Very slow image load times over past few weeks

[PNSSHOGUN]

Noticing extremely slow load times for images lately, my connection isn't the problem as I've made sure to check the speed multiple times in this period. Anybody else noticing this?

[Bruce Pennington]

I've always thought the slow photo loading was normal!!!  Pictures are always delayed and slow, it seems.

[Brian]

Have changed the way pics load, will use more resources but may load a bit quicker. I think the fact that people are uploading huge image files directly from cellphones is causing our issues.
I am guessing I cannot allow free and huge image hosting forever. We are well over 600,000 files. Most forums encourage imgur or external hosting.
I may need to consider limits some how. It also slows down things at peak times. I'll check with the hosts and see what is the best way forward.

[DRDave]

I think you're right about file size contributing to the problem.  Other forums I frequent limit the file size that can be posted.  I thought I'd do my part and delete my attachments that weren't needed, but I couldn't find a way to do it.

[m4l700]

Just noticed this thread/section that I rarely visit.

However, @Brian I'm not sure if it's possible with Invision or at the hosting company, but converting(automatically) all images to webp and/or using a CDN like cloudflare cdn reduces the file sizes and could speed up the loading time a lot. Since the payload would be greatly reduced on each request, which results in a faster response and better user experience in the end. But again, I dont know what is possible with Invision and these optimisations.

But that is easier said than done. Coming from a Full stack / Lead Developer, if you ever need some help or another set of technical eyes/brains just ask. 

[1kinko]

I know nothing about how this (or any other) site works, but now it’s really slow to open the site itself, slower yet to open individual topics, and I frequently just give up on opening posted photos. Bummer.

[Brian]

Been working with the hosts here, and really can't find any issue this side. Site is up and running smoothly.
If I check this site: https://wheresitup.com/ it shows the site is reachable from everywhere ok.
https://tools.keycdn.com/traceroute and https://dnschecker.org/online-traceroute.php don't show any pings not reaching the site.
Perhaps anyone with the knowledge can ping 156.38.200.30 and see if there are any lost packets and where.

Those experiencing slow times, if you could tell me if it is all the time, or what exact time (let's say PST or UTC) it is worst, and what country?
Also, if any members outside of the USA can say if they have the issue too?

Sites I have checked loading times on:
https://www.webpagetest.org/

https://tools.pingdom.com/

https://www.dotcom-tools.com/website-speed-test

 

Where are our website experts? I'm fairly confident the problem lies with overseas ISP's, and the routes their traffic is taking. But need to know how to resolve the issue.
Simple test: click START. Then type CMD --> enter
Then type ping www.militaria.co.za and enter. Do you have any lost packets? And how many milliseconds?

[Brian]

Oh...one more thing.
When the page is loading slowly....(pc only) press CTRL + F5 and see if the page loads? This refreshes the page, without using the cache.
 

[Stephen]

  On 3/29/2022 at 5:43 PM, 1kinko said:

I know nothing about how this (or any other) site works, but now it’s really slow to open the site itself, slower yet to open individual topics, and I frequently just give up on opening posted photos. Bummer.

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Tried to respond to this earlier with i thought it was just me, but it wouldn't open and now Brian has done something because when I opened up Bam Bam Bam everything opened.

I don't know 

[DRDave]

I switched from at least an 8yr old (may actually be closer to 10) Sprint 3G to TMobile 5G.  Wow!  Photos load much quicker now. 

[Brian]

Also need to know, the guys having this issue.....are you on mobile or pc?
If it turns out it's mobile, it may be something to do with the themes for cellphones. Try switching to "full version" on your phone, and tell me if it loads faster?
Then maybe we need to work on the mobile theme.

[Stephen]

all i know is its getting very very tiresome. to the point where i dont want to hassle it. current auction probably my last hurrah.

[MarcoUdin]

On mobile I do notice it loads slower than not. Especially if I have a different theme set, which doesn't make much sense to me!

[Bruce Pennington]

  On 3/30/2022 at 11:06 PM, Stephen said:

all i know is its getting very very tiresome. to the point where i dont want to hassle it. current auction probably my last hurrah.

