# Is the site running ridiculously slow for anyone else?



## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

I am having all kinds of problems with pages loading slow. It takes forever to post as well. This is running Chrome and Firefox on Mac, and it's been going on for about 2 days now. I don't seem to be having issues with any other sites, so I thought I'd check if anyone else is having issues.


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## shiva (Jul 9, 2008)

Not with this site, but the last couple days other sites have been really slow and time out. Maybe a switching problem somewhere that serves as a nexus point. Seems to be fine now anyway, it happens with the internet.


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

I'm having the same issues on IE. Very sporadic. Sometimes it's fine, other times it's painful, I usualy give up and move on to something else.


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

Early last week we had some kind of problem, not sure if we were under attack or what bit for about 4-5 hours it was extremely slow and sometimes would not load at a ll. I put a call into the server host, never heard back from them but it cleared up and had been running well ever since then (for me). No issues this morning


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## Ti-Ron (Mar 21, 2007)

Not slow anymore but each time I connect myself I have a message like "Could not find phrase 'invalid_redirect_url_x'"..... and I have to reconnect to be fine!


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## zurn (Oct 21, 2009)

I've had no problems whatsoever!


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

This morning is the first time it's been loading normally for me in over a week.


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

Really slow for me again today. A bit better with Chrome but really painful with IE.


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

davetcan said:


> Really slow for me again today. A bit better with Chrome but really painful with IE.


Ya it takes forever to load a page. And the backgrounds behind posts stay grey for a long before the white loads as well. I am running Chrome and Firefox on Mac.


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

I am running IE as usual. No issues at all. Its funny how it seems slow for some and not for others. Why is that?


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## Guitar101 (Jan 19, 2011)

Running Chrome on Windows 7 - No issues here


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

GuitarsCanada said:


> I am running IE as usual. No issues at all. Its funny how it seems slow for some and not for others. Why is that?


I wish I knew. Because when it does happen to me, the site is almost unusable.


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

Running Chrome on Windows XP - No issues here


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

Yep same here. I'm running Chrome or IE on Windoze 7 also. Very fast computer, high speed internet, all other sites no issues, just this one. Bummer!


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

torndownunit said:


> I wish I knew. Because when it does happen to me, the site is almost unusable.


I will do some scouting around on the vb forum. See if I can find some kind if answer


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

I just made a few suggested changes to the program, let me know if that help you guys any


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

I'll let you know for sure tomorrow but for right now the page still seems to take a while to load but is definitely faster once it has. Definitely liveable 



GuitarsCanada said:


> I just made a few suggested changes to the program, let me know if that help you guys any


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

It appears a little faster for me this morning. It still doesn't load in a way that I would consider 'normal' for the forum though. But a lot better. I'll update the thread if I see any more issues. I wish I could explain the problem better. The pages start to load at a normal speed, then almost 'choke up' when the problem occurs. Something stops them from loading, and the white background on the page doesn't fully load. It stays grey behind the posts, and all the posts don't load.

Now it is loading quicker, but there is still a bit of that 'choke' before it loads.


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

Exactly the same here. Definitely better this morning but still not "good". Are you running Norton 360 by any chance? Just wondering if virus software could have something to do with it.




torndownunit said:


> It appears a little faster for me this morning. It still doesn't load in a way that I would consider 'normal' for the forum though. But a lot better. I'll update the thread if I see any more issues. I wish I could explain the problem better. The pages start to load at a normal speed, then almost 'choke up' when the problem occurs. Something stops them from loading, and the white background on the page doesn't fully load. It stays grey behind the posts, and all the posts don't load.
> 
> Now it is loading quicker, but there is still a bit of that 'choke' before it loads.


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

By the way you are describing it, it would seem that it is stalling at something. Everything has to load, the backgrounds, the icons, javascript. it all gets done in sequence and should take 4 seconds or less on a good speed. I will also check with the hosts to see where we are. We are on a shared server and they can sometimes be an issue depending on the load or time of day. There are alternatives there as well. But right now the size of the forum and traffic should still be ok on a shared server. Eventually if we keep growing we will need to look at VPS or even a dedicated server.

It still runs fairly fast for me. Not lightning speed but not slow enough to cause me great concern. So it appears that for some users there is an issue. I have never been a fan of Norton, it slows everything down.


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

After lengthy discussions with my current provider and some investigations it would appear we are underpowered again. So I will be making a move probably at the end of this month. Either with the current provider or a new one. As we grow, so do the requirements.


