I don't know if this is the right place to post this but my access to N gauge forum and its contents has slowed down considerably over the past week or so.
All other web page access is as per normal so I don't think its my computer that's the problem.
Any feedback would be appreciated.
I am the same Bob takes some pages to turn over quite a while, Like news pages turn over quite fast.
Maybe there is more folks reading the N Gauge forum.
Same for me too, makes no difference whether I use IE8 or Chrome or Firefox!
No problems here in Oz, that goes for my desktop PC and Tablet mind you our broadband speeds are already slower than in the UK.
I am also finding it slower than other sites, Bill.
Its working fine for me..posted this at 7am just to test
It's been patchy for me today.
We are aware of the problem and it is being worked on, sorry if you are one of the ones suffering but it seems very patchy and hard to localise the problem. Thanks for your patience. :)
Quote from: Caz on November 03, 2014, 09:18:16 PM
We are aware of the problem and it is being worked on, sorry if you are one of the ones suffering but it seems very patchy and hard to localise the problem. Thanks for your patience. :)
Not a real problem just yet!! Everything is accessible but slowly. Good luck in solving the problem soon.
Hi Caz mine is slow at times and sometimes I have to log out and start again.
Bob
Yes, it's patchy... my access was slow this morning but it's OK now.
Probably 'cos Melbourne Cup is about to run. The Aussies are glued to TV screens!
Go 'Who shot the Barman'!
Seriously, we're looking at the problem. :thumbsup:
I'm sure you're all interested, but I'm gonna tell you anyway....
It came third. :'(
Anyway I'm telling you all this pretty quick, so at moment, speed OK.
Except for me horse. :'( ;)
We've recently upgraded to the latest version of the forum and it seems to be causing some issues with the load on the server, and therefore slowing the forum down. Hopefully there will be a fix for it in the coming weeks.
Hello Fred here.Dont have any problem with this site but I'm having trouble with Hattons site for a few months now .It takes for ever to login .And items on some pages are all mixed up.
Fred
Quote from: FRED LEWIS on November 04, 2014, 10:19:39 AM
Hello Fred here.Dont have any problem with this site but I'm having trouble with Hattons site for a few months now .It takes for ever to login .And items on some pages are all mixed up.
Fred
Fred the hattons site is having some problems and at this moment in time the site is down, lets hope they get it sorted.
Thanks Geoff thought it was my lap top. Fred.
From 10.00 this morning the forum seems horribly slow to load pages. Not limited to IE as I have the same issue with Firefox ???
You are not the only one NPN mine is so slow that I'm turning of after this and going down the shed.
Bob
Quote from: Bob Tidbury on November 10, 2014, 10:51:47 AM
You are not the only one NPN mine is so slow that I'm turning of after this and going down the shed.
Bob
Almost at a standstill here!!
Really slow here as well
Yes, here as well.
Gerry
Fine for me :P
Quote from: MikeDunn on November 10, 2014, 04:27:30 PM
Fine for me :P
OK - your fine is £50 to the forum coffers >:D
Quote from: newportnobby on November 10, 2014, 05:05:45 PM
Quote from: MikeDunn on November 10, 2014, 04:27:30 PM
Fine for me :P
OK - your fine is £50 to the forum coffers >:D
:laughabovepost: :laughabovepost: :laughabovepost: :laughabovepost: :laughabovepost: :laughabovepost:
Quote from: MikeDunn on November 10, 2014, 04:27:30 PM
Fine for me :P
I think its speeding up again - bit of a roller coaster this. I won't say its 'fine' cos I don't need anyone telling me I'm fined £50!!
This is definitely a BT problem I was unable to connect via my BT connection at home, just got into work and I got on straight away and the works connection is Talk Talk.
I shall contact BT and let them know my problem.
Quote from: Geoff on November 11, 2014, 07:57:05 AM
This is definitely a BT problem I was unable to connect via my BT connection at home, just got into work and I got on straight away and the works connection is Talk Talk.
Not so sure about that, been very slow here too and I'm on a 4G mobile on O2 that is usually quite quick ;)
Paul
Quote from: Geoff on November 11, 2014, 07:57:05 AMThis is definitely a BT problem I was unable to connect via my BT connection at home, just got into work and I got on straight away and the works connection is Talk Talk
error 503 also being returned concurrently on Virgin Media, O2, and three
15 minutes later and all was well, confirming the issue is with the server and not the ISP
Quote from: Sprintex on November 11, 2014, 08:29:21 AM
Quote from: Geoff on November 11, 2014, 07:57:05 AM
This is definitely a BT problem I was unable to connect via my BT connection at home, just got into work and I got on straight away and the works connection is Talk Talk.
