Web Pages often load slowly or time out

Hussman

Hussman

Hussman

Associate
Joined
1 Nov 2003
Posts
1,268
Location
Maidstone, Kent
Hi,

Any ideas to help solve this would be great...thanks in advance.

I get my internet from Smarty (Three network) - via a 4G router connected to Google Wi-fi pucks.

I live in a 3 bedroom semi and have 5 wi-fi pucks around the house.

This set up worked well. According to Speedtest I was getting an average of 30Mbs DL and upload of 6-10Mbs. Plenty for what I require.

Shortly after the start of lockdown I began to notice a significant drop in the speed webpages would load. Initially I assumed that this was due to higher demand as more people were now working from home.

However, as time has gone on I am now finidng some webpages fail to load at all and time out. These are sites like bbc.co.uk so I am assuming it is an issue my end and not theirs.

If I hit refresh sometimes the page loads (slowly) other times it still times out.

I reset my google wif-fi but this has made no difference. I have reset the router. Again no difference.

The odd thing is this is not consistent. I can try to load a page and wait ages. I can return to that page the following day (yes - I've cleared the cache of data) and it loads quickly.

Now, at this point I was assuming the culprit was the 4G signal. Too many smarty/three users in the area contention issues etc. But here's the odd bit...

I was talking to my neighbour about it and he kindly gave me the password to his Sky wi-fi. When I connected to that I was expecting to find things sped up and that would clearly indicate the issues was with the 4G signal. But that wasn't the case.

Even when connected to next door's wifi (Sky standard broadband) I am having the same issue with slow webpages etc.

I then thought it could be a DNS issue. I've checked and double checked and all the DNS settings I can find are pointing to Google DNS (8.8.8.4 and 8.8.8.8).

I'd rather not revert to a landline-based service as I had no end of trouble with dropped lines etc and BT were not able to find the fault despite 3 visits.

I am now out of ideas. If it makes a difference, I am using mainly Apple hardware (iMac, iPhone and Macbook).

Over to the forum experts...help me Obi Wan Kenobi...you're my only hope.
 
Thanks for taking time to reply.

Not on any VPN.

Will try 1.1.1.1 and report back after the weekend.

My feeling was it's a DNS issue but can't work out why?

Hussman
 
Hi,

"To check if DNS is working OK, when you have a site that fails to load open a command prompt and try to ping it. So if www.bbc.co.uk doesn't load do 'ping www.bbc.co.uk' in the command prompt. Post the output and assuming you get replies, note roughly how long it takes from when you enter the command to when the ping starts."

Will do...

"When you're using the wifi from next door, are you connecting your device directly to that wifi network or connecting the Google wifi to it and then your device connects to the Google wifi?"

I'm connecting directly to the wi-fi, not via google wi-fi.

"I'm assuming you're connecting directly to the wifi next door and not using the Google wifi so knowing that you're still having problems, assuming the wifi signal you're getting is strong enough it sounds like your device is the problem."

The issue being it is the same on my iphone, my iMac and my ipad. Wherther I connect to my own wi-fi or next doors. Confiused.com

I'll try the suggestions currently given over the weekend and report back.

Thanks

Hussman
 
Hi Fellas,

Ok, more confused than ever now.

I changed the DNS to 1.1.1.1

Initially web sites like bbc.co.uk loaded as expected. I thought the issue had been resolved. However, I then tried to visit www.johnlewis.com. The same issue occured. Nothing happens then (after about 20-30 seconds) the website loads.

I opened up teminal and pinged johnlewis.com. The request timed out.

I then tried panasonic.com.

Again, no website. When I pinged the request times out. However, when the website eventually loaded I was still getting time outs on the ping???? See below

PING panasonic.com (210.226.40.63): 56 data bytes
Request timeout for icmp_seq 0
Request timeout for icmp_seq 1
Request timeout for icmp_seq 2
Request timeout for icmp_seq 3
Request timeout for icmp_seq 4
Request timeout for icmp_seq 5
Request timeout for icmp_seq 6


So it looks like 1.1.1.1 made no difference and ping requests are timing out but the webpage still loads eventually.

Speedtest is coming bsack with 32 DL and 15 UL

I'm not on any VPN and I'm using the latest version of Firefox (although the same issues occur when uing Safari or Chrome Too). My iMac is running High Sierra and is the 2017 27 inch model with 8gb RAM.

Getting frustrating now.
 
Interesting, thanks for the update.

I agree. If I access webpages via wifi on my phone. I get the issue. If I access them via 4G, no problem. So I don't think it's a THREE/ Smarty issue.

Really odd.
 
Th0nt said:
Its their network, they cant cope so the proxy backs up. Streaming and such isnt really affected. You can try many methods but your not really bypassing the issue as its their infrastructure being messed with incorporating 5G and getting back to the regular work that piled up over covid lockdown.
Click to expand...

So if I went back to a landline based broadband it would stop the issue, right?
 
Ok, today's update.

Web page speeds seem better (so far) today. Using 1.1.1.1. (Of course it could be lack of contention as I suspect there are less users online before 8am)

I've had a look at the thread on the think broadband forum.

I see that using a VPN removes / reduces the problem. I will try to get a SIM for another network and see what happens. In the mean time would going down the VPN route resolve some/all the issues do you reckon?
 
Th0nt said:
Better news, about tea-time last night I got 4G back and its been much better since. Something went on with the local mast I think, engineer done few hours then left. Most loading issues would be at the server end now and dealing with the volume of subscribers until other regional work gets completed.
Click to expand...

That's good to hear.

I'm currently running on 3G and it is much faster.

From what you say I think, over the weekend, I'll revert back to 4G and see if I notice an improvement too.
 
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