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  On 3/31/2022 at 12:06 AM, MarcoUdin said:

On mobile I do notice it loads slower than not. Especially if I have a different theme set, which doesn't make much sense to me!

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I have had it happening on my laptop just as often as on my phone. I have literally gotten up from the table and to get a cup of coffee to wait for the photos to load sometimes. It doesn’t happen very often and I can’t identify when it is going on on a regular basis,

[MarcoUdin]

Sorry, i forgot to mention it is not an all day thing. Only happens certain times of day but can't really pinpoint a pattern.

[Stephen]

I went to default theme same old same old

[Brian]

So it is only images that are loading slowly?
Pages that have only text etc load fine? If so, then that is something I can work on. Doesn't help that people insist on uploading huge files straight from phones that take images that are a few megs big. This is the ONLY forum I know that allows free uploading of images, and pretty much unlimited.
I may need to institute restrictions on number and size. I think a server dishing out 20 images on a page, all a few megs big, to hundreds of people simultaneously...may be an issue.
But if you guys can confirm its just images...then that is something I can take up with the software designers. Trying to get to the bottom of it.

[Stephen]

Not just images. For page to open.

But once opened images can just sit there and take forever too open.

[Brian]

I'm playing with some caching setting and page load settings, so if anyone sees any significant difference at any stage, let me know.

[Bazza]

Today everything loads quickly except NMB main page and the photos.  Generally much slower overall.  I've done numerous speed tests and the PC/ISP are all OK, except NMB!!

 

BaZZa.

[Brian]

Again, can I ask for details?
Cell or pc?
What theme?
Did you do a ping to militaria.co.za and where are the hops ending?
If you press Ctrl + F5, does it refresh fast or still slow? I still cannot diagnose where the problem is. All fine this side. So it's not the software and can only be international lines.
But without detail and feedback I can't fix anything.

[PNSSHOGUN]

Slow load times last two days on threads even without images (like this one), images timing out constantly or stuck loading for 10 minutes. Have tried changing my DNS setting and get the same results with the 1.1.1.1 DNS, Google 8.8.8.8 DNS and my ISP's advised DNS, the issue has continued intermittently throughout the months no matter the DNS. For a few days a week it will be lightning fast, threads and images load very fast even when D/Ling large files. I did 3 pings while threads were loading really slowly and this was the result for all three:

 

Platform: PC

Theme: default

CTRL+F5 - no difference

 

Pinging militaria.co.za [156.38.200.30] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 156.38.200.30: bytes=32 time=471ms TTL=48
Reply from 156.38.200.30: bytes=32 time=470ms TTL=48
Reply from 156.38.200.30: bytes=32 time=470ms TTL=48
Reply from 156.38.200.30: bytes=32 time=471ms TTL=48

Ping statistics for 156.38.200.30:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 470ms, Maximum = 471ms, Average = 470ms

 

Now when I ping some other sites (0% packet loss on all of these):

yuhindo.com 19ms

markussesko.com 18ms

youtube.com 19ms

japaneseswordindex.com 181ms (isn't this hosted by you?)

nipponto.co.jp 189ms

 

 

 

[Brian]

Thanks John, that helps a lot.
I'm working on it all the time. Trying to get a different caching system working, otherwise I may try a CDN service (More $'s per month, sigh) or even change host if I need to.
I can't have this affecting performance of the site, and hence also support/donations.
I'm not ignoring it, just doing a lot in the background to try and faultfind.

[1kinko]

Working well on Mac and slightly better on iPhone here in Virginia. It was really terrible this past weekend on iPhone, so something seems to be working.

[Stephen]

Its working for now. 

See what other threads open.

[Brian]

Well, trying a bunch of stuff this side.
One good thing, if it works sometimes, then we know it can be fixed to work all the time. It isn't a permanent issue. So if it happens again, don't panic. We just need to narrow down the reasons until we find it, and fix it.
Thanks for the updates.

[1kinko]

Whatever you did the NMB is back on iPhone and Mac in Virginia. Perfecto!

[PNSSHOGUN]

Opening and replying to this thread took over 5 minutes, almost unusable currently.

[Stephen]

Must have changed continents.

Open for me again today.

[1kinko]

Mac still good, iPhone back to never. Is it the latest iPhone update?