Not so sure about that, been very slow here too and I'm on a 4G mobile on O2 that is usually quite quick ;)
Paul
Thanks for the reply Paul as I got on with Talk Talk quick thought it was BT.
Quote from: mjkerr on November 11, 2014, 08:43:12 AM
Quote from: Geoff on November 11, 2014, 07:57:05 AMThis is definitely a BT problem I was unable to connect via my BT connection at home, just got into work and I got on straight away and the works connection is Talk Talk
error 503 also being returned concurrently on Virgin Media, O2, and three
15 minutes later and all was well, confirming the issue is with the server and not the ISP
Looks like its a National problem.
It has been variable here in Swindon on Virgin it can change from page to page it sometimes takes seconds to open a page at others it is instant.
Same here in Spain, very variable.
Running normally here all day in semi-rural Sussex (he says, keeping fingers crossed...)
Chris
I couldn't access the forum at all for much of yesterday, most of you folks would have been in bed.
Quote from: Geoff on November 11, 2014, 09:11:40 AM
Quote from: Sprintex on November 11, 2014, 08:29:21 AM
Quote from: Geoff on November 11, 2014, 07:57:05 AM
This is definitely a BT problem I was unable to connect via my BT connection at home, just got into work and I got on straight away and the works connection is Talk Talk.
Not so sure about that, been very slow here too and I'm on a 4G mobile on O2 that is usually quite quick ;)
Paul
Thanks for the reply Paul as I got on with Talk Talk quick thought it was BT.
Quote from: mjkerr on November 11, 2014, 08:43:12 AM
Quote from: Geoff on November 11, 2014, 07:57:05 AMThis is definitely a BT problem I was unable to connect via my BT connection at home, just got into work and I got on straight away and the works connection is Talk Talk
error 503 also being returned concurrently on Virgin Media, O2, and three
15 minutes later and all was well, confirming the issue is with the server and not the ISP
Looks like its a National problem.
Make that an international problem - same issues here in Doooobey, or should I say Dubai.
Like the rest of you it's been variable. First tried at about 10am and it wouldn't load, about 6am UK time.
Dan
Slow to load pages here in Canada as well......... :sleep:
Can confirm it's slow a lot of the time.
In fairness I only found the forum a week or two back and had formed the idea that this was just how it is on here! I'd never considered this might not be normal! :-[ :sorrysign:
Despite having BT's 'best' Infinity the forum has, regrettably, been very slow these last couple of weeks with only the odd occasion when its pages load quickly :(
Quote from: newportnobby on December 02, 2014, 09:46:35 AM
Despite having BT's 'best' Infinity the forum has, regrettably, been very slow these last couple of weeks with only the odd occasion when its pages load quickly :(
Its the moderators fault really they are not pedalling fast enough.. :bounce:
Of the dozen or so sites I visit at least once each day, NGF is by far the slowest I have come across, this includes 7 other forums, weather forecast, Ebay etc. I have Virgin cable at 30M +, (just did a speed test and got 32.7M down, 1.97 up)
QuoteIts the moderators fault really they are not pedalling fast enough..
Nah, the Mods don't do the hard graft, it's the pair of hamsters on the treadmill, just that the mods forget to feed them enough.
Its slow on mine and I'm using BT Infinity, speed test shows 64.4M down and 16.5 up.
Can take up to a minute to load a page but, has on a couple of occasions in the last 14
days loaded almost instantaneously.
Roger
I think Geoff is on the right lines perhaps we should all send the Moderators some Snickers bars for Christmas might build up their energy so they can peddle faster , no matter how fast or slow it's still the best forum for us Ngaugers.
Bob
I wish you lot would be quiet, me and the hamsters are trying to sleep here >:D :smiley-laughing: :smiley-laughing:
cheers John :dighole:
Me too...it's getting quite annoying so I've just stuck another coin in the meter. I wouldn't mind paying more for smooth running so if you need to increase your monthly fund-raising goal I'll help out whenever I can.
Cheers,
Brooksy
I can only repeat my previous comment on November 11th... still chugging along as normal at this end.
Weird, ain't it?
Chris
Quote from: scotsoft on December 02, 2014, 10:48:07 AM
I wish you lot would be quiet, me and the hamsters are trying to sleep here >:D :smiley-laughing: :smiley-laughing:
cheers John :dighole:
You speak for yourself, my hamsters are awake and very well fed and are pedalling like mad. ;) :-X
Dunno about any hamsters but my two chinchillas will be fast asleep :D
Paul
It was so slow yesterday, I thought I was back to using penny a minute old school internet, rather than broadband. Still very slow today, especially logging on.
