Slow Forum

thinkxingu · 06-06-2025, 11:01 AM

Hi!
Is anyone else experiencing a slow forum these last couple weeks? I use Tapatalk on my phone, which is sometimes slow, but I tried the forum on my computer today, and it was equally slow.

Thanks!

Sent from my SM-S931U using Tapatalk

Susie Cougar · 06-06-2025, 11:49 AM

Yes. I have been having the same problem and it is very annoying.

TCC · 06-06-2025, 12:45 PM

Yes. Very much so!!! Everything else is running normally so it must be a problem with the host site.

bobkatfly · 06-06-2025, 12:47 PM

Same using the website but just noticed it yesterday.

tis · 06-06-2025, 02:11 PM

Yes, something is wrong. Takes forever to open and then forever to open a thread.

TomC · 06-06-2025, 02:30 PM

yep. i've gotten the "connection timed out/too slow to respond" message a couple of times too. glad its not just me!

garysanfran · 06-06-2025, 03:31 PM

It took me so long to try and post this post, I decided to not do it.

Slickcraft · 06-06-2025, 06:59 PM

It takes $$ to run this forum. The "donate" tab is in the top banner. Just a suggestion.

Alan

Oh, that does not work either.

BroadHopper · 06-07-2025, 05:42 AM

Since the last Win 11 upgrade, I have been getting certificate errors when loading the website. I don't have that problem on Ubuntu.

upthesaukee · 06-07-2025, 12:59 PM

Thanks Webmaster. Now back to normal.

Dave

thinkxingu · 06-07-2025, 04:41 PM

It appears to be normal now, yes.

Sent from my SM-S931U using Tapatalk

tummyman · 06-08-2025, 06:40 AM

Still seems very slow........

TomC · 06-08-2025, 08:48 AM

agree - its very slow as opposed to before it was glacially slow and unusable...

Senter Cove Guy · 06-08-2025, 02:36 PM

Wow. Glad winnipesakee.com is back. From my recent perspective, it wasn't slow, it was just GONE.

GLAD IT'S BACK!

webmaster · 06-08-2025, 03:05 PM

It should work a lot better now.

The problem has actually been growing for months and was caused by the huge amount of bots that were hitting the site. Bots have always been busy indexing the site for the search engines but recently they have become a much bigger problem for forums and other comment boards. This site runs on a modest server and just couldn't handle the volume. The bots couldn't post since they had to be registered but they could still repeatedly access posts and threads and try to register. At times there were 20,000 visitors or more showing on the site when less than a hundred were actual people. In recent weeks this finally maxed out the server.

I recently had to stop accepting new registrations with Gmail addresses. The bots were almost all using gmail addresses when registering. I screen new memberships and sometimes there would be hundreds of new registrations with gmail addresses waiting for review. I hope that will now slow down so I can resume taking Gmail registrations.

All the site traffic is now being routed through a service which detects and blocks most malicious bots. The overall bot traffic is now down about 75%. It's making a big difference right now but time will tell.

Sorry the site was so slow.

Don

thinkxingu · 06-08-2025, 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by webmaster

It should work a lot better now.

The problem has actually been growing for months and was caused by the huge amount of bots that were hitting the site. Bots have always been busy indexing the site for the search engines but recently they have become a much bigger problem for forums and other comment boards. This site runs on a modest server and just couldn't handle the volume. The bots couldn't post since they had to be registered but they could still repeatedly access posts and threads and try to register. At times there were 20,000 visitors or more showing on the site when less than a hundred were actual people. In recent weeks this finally maxed out the server.

I recently had to stop accepting new registrations with Gmail addresses. The bots were almost all using gmail addresses when registering. I screen new memberships and sometimes there would be hundreds of new registrations with gmail addresses waiting for review. I hope that will now slow down so I can resume taking Gmail registrations.

All the site traffic is now being routed through a service which detects and blocks most malicious bots. The overall bot traffic is now down about 75%. It's making a big difference right now but time will tell.

Sorry the site was so slow.

Don

No worries, Don, and thanks for the explanation—everything seems good right now.

