Slow TRF access for AOL users

[milla Ca]

The last two days i have problems to open sites in TRF. It works so slow that i can have a cup of tea or do the dishes before i can see a new site.
My computer works fast when i look at other websites, only TRF makes these difficulties.
Can anybody tell me wether it´s only my problem or maybe what could be the reason?
Thank you!

 

[Elspeth]

It's a problem with several of Andy's sites; he knows about it, and he's working with the server admins to try and get it sorted. We'll post updates when we get them. In the meantime, be patient (yes, I know - easier said than done) and enjoy all the tea.

 

[milla Ca]

Thank you for answering so quick, Elspeth! ( This evening a have a bottle of wine...easier to be patient)

 

[Elspeth]

I've just tried to connect via AOL rather than my cable provider, and I'm having the exact same problem. We'll be losing AOL users left and right at this rate. I mean, sitting there for five minutes watching a blank screen isn't exactly a great use of a person's time.

 

[milla Ca]

I've just tried to connect via AOL rather than my cable provider, and I'm having the exact same problem. We'll be losing AOL users left and right at this rate. I mean, sitting there for five minutes watching a blank screen isn't exactly a great use of a person's time.

Thank you Elspeth that you try to help!
I wasn´t here for some days but now when i want to open TRF i need 6 minutes, and 4 to open this thread. It´s really bad and hard to wait and to enjoy the forums after waiting for some minutes to open only one site... I hope you can find a solution. Thank you!

 

[Elspeth]

Well, for the moment the only thing I can suggest is to keep at least a couple of windows open so you can go off and do other stuff while waiting for TRF pages to load, and always make sure to save your text when you're about to post in a thread or a PM in case the system times out on you. Beyond that, all I can say is that I know Andy's been working on it, and I've forwarded your IP number to him so he can add it to the list of AOL IP numbers that are experiencing this delay.

Thanks for your patience!

 

[Elspeth]

This is what Andy had to say in response to a PM about the problem (which is somewhat like his announcement a few days ago, but there seems to be a time frame now):

We are aware of extremely slow page loads for some visitors and are working to find a solution.. Our data center has contacted upstream providers and they responded saying "These issues are occurring because the connection between our networks is full."

Here is a brief overview of what is happening. The network servers use a system that sends the information back and forth over the shortest path in order to try to speed things up. Like taking the shortest road to work. The problem is sometimes there is the equivalent of an online traffic jam and even though the packets are trying to take the shortest path they cannot get through. So they sit there waiting and the pages load really slow.

We are looking at options to change to a different network that uses route optimization to find the fastest path (not always the shortest) to speed things up. This is more like watching the news and finding out where traffic is really bad and picking a new route to work. It might be longer but there is less traffic and you get their faster.

We are working on switching to a different network (which will likely happen next weekend). The only thing we can suggest for the short term is to keep trying to load the site. We will post updates to the announcement section of the site with more details as the week passes. If possible we will switch to another network during the week to get the speed of the site back to normal. We apologize for any inconveniences.

 

[Lady Jennifer]

I have noticed that it has taken a bit of time when I try to go in and edit a previous post of mine. Not a lot of time, but its not as fast. I'm guessing that is another issue of the server...

 

[Skydragon]

I have also noticed that when I am trying to post, it takes ages for the post to upload and on more than one occasion, I have left it to finish and when I check, it hasn't uploaded at all.

I don't use AOL.

 

[milla Ca]

Thank you for the information, Elspeth!
It´s good to hear that help is coming soon. Thank you to Andy too!
Today it works a bit faster so that i can have only half a cup of tea before the new site is open...

 

[Elspeth]

GlitteringTiaras, another frustrated AOL user, has suggested the following workaround while Andy's trying to get this issue sorted.

Members who have Windows XP, Pro, '99, and so forth automatically have IE on their computers. If members log on to TRF via IE they will have no problems downloading the site (hence they won't have to wait 90 years in order for the page to load.)

Instead of logging on via AOL I now use my IE when moderating the forums. When I'm finished I simply log off and head on back to AOL.

So here's the temp solution: Ask members if they have the IE icon on their computer homescreen. If so, ask them to log on to TRF via IE. That should solve their connection problems. It worked for me so...

 

[Duke of Marmalade]

It seems there is some improvement
I am on aol but unfortunatly couldn't spot an IE icon on my screen. So I gave it another try via aol and it seems to get better. The last days I was unable to log on via aol as the side did not build up at all and I got stuck. Now it's still very very slow but at least I am able to log on, read threads and write posts.