I just threw a couple of our big hairy Huntsman spiders on the wheel... has that speeded things up any? :D
No, but it did scare off the hamsters ... :confused1:
Quote from: Bealman on December 02, 2014, 08:33:02 PM
I just threw a couple of our big hairy Huntsman spiders on the wheel... has that speeded things up any? :D
Nope they have frightened the hampsters and now its almost at a standstill I think you had better get on the wheel just to see what kind of driver you will make, maybe get Tank to join you to shovel the coal.
Maybe some one was experimenting with diferent oils on the hamster wheel and used tractor gearbox oil instead of Dapol pink water thin oil .
Bob
Quote from: Bob Tidbury on December 02, 2014, 09:26:29 PM
Maybe some one was experimenting with diferent oils on the hamster wheel and used tractor gearbox oil instead of Dapol pink water thin oil .
Bob
Don't sit on the fence, Bob :no:
We know you mean DesertHound :-X
:laughabovepost: :claphappy: :laughabovepost:
Actualy I think desert hounds experiments are a good idea ,We need more people like him to do the research for us and as you probably know I was only joking ,and I think you've nearly got your mojo back NPN.
Bob
Quote from: Bob Tidbury on December 02, 2014, 09:38:33 PM
Actualy I think desert hounds experiments are a good idea ,We need more people like him to do the research for us and as you probably know I was only joking ,and I think you've nearly got your mojo back NPN.
Bob
Nearly there, Bob, despite just being diagnosed with mild bronchitis ;) ::)
Its getting worse, just took me well over an hour to get on here, kept getting error 503 & error 500 :confused2:
even now its very slow to upload a new page... :(
cheers, Stu.
Finally back on here after 2 hours!
It's taken several hours to get here!!
Back on here but it is still pretty slow.
Had problems all day, 503 errors on and off during day, when I eventually get in very slow in accessing threads and threw me out at least once, froze at other times.
A bit better now.
Ray
Hi all. Slow here to. 20 minutes to log in. By :hmmm:
Me too.....perhaps trade in the Spiders and Hamsters for Gerbils?????
They're faster...... :confused1:
Taken several hours (most of the evening) for the Forum to reach me here in Tenerife tonight.
Is it a capacity problem I wonder, or some other Website Host problem. Other Forums I use are all working fine. Perhaps the NGF Website is having an early Xmas Party and is a little hung over. :D
Very patchy access for me for the last few days. Once I'm in it seems OK, but getting in in the first place has mostly been impossible today and difficult / slow for a few days - lots of 503 messages. None of the other websites I regularly visit are affected.
Got this message 3 - 4 times, then managed to log in.
Service Temporarily Unavailable
The server is temporarily unable to service your request due to maintenance downtime or capacity problems. Please try again later.
HTH
Roger
If/when I get in I'm contemplating staying in, open a new tab for other work. It's getting beyond a joke!
Is it the software or the server that causes the problem? Will we get better service if we pay more?
You're still having trouble? I had thought that problems had stopped for most of today. :worried:
No problems with our set up on SKY B.B :claphappy:
:thankyousign:
Quote from: Dorsetmike on December 04, 2014, 07:16:25 PM
If/when I get in I'm contemplating staying in, open a new tab for other work. It's getting beyond a joke!
Is it the software or the server that causes the problem? Will we get better service if we pay more?
I know all you guys out there are doing your best to keep this Forum going but I think it might be time to ask some serious questions of your server/software providers as to what can be done to sort this problem out. Over the last couple of days I have had very limited access to the Forum.
I also had trouble getting on the forum again earlier this evening, seems to be o.k again now at the moment...
cheers, Stu.
Thanks austinbob, I am speaking to our hosting company about it. :thumbsup:
I have noticed that when you lads and ladies are asleep back home that the forum can be out of action for quite some time, this has been happening quite a lot lately, I have to try several times for up to one hour to access the forum.
Just to confirm that it is very patchy here.
At the moment it's working (not as I would expect but acceptable) but at about 6-00pm I gave up as I couldn't get on at all.
Similar picture over the last few days.
Same here in Norfolk. Very intermittent connection over last douple of days even if I stay logged in takes ages to load pages and can end up with 503 message. Using EE as ISP provider and Firefox for web access.
