skirtcafe.org

Has anyone noticed the site being slow? I haven't profiled it, but it feels like it takes at least +1s or longer.

Coder wrote: ↑Thu Aug 21, 2025 4:31 pm Has anyone noticed the site being slow? I haven't profiled it, but it feels like it takes at least +1s or longer.

Yes, each page takes time. Thought it may be due to a VPN I was running, but taking that out of the link made no improvement.

It is actually at its "correct speed" right now, but indeed it is often slow. Like there are waves of slowness

I've also seen Chrome tell me my skirtcafe.org tab is using too much resource and offering to sleep it.

It is also hanging for me. Where a page used to load in 1-2 seconds it now takes between 5 and 15 seconds.

There have been periods of slowness on the site recently, but there have also been times where it's been pretty sprightly. I'm putting it down to an oversubscription of resources at the hosting facility where the software and the database run. This has happened in the past, and is usually cyclical, i.e. it speeds up and slows down in response to the load placed upon the physical servers and the backing databases.

We are just one very small piece of this. Give it time.

I would not notice. It is always slow for me and I know what the problem is; crap internet in rhe outback. 6.5 Mbps download and 0.3 upload ........ at best.

A quick update based on a passing observation: The issue seems to have something to do with the SSL keying and encryption. If SSL is disengaged (for testing purposes) then response time is quite sprightly indeed; however, with it engaged (as it customarily is) the slowness manifests.

This bolsters my opinion that it's likely a matter of load on the server that's at the root of this. It'll likely get fixed at some point when some big customer gripes. (We're too small to really count.)

Today I've been seeing 6+ second load times for the initial page, and then any dynamically loaded asset (ie, file.php) taking just as long.

If it's shared hosting there is generally little you can do... however...

I'm assuming you have access to the hosting control panel - sometimes there are some tools there you can use to dig in further, but I haven't had a DreamHost account in a long time, assuming that's the host.

I know CloudFlare has recently been adding rules to block AI web crawlers - I don't think crawlers would explain the slowness... but a review of web traffic could point to increased usage by bots/crawlers which could impact speed if they are using up the "allotted" bandwidth.

Lastly - and I'm sorry to bug you about this stuff but it's kind of what I do on a daily basis - have you chatted with the hosting support? It's possible they could identify a "rogue" actor on the shared hosting that's overusing server resources. It all depends on the plan level and type of hosting... but worth a shot.

Obviously, things like checking for slow queries, php warning's (ie, log files filling up rapidly) and storage space all could be things to look into.

I've been noticing the site seems much slower than usual, however because I'm currently in the Philippines, I suspected the issue was more to do with an external bandwidth or other problem concerning traffic into and out of the Philippines.

I did not suspect my current connection as I'm on fibre to the premises here, and I can achieve speeds of 200Mbps down and close to that up, and for latency to the server available via speedtest.net in Cebu (adjoining province and different island) of around 15 to 30ms.

I've noticed the Cafe' being slow, then normal.

Currently, it is VERY SLOW. All pages of the Cafe' are taking 2 to 3 times the normal loading times.
All other sites I use are functioning normally, just the Cafe' being SLOW.

Also, I've changed ISP's. I've ditched my cable I-Net. Their modems would talk to my routers
for about 1 or 2 days, then stop. It didn't matter what they said my speed was, if the modem
doesn't talk to the router, it's a NO-GO.

I'm now using Starlink Satellite Service and just ran a speed test at 01:30 AM, CDT.
I'm getting 228Mbps down, 12Mbps up and 23ms latency. I've had my down load speed
as high as 454Mbps and 40Mbps up. Latency went up a bit but for my 'normal' usage,
I get around 200 to 250Mbps down, 25-30Mbps up and 18-20ms latency.

Yes, I'm paying a bit more per month but I'm no longer getting communication interruptions.
The streaming services I use, no longer have interruptions in playback.

I'm a lot happier with Starlink service.

Uncle Al

Anecdotally (i.e. I have no hard scientific evidence on this), I've seen speeds of the Care vary from snail-like to virtually normal. It seems fastest in the evening and slowest during the morning (incongruously, as one would rightly expect the reverse). It's likely nothing I have any control over; and it seems to be a general shared-server overload condition. Command-line tests of database speed indicate normalcy in all cases, so we don't have a "bloated" database that's running slowly. What I do notice is that with SSL turned off (NOT recommended!) it's MUCH faster, but entirely insecure, and this tends to bolster my opinion of general heavy loading on a resource we likely share with hundreds of other sites (some of which no doubt dwarf us) and probably some "A.I." foolishness soaking up all available computing cycles.

It's around 22:00 UTC and things for me now are actually quite fast on the forum. Beats me!

For me, just now (1522hrs UTC+1) 67 seconds to load the first (login) page, but much faster thereafter.

And 28 seconds to load this page (from "post reply").

i.e. Significantly slower than it was 10 days ago.

Today, 14:30 CDT, I'm averaging 30 seconds(+/-) to load the main page.
15-20 seconds(+/-) to load sub-pages. 20 seconds(+/-) to load a reply page.
The 'Smilie' page would not load after waiting 60 seconds.
Preview and Submit buttons take 15 seconds(+/-) to "work".

The "Host Site" must not be feeding the mice enough to spin the wheel,
powering the site's generator

Uncle Al