ASF Site Performance

[Joe Blow]

Could anyone who is having difficulty accessing ASF via a particular ISP please contact their technical support department and ask if there is anything they can do to restore access.

I have no idea why ASF would be blocked by any ISP but these things do sometimes happen, and the reasons why are often unclear.

If you do have success in getting ASF unblocked please let me know by posting about it in this thread.

Many thanks!

 

[Country Lad]

Could anyone who is having difficulty accessing ASF via a particular ISP please contact their technical support department and ask if there is anything they can do to restore access.

I have no idea why ASF would be blocked by any ISP but these things do sometimes happen, and the reasons why are often unclear.

If you do have success in getting ASF unblocked please let me know by posting about it in this thread.

Many thanks!

I have not been able to connect to ASF for the last 5 days except for a test I did with a different modem. Could open this site on an other modem but not with mine. Same ISP for both.

According to two IT people I asked, seeing it is an issue only with ASF, then likely it is a compatibility problem with the modem and the ASF server and most likely can be fixed only at the ASF end. I can't comment on whether that is correct or not. Unfortunately, I can not remember when this problem started because I have not been a regular contributor here. Thinking back, I can't remember having this issue in the past, say one year or more ago. It has certainly been a problem over the recent months.

As I see it, the facts appear to be:

1. I am not the only one having this problem;
2. It is not a problem of getting into the site – my browsers can not find the site;
3. The problem is intermittent, I can’t connect most of the time;
4. Aussie Stock forum is the only site which is a problem;
5. The same problem exists on all 3 browsers, IE, Chrome and Firefox;
6. The times when I can’t connect I am using the Sierra Ultimate wireless modem;
7. My ISP is Telstra (Telstra, not Bigpond)
8. Using the Ultimate modem is not an issue with any other site, it is only Aussie Stock Forum which has this issue;
9. When I can not connect using the Ultimate, I can connect using other wireless devices;
10. It is not about cookies or any of the normal things which cause connection problems.

Cheers
Country Lad

 

[MrBurns]

I'm back up and running after a visit from 3 charming Russian techs from Telstra

I too have the Ultimate connection, all is working now ok, thought it must have to do with a wireless connection that I've had to use for the last 5 days, 4G Wi Fi dongle from Telstra but who knows.....if it happens again now I'm back online I'll have something else to think about.

Perhaps Joe can post his email address in case any one drops out at least he can be contacted about it.

 

[Country Lad]

Perhaps Joe can post his email address in case any one drops out at least he can be contacted about it.

---

Or email it to me because I can't connect here most of the time.

Some further discussions with my IT man led to some more experimenting. My feeling is that the issue lies at the server end.

We thought it may relate to the MTU so I played around with those and the results are interesting. I found a few cases where people reduced the MTU in Windows 7 and overcame this same problem I have, and others where it has not made any difference.

I looked at various packet sizes for both Google, Aussiestockforums and a couple of others I visit regularly. The results should have been the same, but weren't.

As expected, pinging at 1500 (Windows7 default), the packet was too large and needed to be fragmented to be sent. This is normal, slows the speed down a little but usually not noticeable. Happens on nearly all computers.

On incrementally decreasing the MTU value using the Google site, at 1450, the packet did not need to be fragmented and it pinged normally. This means if the packet size is reduced to 1450, then theoretically, optimum speed is achieved, assuming the other end can handle that size. If the other end can’t accept a packet that large and needs to break it down then there is no real advantage. Same result with my other regular sites.



There is a school of thought that W7 can be tweaked to reduce the MTU down from its 1500 but it is unlikely that even if there is any speed difference it will probably not be noticed.

The point is that at 1450 works well going to Google (and to other of the sites I regularly visit)

When I did the same thing with ASF, it behaved very differently to all the others. Reducing the MTU incrementally did give similar results UNTIL I reached the correct packet size. Instead of pinging normally without fragmenting the packet (as should occur and occurred with all the others I tried) the pings timed out.



The normal ping which uses a very small packet worked fine.

There is one other factor which I have noticed that when I have been able to connect, it was off peak (late night and early mornings) when there is less traffic. As the traffic increases and in some case things slow down a tad, I lose the connection to ASF. Again, I connected this morning but will most likely lose the connection shortly.

To me, all that indicates there is something very different at the ASF server end. So a few questions could be:

- has the site been moved to another server in the past year or so? because I can not remember having this issue in the dim past;
- are we sharing the server?
- and if so, what are those sites so those of us with the problem can see if those sites give the same result as ASF which would then strongly indicate a server issue.

I could change the MTU in Windows 7 on my computer, but I am not inclined to fiddle with my operating system for possibly questionable results overall, for the sake of the only site I have a problem with. My IT man advised to be careful modifying the MTU because TCP/IP performance is based on a lot of different variables and changing one might totally stuff up other settings.

I think it’s over to you Joe.

Cheers
Country Lad

 

[Country Lad]

Interesting today, I am still here after 4 hours, normally I lose connection by now.

Cheers
Country Lad

 

[Joe Blow]

has the site been moved to another server in the past year or so? because I can not remember having this issue in the dim past;

No, ASF has been on the same server for at least three or four years now.

are we sharing the server?

There are a small number of other domain names hosted on the server but they are all owned by me and none have anywhere near the same amount of traffic as ASF. No other hosting clients use ASF's server.

and if so, what are those sites so those of us with the problem can see if those sites give the same result as ASF which would then strongly indicate a server issue.

One of them is Down Under Index, a web directory of Australian websites that I have been compiling over the years. Feel free to check it, and see if you encounter similar connection issues.