I've been trying on and off all day Just sent an Email to Tank to say that I keep getting message Server Not Responding Tried again and it's working ,what is going on is it because there are too many members , or is it because there are too many posts .Do we need to delete some of the older threads or some of our own P M s I am not well up on this sort of thing but I wish it can be sorted soon I really enjoy the Forum and all the help and tips we get here but it's very anoying when it's not working properly.
Bob
It's looking likely to being an issue with the forum itself and the way that it's coded. I'm waiting for updates and a possible fix.
Would not let me in for 3-4 hours, hope you can sort the code out Tank.
If Tank you don't get a satisfactory answer to the problems currently being experienced with the Forum, it may be worth while considering swapping to another hosting company.
I don't know much about "SimplePortal", but a number of other Web Forums I use are hosted by "vBulletin" and that seems to handle lots of members and lots of posts quite easily. Don't know what they charge though.
Thanks TDM. We changed hosts not so long ago (May?) and although everything was fine at first, the problem did follow us. So, it is likely to be some problem with SMF (Simple Machines Forum software). One of their engineers/developers is looking into it for us, so I am reliant on them.
SMF is highly customisable, which is it's attraction. Something somewhere must be creating a lot of load for the server.
Quote from: Tank on December 05, 2014, 07:12:40 AM
Something somewhere must be creating a lot of load for the server.
Perhaps hosting all the media files is causing issues?
Quote from: Lawrence on December 05, 2014, 10:29:55 AM
Quote from: Tank on December 05, 2014, 07:12:40 AM
Something somewhere must be creating a lot of load for the server.
Perhaps hosting all the media files is causing issues?
Those must certainly put a strain on the on the allocated bandwidth that the forum is entitled to.
I know of at least one non railway related board that has had to ban the storage of photos etc and only allows links to Photo.bucket / Utube and the likes.
The cost to them had dropped considerably and much more bandwidth freed up for threads
Ah - I'm posting pics on my advent calendar until Xmas. They are railway related - happy to have them removed after December if it helps. I think it's the videos that are the problem if it's related to data sizes.
I wouldn't have thought video or picture storage is the issue, that doesn't really affect the bandwidth used. That is related to users accessing the site. The data sent to your PC as a result in you looking at pages added together for all concurrent users gives the bandwidth. Sometimes I have seen memory leaks in software causing memory and processor overloads which also can cause server issues.
I thought as much too Malc. Just thought "if" it's anything to do with data then the videos are monstrous. I think it's something at SMF's end. That said, I'm not qualified in IT so I'll leave it to the experts.
Dan
Don't know if its any help but, the Series 2 Club forum uses -
Powered by SMF 1.1.9 | SMF © 2013, Simple Machines LLC
This gives instant access for logging on/in and going round the various posts.
Is there much difference between the above and the one we/you use -
SMF 2.0.9 | SMF © 2014, Simple Machines SimplePortal 2.3.5 © 2008-2012, SimplePortal
Roger
Not too slow here although slower than a few weeks/months ago. It takes around 5 seconds to load a page without pictures (like this one) which is not as quick as some but ok by me. If it was as slow as I am at building a layout then we would have serious problems.
I'm using Sky broadband by the way with a current download speed of 11.3Mbps according to Sky and others of 9.68 and 10.46.
I tried to access the forum for 5 hours last night but could not get on, I also found another railway forum I am a member of has the same access problems.
I don't know how true it is but I read in a computer magazine a few years ago that one day the internet would be full and severe access problems would be the start, rather like a near full glass of water with only a few drops left before it overflows :thumbsdown:
Quote from: Malc on December 05, 2014, 03:11:34 PM
I wouldn't have thought video or picture storage is the issue, that doesn't really affect the bandwidth used. That is related to users accessing the site. The data sent to your PC as a result in you looking at pages added together for all concurrent users gives the bandwidth. Sometimes I have seen memory leaks in software causing memory and processor overloads which also can cause server issues.
I stand corrected :-[ just thought if people were accessing it a lot it could compromise the accessibility
Running pretty damned well at 21.05 5.12.14 :claphappy:
Edit: running so well that I've read everything in a quarter of the time it would have taken. Hope everyone else is finding the same.
Quote from: Lawrence on December 05, 2014, 10:29:55 AM
Perhaps hosting all the media files is causing issues?
No, it is taking up a lot of room, but wouldn't cause the issues we have regarding load speeds.
Quote from: jonclox on December 05, 2014, 02:25:09 PM
Those must certainly put a strain on the on the allocated bandwidth that the forum is entitled to.
