularly lately.

BTW. Right now is the fastest response I've had in a while. A short while ago I tried to look at Flora's profile to see if her location is Australia but couldn't load it at all. Even all the smilies loaded!