Many thanks for your support to everyone who is involved in getting back to the old speed. Hang on there

 

[Lady Jennifer]

It seems there is some improvement
I am on aol but unfortunatly couldn't spot an IE icon on my screen.

You might be able to download IE onto your computer, if you are inclined to.
Internet Explorer: Home Page

 

[Aurora810]

OMG! I was just thinking the last few days, what the deal is with the slowness and I had clued into the fact that it was only when going to TRF. I wasn't sure though what to think. Then I happened to see this thread today and I realize it's simply b/c I'm an AOL user. Hopefully, the problem is solved soon, in the meantime I will start switching over to IE when using TRF. Man, it was getting really annoying I was actually getting sad that I might have to stop caring about royalty if I can't operate TRF on my system. I'm relieved to know what is going on!

 

[Elspeth]

I'm glad you found the thread, Aurora. I've changed the thread title so more people will be able to see that there's a problem with access by AOL users.

 

[crisiñaki]

I've had the same issues with other VBulletin boards such as Skyscrapercity.com, I don't know if it's about it or not, just wanted to let people know

 

[RhapsodyBrat]

crisiñaki, i'm also at Skyscrapercity.com, and last night it took me ages just to get to one page that i decided to just quit surfing. i use IE at home. i also had page uploading and speed problems with another VBulletin forum (mb.corrsonline.com)

today i am using Firefox and i had a bit of speed problems as well. it took more than five minutes for the post i edited to upload.

so maybe it is VBulletin that's having a problem, and not the browsers?

 

[Duke of Marmalade]

You might be able to download IE onto your computer, if you are inclined to.
Internet Explorer: Home Page

Thanks Lady Jennifer, I found the IE on my PC Unfortunately no change, it's as slow as aol and yesterday eve it got worse as I was unable to send a reply to your message.

 

[milla Ca]

Only want to say that after ten days it works great and very fast again today! ( with AOL) I really enjoy it to open the sites in seconds not in minutes!

 

[Warren]

crisiñaki, i'm also at Skyscrapercity.com, and last night it took me ages just to get to one page that i decided to just quit surfing.

Skyscrapercity often has server problems, partly due to its sheer size, and also due to the huge number of images that have to be carried. As to TRF, it's loading and refreshing faster today than it was yesterday.

ETA... That last comment was premature, as page loading came to a virtual standstill a short time ago.

 

[Skydragon]

Thanks Lady Jennifer, I found the IE on my PC Unfortunately no change, it's as slow as aol and yesterday eve it got worse as I was unable to send a reply to your message.

I tend to use IE and that is where I had the problem.

 

[Lady Jennifer]

Thanks Lady Jennifer, I found the IE on my PC Unfortunately no change, it's as slow as aol and yesterday eve it got worse as I was unable to send a reply to your message.

I had problems with IE about 2yrs ago & I switched over to Firefox. Firefox might work better for you compared to IE for this site.
Firefox - Rediscover the Web

 

[Elspeth]

I was having some problems this morning connecting with IE and AOL, but IE's been better this afternoon.

 

[Duke of Marmalade]

Yesterday eve there was another improvement although still a bit slow but it seems we're getting there
By the way, IE did not work at all

 

[crisiñaki]

Yeah, now it's working faster
I still insist it must be something related to VBulletin, several forums, not only this one or skyscrapercity.com that run on that are VERY slow

 

[Elspeth]

I hope things are still better for the AOL users after the latest move. If you're still experiencing slow access, please say so here.

If there are any other issues, they should be posted in this thread in the Announcements section:

http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums/f14/notice-switching-new-network-13648.html

Andy is working to get e-mail notifications up and running for AOL users; we always seem to have problems with AOL when we do server and network moves, but Andy is expecting to have things working again soon.

 

[LadyMacAlpine]

I'm on AOL too, and it loaded faster than usual to get on a few minutes ago however waiting for the Reply to Topic was still slow. I haven't had any problem with email notifications except recently it sent me two replies to topic for the same thing.

Note to AOL users the free Virus and Spy Ware programs AOL offers will slow your computer down.

 

[milla Ca]

It works very fast today! Thank you for the helping hand!

 

[Duke of Marmalade]

Yep, back to normal! Many thanks to those who were involved in resolving the issue

 

[acdc1]

I've been having trouble today and yesterday with TRF being slow. Internet Explorer hasn't worked on my computer in two years (some strange reason), and I've fallen in love with AOL. I have absolutely no trouble in any other sights, but TRF is very slow. It usually loads instantly, but now it takes 1 to 2 minutes to load. Is any other AOL users having this problem?