Sent from my SM-S931U using Tapatalk

tis · 06-08-2025, 05:28 PM

No apologies needed. I can't imagine how frustrating it must be for you. Running a couple of FB groups is hard enough trying to keep the bots out. Too bad there wasn't a way they could be detected. It's gotten so we don't trust much on the net any more.

FlyingScot · 06-08-2025, 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by webmaster

It should work a lot better now.

The problem has actually been growing for months and was caused by the huge amount of bots that were hitting the site. Bots have always been busy indexing the site for the search engines but recently they have become a much bigger problem for forums and other comment boards. This site runs on a modest server and just couldn't handle the volume. The bots couldn't post since they had to be registered but they could still repeatedly access posts and threads and try to register. At times there were 20,000 visitors or more showing on the site when less than a hundred were actual people. In recent weeks this finally maxed out the server.

I recently had to stop accepting new registrations with Gmail addresses. The bots were almost all using gmail addresses when registering. I screen new memberships and sometimes there would be hundreds of new registrations with gmail addresses waiting for review. I hope that will now slow down so I can resume taking Gmail registrations.

All the site traffic is now being routed through a service which detects and blocks most malicious bots. The overall bot traffic is now down about 75%. It's making a big difference right now but time will tell.

Sorry the site was so slow.

Don

Hmmm...I wonder if that's AI?

ishoot308 · 06-09-2025, 06:27 AM

Site seems to be slowing down again. It’s was fine for a couple days but definitely noticed today that it is slowing down again…

Dan

ishoot308 · 06-09-2025, 07:54 AM

Now it seems OK!

Dan

06-06-2025, 11:01 AM	#1
thinkxingu Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2014 Posts: 6,268 Thanks: 1,173 Thanked 2,072 Times in 1,286 Posts	Slow Forum Hi! Is anyone else experiencing a slow forum these last couple weeks? I use Tapatalk on my phone, which is sometimes slow, but I tried the forum on my computer today, and it was equally slow. Thanks! Sent from my SM-S931U using Tapatalk

06-06-2025, 12:47 PM	#4
bobkatfly Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Center Tuftonboro Posts: 370 Thanks: 57 Thanked 54 Times in 48 Posts	Same using the website but just noticed it yesterday. __________________ Bob F Amherst till the big 66 comes (made it!) Winter Harbor/Mirror Lake till the big guy comes

06-06-2025, 03:31 PM	#7
garysanfran Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: San Francisco/Meredith Posts: 1,573 Thanks: 668 Thanked 680 Times in 347 Posts	It took me so long to try and post this post, I decided to not do it. __________________ Gary ~~~~_/) ~~~ ~~~~~~~~

06-07-2025, 05:42 AM	#9
BroadHopper Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Laconia NH Posts: 5,577 Thanks: 3,220 Thanked 1,103 Times in 794 Posts	certificate error Since the last Win 11 upgrade, I have been getting certificate errors when loading the website. I don't have that problem on Ubuntu. __________________ Someday may never be an actual day.

06-07-2025, 12:59 PM	#10
upthesaukee Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Alton Bay Posts: 5,600 Blog Entries: 2 Thanks: 2,461 Thanked 1,983 Times in 1,083 Posts	Thank you Webmaster Thanks Webmaster. Now back to normal. Dave __________________ I Live Here... I am always UPTHESAUKEE !!!!

The Following 5 Users Say Thank You to thinkxingu For This Useful Post:
BroadHopper (06-07-2025), FlyingScot (06-06-2025), TCC (06-06-2025), tummyman (06-06-2025), upthesaukee (06-06-2025)

06-06-2025, 11:49 AM	#2
Susie Cougar Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2019 Location: Parrish, Florida Posts: 612 Thanks: 286 Thanked 225 Times in 160 Posts	Yes. I have been having the same problem and it is very annoying.

06-06-2025, 12:45 PM	#3
TCC Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Wolfeboro Posts: 153 Thanks: 256 Thanked 72 Times in 30 Posts	Yes. Very much so!!! Everything else is running normally so it must be a problem with the host site.

06-06-2025, 02:11 PM	#5
tis Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 6,739 Thanks: 752 Thanked 1,458 Times in 1,015 Posts	Yes, something is wrong. Takes forever to open and then forever to open a thread.