Although it would do, we're on an unlimited bandwidth package now thankfully. :)
Quote from: Oldun on December 05, 2014, 04:41:59 PM
Don't know if its any help but, the Series 2 Club forum uses -
Powered by SMF 1.1.9 | SMF © 2013, Simple Machines LLC
This gives instant access for logging on/in and going round the various posts.
Is there much difference between the above and the one we/you use -
SMF 2.0.9 | SMF © 2014, Simple Machines SimplePortal 2.3.5 © 2008-2012, SimplePortal
Roger
The SMF 1.x.x is out of date now and from what I remember is unsupported. There are security risks! I highly recommend moving onto the SMF 2.x.x software. It has far more functions available to it.
Its taken me 2 1/2 hours to get logged onto the forum this morning, there was a 500 error stating Scripts.
The forum has been running faster for me the last few days until this morning.
Thanks! I'm waiting to hear back from the hosting company. I fear that the whole forum will need to have it's coding starting from scratch, as something somewhere is causing too much load on the server.
Is the hosting on a VPS or shared account?
If a VPS, then have you considered swapping to https (SSL) and dedicated IP address? (a small premium but almost essential for high load uses)
I would also be asking the host if the MySQL is shared
Does the account use Cloudlinux, if so are there any restrictions?
As far as I can work out, from limited visitor use,there aren't any issues with the scripts themselves, it is the MySQL connection
If there were scripts issues then other features wouldn't be working, but they appear visible when the forum is not
No the VPS isn't shared, and we're yet to move to it. This has happened on three different hosting company's, and the problem still comes back. The engineer from SMF knows that there are scripting issues and has tried various tricks to help, and is looking for a solution. The forum isn't really that big, so we shouldn't be having these issues.
Quote from: Tank on December 13, 2014, 12:32:59 PMNo the VPS isn't shared
That's contradictory, as a VPS is partially shared; it depends on account rights
Nobody else will be using the VPS.
Quote from: Tank on December 13, 2014, 04:08:10 PMNobody else will be using the VPS.
That would suggest you have root access
However, the resources and MySQL database are shared on a VPS account (hence the name, rather than Dedicated)
I would also suggest checking the IP address, to make sure they are dedicated and not shared
However, the simple solution here is to swap to the use of https and SSL
Reckon this conversation should be taken to PM and those with the necessary expertise pull together for the overall good of, not just the forum, but the hobby as a whole.
But please leave your predilections behind and come up with a solution that, a) works, b) can be easily implemented, c) affordable and, d) is future proof (as far as is practicable)
Thanks
Quote from: Lawrence on December 13, 2014, 09:07:46 PM
Reckon this conversation should be taken to PM and those with the necessary expertise pull together for the overall good of, not just the forum, but the hobby as a whole.
But please leave your predilections behind and come up with a solution that, a) works, b) can be easily implemented, c) affordable and, d) is future proof (as far as is practicable)
Thanks
I agree with what you say but don't forget Tank and his colleagues are trying to sort this for us using their own time with whatever support they get from US!
Quote from: austinbob on December 13, 2014, 09:14:10 PM
Quote from: Lawrence on December 13, 2014, 09:07:46 PM
Reckon this conversation should be taken to PM and those with the necessary expertise pull together for the overall good of, not just the forum, but the hobby as a whole.
But please leave your predilections behind and come up with a solution that, a) works, b) can be easily implemented, c) affordable and, d) is future proof (as far as is practicable)
Thanks
I agree with what you say but don't forget Tank and his colleagues are trying to sort this for us using their own time with whatever support they get from US!
Only too aware of that Bob, trust me :doh:
Yeah I know Lawrence. No offence intended. I think we all just want this problem resolved.
Hope I'm not putting the mockers on it, but the forum is tazzing along at the moment :thumbsup:
Yeah same here. Warp factor 3, Mr Zulu!
Quote from: Bealman on December 13, 2014, 10:25:13 PM
Yeah same here. Warp factor 3, Mr Zulu!
Are you talking to a particular member of the African nation ???
I stand corrected. Change that to "Sulu."
Cracking along here as well, maximum 2 seconds between 'changes' going from post to post :thumbsup:
Roger
Did we have an 'outage' this morning as between 09.45 and 10.45 (approx.) I couldn't access the forum :confused1:
YEs, seems to have been about then, and a short while last night. Thank you!
Quote from: Tank on December 17, 2014, 11:58:06 AM
YEs, seems to have been about then, and a short while last night. Thank you!
Caught that last night and this morning, it's like losing your car keys where do you go, that's when the pub comes in handy. Works for me :beers:
At 09:45? Good man! :beers: