If PF Is Slow...

If PF is slow all the time for some people, ca I make a suggestion? Change internet providers.

I thought I had good internet, but I went to my parents place last night, took the computer along, and tapped into theirs. They have a different provider, little more expensive, but bloody hell, was it FAST! Normally, PF is slow for me around night times - and I mean snails pace. At my parents place, it did slow down, but it was still a heck of a lot faster than it usually is.

I actually downloaded a few songs to see how fast it was. At home, it takes around 4 minutes for one song to download. At my parents place, those songs took a few seconds to download.

So, while this might not be the issue for some people, it might be worth checking into, seeing if you can 'borrow' someone's internet for an hour or so (as long as they have a different provider) and see if there is any difference in speed.

 

This is a great idea Mak. I 'borrowed' someone's internet for an hour just as you suggested. I cut my leg crawling through their window, went deaf from the friggen burglar alarm blasting and their dog bit me. But you were right - their provider is better and faster and PF loaded great! Once I get out of jail I'm definitely changing internet services.

 

The issues I continue to experience at PF, are specific to the site itself, not connectivity/processing (speed) issues with my PC or ISP.

Just saying.

 

Can I ask how you know this?

 

I have a FIOS connection speed of 25 mbps and the site is still extemely slow, but I believe it's related to 2 things;
1.) The new vBulletin SW
2.) my older Windows XP PC.


I'm running an older HP PC w/WinXP SP3 with all current updates. Procesor is P4 1.8ghz w/2GB RAM. I have no problems on all of the 5 other Forums besides this one that use older versions of vBulletin software, so the problems with extreme slowness is specific to the new changes here at politicalforum.com. I've tried Firefox and IE8, both of which display the extreme slowness on this site. However, when I access the site at the old backup site all is ok.

As a test, I tried accessing this forum using a Windows XP SP3 PC here in my office that is running on an older Dell PC with a P4 3.0ghz processor w/1GB RAM and all is fine. So part of the problem is my older HP PC and part of the problem is the new vBulletin softeware.

I suspected that loading "images" had something to do with the new software being so slow, so I went into IE Tools > Advanced and in the Multimedia section I unchecked the option to Show Pictures (on my older HP PC) . Once I did that, the forum seemed to speed up but now the Titles of the New Posts could no longer be seen!!! Ah HA!!! This is the big clue! The new vbulletin software is using "images" to display each title instead of using text and loadig and displaying all those images is what bogs down the browsers on an older PC. This is my guess on what's happening.

To solve the problem, please look into the vBulletin configuration to see if there is an option to NOT USE IMAGES for the thread titles. If you can get it to use text instead of images, it might solve the slowness problem for many users and especially those that are running older PC with WinXP. This might also solve another problem where in IE8 if you go to View > Zoom and change it from 100% to 125% the thread titles (New Posts) are truncated. Again a problem associated with using images for the titles instead of text. Images can't automatically wrap text so it get truncated!

I hope this helps becasue from what I'm experiencing in extreme slowness on my older HP PC, I suspect that many others are having simialr problems resulting in such frustration that would cause them not to use the new forum as much as they did before. Some people may be experiencing slowness do to their connection speed (loading all those images) and other may be experiencing extreme slowness due to their older comuter not being able manage/process all those images. People with a slow interent conection AND an older PC may not be able to use the new forum at all!

Again, I hope this helps.

---pete---

 

Hi Mak,

Well, it's so simple that it'll sound as though I'm being a wiseguy... but, this is the only site I have issues with. Both with the old site (version), and the upgraded one, the same issues persist for me. Although not as frequent with the upgrade.

I wish I could offer a fool proof solution for the betterment of everyone, unfortunately I can't. But I'm remain confident that eventually it will be resolved, and appreciate the effort.

Regards

 

Makedde wrote: I actually downloaded a few songs to see how fast it was.

Sounds like yer internet provider is rationing your bandwidth...

... they do that sometimes, especially DSL, if they think yer usin' too much to d/l audio and video.