I think it’s over to you Joe.

I will get ASF's host to look at the issue and see if they can figure out what the problem might be.

 

[hangseng]

Could anyone who is having difficulty accessing ASF via a particular ISP please contact their technical support department and ask if there is anything they can do to restore access.

I have no idea why ASF would be blocked by any ISP but these things do sometimes happen, and the reasons why are often unclear.

If you do have success in getting ASF unblocked please let me know by posting about it in this thread.

Many thanks!

Joe for what it is worth and further to our emails I am using Windows 8 now and still the same problem.

I use 4 ISP's here in Jakarta as the internet generally is third world. The one I am responding on now is my apartment and about as good as I get and the only one I can connect to ASF, the other 3 all I can't connect.

In Aus I have no problem and there I use Westnet and Telstra.

Hope there is a solution found

Cheers
Peter

 

[nulla nulla]

Have you modified your modem settings away from default settings, trying to improve line speed by anychance? Sometimes changing the settings improves speed at the cost of connection reliability and causes dropouts

 

[Country Lad]

Have you modified your modem settings away from default settings, trying to improve line speed by anychance? Sometimes changing the settings improves speed at the cost of connection reliability and causes dropouts

No, and as I said before it is only ASF which has the connection problem, all the others websites and forums are OK

Cheers
Country Lad

 

[Country Lad]

In Aus I have no problem and there I use Westnet and Telstra.

Do you bring the modem with you to Aus or is it a different modem here. A common factor with those of us having a problem is also the modem.

Cheers
Country Lad

 

[hangseng]

Do you bring the modem with you to Aus or is it a different modem here. A common factor with those of us having a problem is also the modem.

Cheers
Country Lad

No I only ever use wifi connection on my laptop, apart from one external modem, and the only desktop is the Aus home PC that I rarely use. All Indo wifi modems are only for Indo and vic versa for Aus.

Have four different ISP modems here in Indonesia, 3 x3G wifi and one is direct 3G CDMA connection. The CDMA won't connect to ASF and only one of the others will connect to ASF and that is the apartment one I am on now.

Aus I use Telstra Bigpond both on 3G mobile wifi dongle I take everywhere (well almost) and home shared wifi with direct PC connection on the desktop.

 

[Country Lad]

Have four different ISP modems here in Indonesia, 3 x3G wifi and one is direct 3G CDMA connection. The CDMA won't connect to ASF and only one of the others will connect to ASF and that is the apartment one I am on now.

Aus I use Telstra Bigpond both on 3G mobile wifi dongle I take everywhere (well almost) and home shared wifi with direct PC connection on the desktop.

That's no help Joe, probably confuses things. I could be wrong but I still have a feeling it is to do with the way the server end handles the packet size.

Interesting that yesterday was the longest period I have had here for a while and just now I connected no problem.

Cheers
Country Lad

 

[Garpal Gumnut]

I have sent pm's to Joe,

Explaining my concerns about the site.

I have had IT systems in my business since 1985.

He either has slack IT advice, a slack backup, a slack ISP or someone is attacking the site.

Weird things happening on the most mundane of post replies.

gg

 

[explod]

I have sent pm's to Joe,

Explaining my concerns about the site.

I have had IT systems in my business since 1985.

He either has slack IT advice, a slack backup, a slack ISP or someone is attacking the site.

Weird things happening on the most mundane of post replies.

gg

Of course always sucked in by a conspiracy theory/story do not think anyone would believe the ole plod.

But going back a bit when I was saying things that had very bad sparks I found the site cut me off and was hard to log back into. F....en fumblin maudlin fingers maybe.

However since I moved to my new address (in the bush) and now on Telstra 4g I have not had a problem at all. A good service,

so I would be looking at your own server or equipment.

 

[Garpal Gumnut]

Of course always sucked in by a conspiracy theory/story do not think anyone would believe the ole plod.

But going back a bit when I was saying things that had very bad sparks I found the site cut me off and was hard to log back into. F....en fumblin maudlin fingers maybe.

However since I moved to my new address (in the bush) and now on Telstra 4g I have not had a problem at all. A good service,

so I would be looking at your own server or equipment.

We will see.

gg

 

[MrBurns]

We will see.

gg

I'm sure there's an issue with some connections.
I couldn't get the site to load for a week when cable went down and I had to use a wi fi device from Telstra, all other sites ok but ASF wouldn't load.
Got cable back and all is ok again........

 

[Miss Hale]

I'm sure there's an issue with some connections.
I couldn't get the site to load for a week when cable went down and I had to use a wi fi device from Telstra, all other sites ok but ASF wouldn't load.
Got cable back and all is ok again........

I think it's at the ASF end though. I am using 2 wifi devices and one is fine and the other one is not. Previously I could access ASF on both wifi devices no problem and even now ASF is the only site I cannot access on my pre-paid wifi.

 

[MrBurns]

I think it's at the ASF end though. I am using 2 wifi devices and one is fine and the other one is not. Previously I could access ASF on both wifi devices no problem and even now ASF is the only site I cannot access on my pre-paid wifi.

Exactly right Miss Hale my device was a pre paid too, thats where the problem is and it is with ASF for sure.

 

[Garpal Gumnut]

I've had IT since 1985.

I understand bugger all about it.

But I can smell a problem.

And ASF has a problem.

gg

 

[CanOz]

I've had IT since 1985.

I understand bugger all about it.

But I can smell a problem.

And ASF has a problem.

gg

LOL...Ya reckon GG??? ROTFLMAO!!