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## Guitar101 (Jan 19, 2011)

I have recently added an antenna to my 3G stick that I use for internet access. This has greatly increased my speed so I haven't noticed any slowing down of the GC forum. However, when I was running at a slower speed, I noticed that it would pause every once in awhile running Google Analytics. Could it be that this is what some people are experiencing?


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

Guitar101 said:


> I have recently added an antenna to my 3G stick that I use for internet access. This has greatly increased my speed so I haven't noticed any slowing down of the GC forum. However, when I was running at a slower speed, I noticed that it would pause every once in awhile running Google Analytics. Could it be that this is what some people are experiencing?


We dont run a ton of add ons here, iTrader, google analytics, some java scripts but these are all normal in todays world. Nothing that should cause any issues provided the system is in place to handle the size. I have spoken to several forum owners of similar size and larger and they have advised me where we should be in terms of server strength, and in particular the amount of RAM required to handle the requests we get. It is clear we need to make move soon. Traffic increases the more you put out there in cyber land to be found by people searching. So it needs to be done. I will try to make it as painless as possible on everyone. We wont lose anything in the move. A little downtime.


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

After a week of pretty good performance this place has been brutal last night and this morning so far. IE or Chrome make little or no difference.


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

davetcan said:


> After a week of pretty good performance this place has been brutal last night and this morning so far. IE or Chrome make little or no difference.


Hnag in there for a few more weeks. Once I make the server move all issues (at least everything I can do) will be resolved


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

Ahh that's good news, thanks. I was about to make a little video to show comparitive performance using TGP as an example  Mind you it slows down too occasionally. I did try turning off my AV stuff but it had little to no effect.



GuitarsCanada said:


> Hnag in there for a few more weeks. Once I make the server move all issues (at least everything I can do) will be resolved


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## Morkolo (Dec 9, 2010)

Runs great here, no slowdowns as of yet.


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## NGroeneveld (Jan 23, 2011)

Running IE on the Mac - no problems here at all.


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

Geography may play a part. Not sure. Last two posts are from the east coast with no issues. Interesting


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

Could be. I'm on Rogers High Speed now and have no issues since switching over from Sympatico (which was a complete dog) a couple of years ago. Could be the Rogers Server is getting bogged down occasionally but then things like Kijiji and TGP are still blazing away at normal speed. Very confusing.



GuitarsCanada said:


> Geography may play a part. Not sure. Last two posts are from the east coast with no issues. Interesting


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

One thing I know for certain, we have reached capacity of our current server. So we need to move onward and upward


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## Ship of fools (Nov 17, 2007)

Every time I sign in its never been a problem in terms of speed, its just as fast as any other site I visit.ship


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

I still have the issues off and on. Right now, it's working completely fine. At one point yesterday I was having the loading issues. I am on Rogers Extreme, and there are no problem with my speeds when I test them. This is the only site I have any issues with. But, clearly not many other people are having this problem. So I don't know if there is some problem with something on my end or what. I have been using Forum Runner more lately for the forum anyway.


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## bagpipe (Sep 19, 2006)

I can't wait for the server upgrade. Performance has been brutal for me recently - super slow. I've even typed out responses to threads a couple of times, only to have the page timeout. I'm on Rogers at home, but I also notice the same thing when logged in at work. Other forums work just fine.


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

bagpipe said:


> I can't wait for the server upgrade. Performance has been brutal for me recently - super slow. I've even typed out responses to threads a couple of times, only to have the page timeout. I'm on Rogers at home, but I also notice the same thing when logged in at work. Other forums work just fine.


It is a bizarre issue. I can honestly say that outside of 2-3 issues we have had over the years, that I have never had a problem with the forum loading. At home or at the shop, or anywhere for that matter. When I say we are slowing down I mean we are into the 4 second range which to me is getting too slow. But beyond that, I have never had an issue. I would love to understand why certain people have an issue and others dont. You would think that it would affect everyone


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

Well 2 common denominators so far, we`re all in Ontario and all on Rogers. Really makes no sense as to why it`s just this site though. 

edit: after typing this and trying to post it the site "hung" for about 30 seconds before I killed it. Tried to load the page again and it "hung" again. I then shut down IE and loaded with Chrome, still slow but loaded. Once I did the message I thought got hung (this one) actually did post. Curiouser and curiouser.