 

Yep, what they said....no issues with ANY other site, be it another forum, a news site, or whatever. I don't get why there's been a major upgrade, and still so many problems. <sigh>

And I have dam sure been patient - some posters have given up and left. Looks like traffic is down in general too.

 

This is the only site I have major problems with, but still, using a different provider did speed things up, so I just suggested it in case someone wanted to give it a go.

 

I'm getting logged off every other time I post to a thread ... this is unbelievably frustrating as I lose my post and have to re-log-on and of course losing my post ...

I'm on IE8 in 64-Bit Windows 7 for this forum ... (I just had to re-log-on to make this post)

 

It no doubt would if I understood a bloody word .
At what University did you learn to speak that language?

 

One has to be Bright, on the button and educated to communicate like that. Obviously not in your home town, I guess.

 

It's like a guy I know who's still on Windows 95 ... LOL.

 

But, but, but... if we all bought new computers and signed up for higher-speed internet providers, we'd get much better response on this site!

ROFLMAO... hilarious. Obama's not the only one they'll defend to the death, is he?

 

PF is slow, at times, rarely for me, then it speeds up.
Just a guess, but it may slow down during quick maintenance or such. See it if occurs in a patters, seems so for me.
Also, clearing my cookies (don't call me the cookie monster ) on regular basis does wonders. Doesn't cost a penny, and is available to all.
Constructive criticism is always welcome. Please let us know, so we can pass on the issues as they arise.

 

It was a suggestion, Smartie, not an excuse to mock the forum.

And you must like the forum a fair bit, because you are still here. One would think that those who complain constantly about this forum would find another forum, but they don't. So it seems obvious that despite all its faults, you actually like this place and want to continue posting here?

 

To be clear. It is not your ISP causing these problems. Different people here are describing different symptoms - I never get logged out for example.

These are bugs with the site (not complaining, just observing).

 

Additionally, I notice for a couple of hours the same time everyday, the site slows down. I presume this is when a higher group of US posters come on line.

Changing your ISP will not improve this.

 

No prob, Mak... we get your 'love it or leave it' philosophy loud & clear. Not everybody is as good as playing doormat as others. I've donated over $100 to this site... but it's nice of you to invite me to leave. Nothing like dedicated mods to add to a forum's friendly environment.

 

The site gets slow for me around the same time everyday. I think this likely when the Admin is doing some updating. I didn't say that changing your ISP would fix the problem - but the site does work faster for me. It still slowed down at the usual time, but it wasn't as sluggish as usual.

I have donated a small amount as well, and intend to donate more in the future. I didn't invite you to leave, I just can't understand why someone could complain about the site, yet continue to post daily. If it were me, I would up and leave. Its like saying that the food you bought at the take out shop was terrible, but you continue to make purchases there. It makes no sense.

 

Good advice. Thanks.

 

We should all leave.

 

Thx for not telling us how stupid we are for staying, Falena.

Of course everybody's sick of waiting for the technical probs to be fixed. Some of us are sick of 'living' without the BASIC features we used to have... like knowing WHO'S ONLINE, for pete's sake. (We're posting BLIND here... y'all know that, right? There's no way to know who's here so you have to grope around 'til ya find 'em.) The technical quality of this site is ridiculous when compared with other forums. But the quality of regs who post here has always been exceptional... that's what drew me in and I'm still in awe of some of our posters. I hate seeing folks leave, too. No matter how many new bells & whistles we get, it's gonna be tough to hit that 4400 posts a day we were doing when we had all the bells & whistles they took away from us 'for our own good.'

You seem to be the only mod capable of talking about the prob rationally. Shall we start a poll and elect you to be the official spokesperson for this neverending ordeal called an 'upgrade?'

 

*blush*

Awwww, thanks Sweetie, I think the world of you as well.

You wouldn't "miss" me for too long... 'cause first place I'm going is your house!

Great food, vino... music and dancin' on the roof................................

hahahahahaha