BBS takes ages to load

[Greebo]

For the last week or two the HTC BBS has been taking up to a minute to load when I click on its icon. Or rather it hangs there doing nothing for up to a minute, then loads the page in a few seconds. This happens with both the IE and Opera browsers, but I have no problem with any other sites. Once the BBS index page has loaded, other pages on the BBS load normally in a few seconds. This only affects my home PC, my work PC does not have this problem.

I'm a bit worried that some rogue program is hijacking my internet connection for a minute, but scans have not revealed anything. Anyone have any idea what could be causing this?

[Chalenge]

I used to have the same problem until I moved to using OpenDNS which makes everything faster and much much safer plus I dont lose connection once a week every week...

[Chalenge]

I have to report also that anyone that suffers from the Comcast disconnect problem would be well off to use OpenDNS but you have to use a router (which you should anyway) and when you join OpenDNS (there is a FREE version which is all you need) they ask which router you use and give you specific instructions on how to configure it. You wont get disconnected anywhere near as much if at all.

[Greebo]

Thanks for the suggestion Challenge. I'm using OpenDNS now and it seems like a useful security upgrade in general. However the BBS still takes a minute or so to load. Its not a big deal in itself, but it bothers me that I don't know why its doing that.

[Rolex]

It happens to me too. Not a minute, but it certainly hangs longer than any other site I frequent on the internet. Since the DNS is resolving quickly, I always assumed it was the database hanging (perhaps from an automated database maintenance or sorting occurring during HTC off-peak hours), or some slow IP address filtering to keep out the persona non grata types.

[Greebo]

I did consider that Rolex, it happens at all times though. There was that sex site spammer on the BBS a couple of weeks ago, maybe HTC tightened security. Strange that it happens on one of my computers and not the other though. Something related to my home ISP (Pipex) possibly? Perhaps they don't chase out spammers or something.

[Skuzzy]

Nothing on this end has changed.  Still loads snappy for me at home.

[Rolex]

It's intermittent for me, but it sure is snappy right now! Ouch!

[Skuzzy]

It could be your ISP's DNS taking a while to resolve at the moment when you first hit the site.  That should be the only thing that would cause an initial delay in opening the board.

That does not discount the possibility of some other issue causing it, but I think anything else is going to be something out of the ordinary.

[Greebo]

It is an odd one, isn't it? OpenDNS doesn't resolve the problem and its not something HTC is doing. I'll try borrowing a laptop and see if I get the same issue with a different PC on my internet connection.

It's reassurring in a way that I'm not the only one to have this problem though.

[Heater]

Greebo,

Seeing that you are on this side of the pond... it may be the route to HTC... the last few days I have also seen the same thing... i.e. slow to load (time outs even) but then looking at the internet traffic..... it's been very bz the last week....

Cheers

[ImADot]

If you think it's a DNS thing, would adding an entry to your Windows hosts file help at all?  I'm no networking expert, just thought it might help but not sure.

[TnDep]

If it is a laptop and it's occuring when you first open it, the computer hasn't connected to the wireless yet.  If it's still slow even after the wireless is hooked back up and I recommend exiting out of the browser and starting a new one.  If this is a desktop comp. try deleting temp. files, history, and cookies to see if that helps.

[Greebo]

Well the laptop and my desktop both have the same issue when used from my home. So the problem is probably internet related rather than something on my PC. That was my main concern really, that some dodgy software was using that minute to "phone home" every time I connected to the BBS.

I thought of entering the numerical address of the BBS to avoid DNS issues, but the browser just gave me an error message when I tried. My router is ethernet based so its not a wireless issue.

Thanks for all the suggestions guys, I'll let you know if I figure it out or it resolves itself.