GuitarsCanada said:


> It is a bizarre issue. I can honestly say that outside of 2-3 issues we have had over the years, that I have never had a problem with the forum loading. At home or at the shop, or anywhere for that matter. When I say we are slowing down I mean we are into the 4 second range which to me is getting too slow. But beyond that, I have never had an issue. I would love to understand why certain people have an issue and others dont. You would think that it would affect everyone


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

davetcan said:


> Well 2 common denominators so far, we`re all in Ontario and all on Rogers. Really makes no sense as to why it`s just this site though.
> 
> edit: after typing this and trying to post it the site "hung" for about 30 seconds before I killed it. Tried to load the page again and it "hung" again. I then shut down IE and loaded with Chrome, still slow but loaded. Once I did the message I thought got hung (this one) actually did post. Curiouser and curiouser.


Even more bizarre. I am at the shop now and we run Bell over here. All is well. At home I have Cogeco High Speed, no issues. Maybe it has something to do with how the different providers are attempting to pull the data from the servers? I dont know enough about the whole thing to make an informed comment. All I know is when I talk slow, its the 4-5 second variety.

Given the type of issues a few of you are having I am not sure the new server is going to solve it. But speed wise, we are sitting just below most large sites right now. With the upgrade we would be back in the top 2 %


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## fredyfreeloader (Dec 11, 2010)

I don't know how fast everyone wants to go. I'm out here in LA LA land Vancouver and I am on Shaw high speed extreme, there is one faster it's called holy crap I didn't know the internet was this fast. I just did a totally unscientific test. _I started Safari clicked on GC, 4 seonds to open the main page,_ clicked on forum 2 Seconds to open, clicked on open mic 2 seconds to open, clicked on this thread 2 seconds to open, page 1-2 etc. 1-2 seconds to change pages. I do find that my Imac is faster than my laptop PC on everything, maybe someone else with an Imac not using Safari, say Firefox or something else will have a slower login. The time doesn't seem outrageous to me but then what do I know I live in North Vancouver and we are a strange group.


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

Check your internet connection speed. See where you are at with Rogers. Here are my results from Bell at the shop

http://www.speedtest.net/result/1479766404.png


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

I agree on thinking the server upgrade may not solve our problem. I just ran the speed test here and I'm getting 34.48 Mbps download and 504 Kbps upload so in theory my cable internet is working as advertised. By comparison the best I ever got with Bell was about 5.0 Mbps for the same monthly fee.



Last Result:
Download Speed: 34484 kbps (4310.5 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 504 kbps (63 KB/sec transfer rate)
Mon Sep 12 2011 19:14:29 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time)




GuitarsCanada said:


> Even more bizarre. I am at the shop now and we run Bell over here. All is well. At home I have Cogeco High Speed, no issues. Maybe it has something to do with how the different providers are attempting to pull the data from the servers? I dont know enough about the whole thing to make an informed comment. All I know is when I talk slow, its the 4-5 second variety.
> 
> Given the type of issues a few of you are having I am not sure the new server is going to solve it. But speed wise, we are sitting just below most large sites right now. With the upgrade we would be back in the top 2 %


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## traynor_garnet (Feb 22, 2006)

Slooooow here. On my WII it is sometimes brutal. I notice the facebook logo when it is really slow.Using Bell.TG


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

Interesting, so that rules out the Rogers/Ontario connection. Have all of us having problems linked our FB accounts?



traynor_garnet said:


> Slooooow here. On my WII it is sometimes brutal. I notice the facebook logo when it is really slow.Using Bell.TG


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

davetcan said:


> Interesting, so that rules out the Rogers/Ontario connection. Have all of us having problems linked our FB accounts?


I tried the fb thing linked and not linked. I even shut the whole fb thing down. It does use some resources when it loads. But the overall effect was negligible


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## fredyfreeloader (Dec 11, 2010)

I don't know if time of day in Ont. is affecting your times. Here I have noticed on Shaw that certain times of day like early morning before people go to work 6:00AM to 9:00AM and then say 4:00PM to 7:00PM when they get home can be considerably slower because of the number of people logged on, my speed test time can vary considerably during these periods.

My speed test times at 4:20PM today were
ping 13ms
download 21.28 Mbps
Upload 2.40 Mbps

during peak times my download can drop to 17.00 Mbps and the upload to 2.00 Mbps I don't know if this compares with your speeds.