06-06-2025, 02:30 PM	#6
TomC Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Lakes Region Posts: 682 Thanks: 21 Thanked 94 Times in 63 Posts	yep. i've gotten the "connection timed out/too slow to respond" message a couple of times too. glad its not just me!

06-06-2025, 06:59 PM	#8
Slickcraft Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Welch Island and The Taylor Community Posts: 3,305 Thanks: 1,227 Thanked 2,098 Times in 957 Posts	It takes $$ to run this forum. The "donate" tab is in the top banner. Just a suggestion. Alan Oh, that does not work either.

The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to upthesaukee For This Useful Post:
BroadHopper (06-08-2025), Slickcraft (06-07-2025)

06-07-2025, 04:41 PM	#11
thinkxingu Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2014 Posts: 6,268 Thanks: 1,173 Thanked 2,072 Times in 1,286 Posts	It appears to be normal now, yes. Sent from my SM-S931U using Tapatalk

06-08-2025, 06:40 AM	#12
tummyman Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Moultonborough Posts: 839 Thanks: 258 Thanked 687 Times in 244 Posts	Still seems very slow........

06-08-2025, 08:48 AM	#13
TomC Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Lakes Region Posts: 682 Thanks: 21 Thanked 94 Times in 63 Posts	agree - its very slow as opposed to before it was glacially slow and unusable...

06-08-2025, 02:36 PM	#14
Senter Cove Guy Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 598 Thanks: 294 Thanked 430 Times in 141 Posts	It's Back, Yay Wow. Glad winnipesakee.com is back. From my recent perspective, it wasn't slow, it was just GONE. GLAD IT'S BACK! __________________ Lake Winni - The only place I want to be during the summer.

The Following User Says Thank You to Senter Cove Guy For This Useful Post:
webmaster (06-08-2025)

06-08-2025, 03:05 PM	#15
webmaster Moderator Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 2,455 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 459 Thanked 3,830 Times in 840 Posts	It should work a lot better now. The problem has actually been growing for months and was caused by the huge amount of bots that were hitting the site. Bots have always been busy indexing the site for the search engines but recently they have become a much bigger problem for forums and other comment boards. This site runs on a modest server and just couldn't handle the volume. The bots couldn't post since they had to be registered but they could still repeatedly access posts and threads and try to register. At times there were 20,000 visitors or more showing on the site when less than a hundred were actual people. In recent weeks this finally maxed out the server. I recently had to stop accepting new registrations with Gmail addresses. The bots were almost all using gmail addresses when registering. I screen new memberships and sometimes there would be hundreds of new registrations with gmail addresses waiting for review. I hope that will now slow down so I can resume taking Gmail registrations. All the site traffic is now being routed through a service which detects and blocks most malicious bots. The overall bot traffic is now down about 75%. It's making a big difference right now but time will tell. Sorry the site was so slow. Don

The Following 11 Users Say Thank You to webmaster For This Useful Post:
BroadHopper (06-09-2025), Descant (06-08-2025), ishoot308 (06-08-2025), jeffk (Yesterday), KennyFromBoston (06-09-2025), Loub52 (06-09-2025), Senter Cove Guy (06-08-2025), Slickcraft (06-08-2025), Susie Cougar (06-08-2025), TCC (06-08-2025), tummyman (06-08-2025)

06-08-2025, 05:28 PM	#17
tis Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 6,739 Thanks: 752 Thanked 1,458 Times in 1,015 Posts	No apologies needed. I can't imagine how frustrating it must be for you. Running a couple of FB groups is hard enough trying to keep the bots out. Too bad there wasn't a way they could be detected. It's gotten so we don't trust much on the net any more.

06-09-2025, 06:27 AM	#19
ishoot308 Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Gilford, NH / Welch Island Posts: 6,265 Thanks: 2,398 Thanked 5,286 Times in 2,057 Posts	Slow Again Site seems to be slowing down again. It’s was fine for a couple days but definitely noticed today that it is slowing down again… Dan __________________ It's Always Sunny On Welch Island!!

06-09-2025, 07:54 AM	#20
ishoot308 Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Gilford, NH / Welch Island Posts: 6,265 Thanks: 2,398 Thanked 5,286 Times in 2,057 Posts	OK Now Now it seems OK! Dan __________________ It's Always Sunny On Welch Island!!