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## bagpipe (Sep 19, 2006)

GuitarsCanada said:


> Check your internet connection speed. See where you are at with Rogers. Here are my results from Bell at the shop
> 
> http://www.speedtest.net/result/1479766404.png


Just tried it. I'm with Rogers:

http://www.speedtest.net/result/1480007658.png

Strangely enough, it seems like things have improved since earlier this evening. Pages load much quicker and I don't get the long delays. I'll try the speed test again when things next slow down.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Seems to be working relatively well for me.

I don't do Facebook though.


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## Jeff B. (Feb 20, 2010)

I've never had any issues with the speed of the site, even with Facebook. It always loads quick for me and my internet connection is far from the fastest available. It's just a 5Mbps cable line. My browser is Opera and the OS is Linux.


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

davetcan said:


> Well 2 common denominators so far, we`re all in Ontario and all on Rogers. Really makes no sense as to why it`s just this site though.
> 
> edit: after typing this and trying to post it the site "hung" for about 30 seconds before I killed it. Tried to load the page again and it "hung" again. I then shut down IE and loaded with Chrome, still slow but loaded. Once I did the message I thought got hung (this one) actually did post. Curiouser and curiouser.


I have had that happen. The pages just don't load. The site headers and menus load, then it chokes up. I have to hit refresh, then they load normally. I never have to completely shut down the browser. I have been curious at times if it's the banner ad causing any issues. because it almost seems like the pages stop loading right at it at times.

Again though, it only happens on this site lol. I use a bunch of other forums and sites daily and have no issues.


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## traynor_garnet (Feb 22, 2006)

I am not logged into Facebook, but on my WII the entire page bogs down and I can see the little facebook icon loading and holding everything. When it was turned off, the site was noticably faster. Even on my laptop, this site gets slow or simply won't load at times.


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

It's working "extremely" well for me right now. Best it's worked in quite a while. No idea why of course, LOL.


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## bagpipe (Sep 19, 2006)

davetcan said:


> It's working "extremely" well for me right now. Best it's worked in quite a while. No idea why of course, LOL.


Same here. Its a mystery.


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

Interesting article I was just reading on CBC. It seems the crtc sent Rogers a letter and told them to fix their throttling problem. Apparently they have a bunch of algorithms that throttle things like online video games etc. Lots of complaints by users. The other ISP involved was shaw cable. I know you guys are not playing video games on GC but where there is smoke there is fire

Could explain some of the issues with you guys on Rogers


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

That's very interesting, probably another subtle move to help them sell an "enhanced" service. That said the site has been running very smoothly over the past few days so "something" has changed.


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

davetcan said:


> That's very interesting, probably another subtle move to help them sell an "enhanced" service. That said the site has been running very smoothly over the past few days so "something" has changed.


I shut off the facebook interface a few days ago. That seems to have sped things up a bit. We are making the move to the new server tomorrow afternoon. That should take full effect before Monday night sometime.


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

Sorry for the downtime folks, made the move to the new server and had some issues. Things appear to be back to normal, some minor troublshooting to do.


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

I thought something was up...

C'mon! I got some deals in the works! 8)

Thanks Scott.


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

GuitarsCanada said:


> Sorry for the downtime folks, made the move to the new server and had some issues. Things appear to be back to normal, some minor troublshooting to do.


Whew! I was going through withdrawal!


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## flashPUNK (Feb 16, 2006)

Seems to be running much faster! Much much faster on ForumRunner!


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

flashPUNK said:


> Seems to be running much faster! Much much faster on ForumRunner!


Yes, very fast on the runner now. Speed increase here as well


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

OK, you dudes that were having issues. Lets get a report on your experience now. We are on the new server, triple the resources. So there should be no issues now on the server side.


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## bagpipe (Sep 19, 2006)

I'm having no issues at the moment - very fast. But, it did speed up for me some time before the server upgrade. So, I'm not sure it was the old server that was causing the bottleneck. 

But, I still want to say thanks for upgrading the server, and spending so much time listening to peoples concerns.


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

Similar experience to Bagpipe. Speed has been very good pretty much from the time you ditched the Facebook hook. Running very nicely now.




GuitarsCanada said:


> OK, you dudes that were having issues. Lets get a report on your experience now. We are on the new server, triple the resources. So there should be no issues now on the server side.


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

Wow, this site is fast on Chrome now. I usually use IE and its good, but I just fired up Chrome and its lightning fast.


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